Telework Exchange - A Public - Private Partnership Focused On Eliminating Telework Gridlock

Josh, good blog and hits two good points. Collaboration tools are available and can help to stay connected and Trying something new is always hard. You IM experience is similar to the ways management views telework. I don't know if I'll like the idea because I've never tried it myself. I think it's important for OPM and the Administration to encourage/guide/enforce agencies to implement management telework programs, giving them the opportunity to telework. If management can't telework, how will they come to like it and offer it to others? Why should I care about telework if my agency doesn't even trust me or give me the option to telework?

So true, Josh. I also use chat in a professional setting. I'll admit, I was skeptical at first, I didn't quite understand how something I used to communicate with friends would fare in a work environment. I was pleasantly surprised. I use chat at work to communicate with co-workers when a quick question arises, something that wouldn't necessarily warrant an e-mail or phone call. It's fast and easy to use, and I think it helps me make better use of my time, and the time of those I work with. I'm interested to know if other teleworkers use chat, and if it makes them more effective throughout the day.

Great comments, thanks. Getting over the skepticism is the biggest hurdle. And the point about encouraging people to try is also very important. GSA's Martha Johnson made that exact point in her keynote at the Telework Town Hall earlier this month. GSA has been doing some pilots to get folks who might not self-select to try telework and they have had some very interesting results. I will discuss their Kansas City pilot in a future column.

Fascinating. Our state government used the same tired "bandwidth" argument against IM until a deaf employee joined our ranks. I, too, was dubious at first. But I've experienced the same epiphany you did, Josh. And much more. If I need a quick answer to something on a conference call, I can get it immediately. Add to that the fact that the people in my unit are spread all over the state of California and that we therefore lose that office togetherness factor, IM keeps us much more linked in with each other.

Good point, Carol. So, I telework and use IM. I find that when I have trouble with bandwidth, the only thing that always works is IM. It hardly uses any bandwidth and is so effective!

The bandwidth argument is pretty silly, since chat is one of the smallest bandwidth uses. In fact, the military uses chat for communicating targeting information because its low bandwidth, asynchronous (does not require both parties to be live at the same time), and more reliable than voice communication in many situations.