Six Questions to Ask About Telecommuting
Telecommuting is on the rise, and many BC planners are looking to it as an option when employees are unable to physically come to work after a disaster. But telework also brings with it some major risks.

In an article on the Network World website, Tam Harbert discusses the problems associated with telework, including a decrease in employees’ productivity and collaboration.

How can you tell if telecommuting is an option? Harbert offers six questions IT managers should ask before allowing employees to work remotely, whatever the situation. They include:

1. Is full-time telecommuting a smart decision? Telework is best for task-oriented jobs rather than face-to-face communication. In some cases, it may make more sense to have an alternate site for employees to meet rather than having them telecommute.
2. How will you define and measure performance?  Again, this is easy to establish for task-oriented jobs, but harder to define in other areas.
3. Will creativity suffer? Depending on how long employees will be telecommuting, this may or may not become an issue.
4. How will telework affect collaboration? This will depend on the culture of your organization and how employees fit into it.
5. What about employees “left behind” in the office? If not all employees will be telecommuting, it’s important to consider the impact it may have on those who stay in the office.
6. Do you have an exit strategy? Make sure you hammer out details of how and when employees will return to the office.

To read the full article, click here: http://www.networkworld.com/news/2008/082008-get-tough-on-telecommuting-6.html?hpg1=bn