Next Steps for Telework

President Obama last week signed the 2010 Telework Enhancement Act into law, meaning agencies must now establish telework policies for all eligible employees and create training programs for teleworkers and telework managers. The Telework Exchange on Tuesday released a report that provides some tips on how to get started.

The report identifies five key steps agencies can take when establishing their telework programs: build management support; define essentials to demonstrate return-on-investment and overcome resistance; train managers and measure productivity; supply secure, effective and affordable telework technology; and enhance continuity of operations plans.

These findings are based on a two-fold survey of nearly 200 federal and private sector employees working in human resources or information technology jobs. Participants contributed to an online survey and to a crowdsourcing session to identify telework challenges and share best practices for addressing them.

Participants cited several cultural challenges to implementing telework, with 68 percent identifying "building management support" as a hurdle and 67 percent saying "resistance to change" was an obstacle. The report recommends agencies overcome such challenges by launching workforce training that emphasizes teaching managers and employees to function as team members rather than individuals and to use collaboration tools effectively. It also recommends agencies create a 90-day or 120-day pilot program that emphasizes mentoring and identifies potential issues.

Providing effective and affordable technology also will play a key role, and agencies should hold training sessions to introduce new technologies and establish processes for monitoring and upgrading resources, the report notes. Agencies also should explore mobile technology, begin migrating to cloud computing and adopt encrypted hard drives, remote desktops, collaboration systems and thumb drives to support telework programs, the report states.

As IT workers, what are your thoughts on the Telework Exchange's recommendations? Are they helpful in identifying some of the key challenges and key steps that must be taken over the next several months to comply with the new law? And how will your job change in the coming months as a result of the new requirements?