Skills For Success

November/December 2001

Want to Telecommute?

Use Disaster Recovery to Convince Your Employer

Rosalind Mays
Internet Researcher and Author of
The Real Deal on Telecommuting

The days after the September 11th attacks, I watched news coverage in utter frustration and impatience. Day after day, hour after hour, there were bomb warnings and bomb scares. It seemed that at least three times a day, hundreds of professionals were evacuated from their offices to stand on the sidewalk awaiting the "all clear" so that they could resume work.

While watching these disturbing reports I wondered: Why were these companies evacuating their staff every four hours? I understand that, as a nation, we must carry on the "business of America." I agree with that sentiment—after all, I was back at work, too. However, the difference between my situation and that of those workers on the Manhattan sidewalks was that I could efficiently complete my work undisturbed. I was telecommuting.

It’s Time to Change The Way We Work

In the wake of the September 11th disaster, it is imperative that employees and their employers get serious about telecommuting and its place in the work force. Those of you who have contemplated telecommuting should use this time to impress on your employer the importance of “distributed labor” which is less vulnerable to terrorist attacks, natural disaster and war activity. We must recognize that a centralized workplace can be dangerous and ineffective in times of crisis and we should at least consider telecommuting within emergency preparedness plans.

Back in the 1960s when the government realized that decentralization of resources (human and data) was the key to disaster survival, they developed the ARPANET (designed to allow the military operations to survive a nuclear attack). Today, we call it the INTERNET. My question is, if it was good enough for the military during the Cold War, why isn’t it good enough to use in our disaster recovery plans today? Why aren’t we taking full advantage of this option and keeping our human resources safer and the work flow more consistent and protected? In short, it’s time for employers and employees alike to recognize the fact that work is not a place; it’s an action, a collaborative action. When work is treated as a place, inseparable from its central location, it becomes intensely vulnerable. Conversely, when work is treated as a collaborative action—unbound by walls—it becomes more effective and less vulnerable to crises.

For example, the World Trade Center (a place) will take more than a year to clean up and probably several years to rebuild. In contrast, five days after the disaster, the Stock Exchange (a collaborative action), re-stringed and redirected telephone and data connections, designated off-site workstations, implemented their disaster recovery plans and were up and running—with the largest trading volume in history on their opening day. They did not need a centralized place to do this work. All they needed was the collaborative effort and agreement of all essential staff and it was business a usual. Similarly, on the day following the attacks, Hewlett-Packard announced that it was allowing the majority of their work force to telecommute. Currently, Merrill Lynch is fielding large amounts of requests from employees for telecommuting. And, on September 13th, outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas stated that companies are now considering videoconferencing and telecommuting as a substitute for business travel.

Are the rest of us missing the lesson here?

In the past, the problem with telecommuting was waiting for the executive staff to understand the benefits of this working option and to make the decision to take telecommuting seriously. Face it, decision making on the executive level involving new, innovative ideas is as slow as paint drying on a rainy day. But one thing we have recently learned is that we don’t have the time to watch paint dry.

It is in our hands as employees to initiate telecommuting within emergency/disaster planning. It’s unfortunate, but it usually takes a disaster before we decide to take action. At this point, I can be confident in saying that your employer will now take your telecommuting suggestion seriously.

Getting Started

Be proactive. Let your employer know that in the wake of the attacks you have established a home office with the equipment needed to allow you to telecommute should there be another terrorist attack, bomb scare or bioscare within the company/its environs.

Advise your employer that you will need to test your arrangement by working from home for couple of days. It is imperative that you test these systems every three months or so to ensure that they remain effective. In addition, let your employer know that you are willing to share your plan/telecommuting systems with your colleagues so that they can set up similar systems in their homes. Finally, let your employer know that you are willing to collaborate on any disaster recovery plans that they may be implementing in reaction to the latest tragedy.

The approach noted above can best be accomplished via a sound emergency telecommuting strategy. Following are five tips to be considered when developing an emergency telecommuting strategy proposal.

1. Devise a plan.
Outline what constitutes a disaster. Then, clearly state how you will contact the company upon an emergency; how they can contact you (provide alternate phone numbers where you can be reached); and how you plan to connect with your employer to transfer work. It helps to keep a list of all of the things you have done on the job for a month. Then, highlight those tasks that you could have done remotely. Be sure to include these in your proposal.

2. Test and execute your systems.
Having systems in place is no good if you have not tested them. Every quarter or so, you should establish days when you will be working from your home office. Use these days to reevaluate your systems and to fix any glitches. It’s important that both managers and employees practice the telecommuting processes so that workflow remains efficient.

3. Have ground rules formalized (written) and be precise and detailed.
A telecommuting policy and plan must be formalized so that work is done as expected. Here are some resources that can help you with this:

  • Checklist for Developing A Telecommuting Proposal:
    www.humanresources.ucr.edu
  • Writing a Telecommuting Proposal:
    www.ivillage.com/work/job/succeed/articles/0,10109,187833_96377,00.html
  • Telecommuting Proposals:
    www.telecommuting.about.com/library/weekly/aa010599.html
  • Developing a Proposal for a Telecommuting Agreement:
    www.hrweb.berkeley.edu/POLICY/teleppsl.html
  • Sample Telecommuting Proposal:
    www.workforce.com/feature/00/04/26/0006306.html

4. Have an alternative e-mail address.
In case servers at work are affected by a disaster, you should have alternative e-mail addresses that will allow you to receive and send information.

5. Create cards to explain emergency procedures.
Emergency numbers such as fire department, police department, FBI, Centers for Disease Control, Red Cross and others should be easily accessible from your workstation at work, your home office and your wallet.

A well-crafted proposal, backed by your determination to make telecommuting viable for you and your employer, should be welcomed at your company. However, if your boss still needs some convincing, remind her that telecommuting:

  • Reduces equipment and workspace costs
  • Improves productivity by 10%-40%
  • Extends employee work hours
  • Reduces turnover
  • Avoids travel time and interruptions
  • Reduces sick leave
  • Allows for the development of special skill teams that can be assembled as needed, regardless of geography.
Happy telecommuting!

Rosalind Mays, best-selling author of The Real Deal on Telecommuting, works at home as an Internet Researcher. She hopes her advice and report (which compiles all the information she found while searching for her current job) will shorten other job seeker’s time in finding legitimate work at home opportunities. Visit www.telecommuting.cjb.net for a free list of telecommuting jobs compiled monthly. Go to: www.siennapublishing.com to learn more about her books. She may be reached via e-mail RozMW@aol.com. ©2001 Rosalind Mays. All rights reserved.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

Sample Disaster and Recovery Plans
www.drj.com/new2dr/samples.html

Disaster Recovery World
www.disasterrecoveryworld.com

JALA International Inc.
www.jala.com
An international group of management consultants that research telework, telecommuting and virtual office policies.

Gil Gordon
www.gilgordon.com
Consultant and expert in the implementation of telecommuting and telework.

June Langhoff
www.langhoff.com
Consultant and expert in the implementation of telecommuting and telework.