Managers told not to fear telecommuting

Federal managers shouldn't be afraid of telecommuting programs, but rather should hone their skills so they are able to manage employees who don't work at the office, members of a panel on telecommuting said Thursday. "If I am a manager, and I send everyone home, then what am I needed for?" said D.J. Lavoy, sharing the fears many managers hold about incorporating telecommuting programs into the workplace. Lavoy is director of the Housing and Urban Development Department's Real Estate Assessment Center. He joined four other workplace technology experts Thursday to talk about telecommuting during a panel session at the Excellence in Government conference in Washington. "They still need a manager," countered Helen Straka, who handles the Education Department's telecommuting program. "They need a manager to pull the work together. We need to train the managers to manage the virtual team." Managers are also jumping at shadows, Straka said, because telecommuting will not work for all employees. "Telework is really not for everyone, it was never intended for everyone," Straka said. "Employees do need to have time in the office, so that they don't become isolated." According to Carol Fehner, an American Federation of Government Employees official who represents teleworkers at the Social Security Administration, if federal managers continue to resist telecommuting initiatives, the government will not be able to compete for employees and will find it's overhead expenses rising. "It certainly costs a lot more to do business the old way, to have somebody with a list checking on people," Fehner said. "If we don't change, we're going to be left behind." The Office of Personnel Management is currently evaluating information it has collected from agencies on their telecommuting policies. Agencies were asked to identify positions that lend themselves to telecommuting. Agencies are required to offer employees in those jobs the option of working from home or at a telecommuting center. The Labor Department plans to use a new feature in its automated attendance system to gauge how many of the department's employees are working from home or at a telework center, but who haven't signed up for a formal telecommuting program, said Gail Guest, worklife program specialist at Labor. "We use the data and produce internal reports and we look for particular job categories that lend themselves to telecommuting. This will help us get some really accurate information," Guest said.