Telecommuting Plans for the Real World

I was living in the Silicon Valley when I first read the term “telework.” It was printed in a brochure from a Pacific Bell trade show table at the San Jose Convention Center. Pac Bell was starting to push ISDN “high” speed Internet in northern California. After hearing about this stuff, your mind would wander as you sit in your evening slog home on Highway 101, thinking of all the ways you could do your daily work from right there in the home office. Telecommuting would be sweet. Let’s do it.

Not so fast. For many, traveling to the moon was easier than talking managers into allowing remote work, even in the technology capital of the world. Many worried they’d be unable to “manage” distributed workers. The fear was that employees would sit and watch Oprah most of the day and send just enough e-mail to look busy. But when I allowed parts of my team to telework, they produced better work, stayed happier, and yes, stayed in touch better than some folks in the same building.

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Over time, technology barriers began to fall. File sharing, remote desktop, and other techniques began to offer us access to our own computers or central servers. Workgroup software such as Lotus Notes got better every version. Microsoft Exchange exploded. Instant messaging came. Voice over IP became real.

With the predominance of broadband, software developers have been creating impressive new tools to bring us together across the distance. Among these are services called “contextual collaboration” environments - virtual meeting rooms with tools for working online. Specific offerings are Glance Personal, GoToMeeting and Conferral; each costs less than $50 per month to use and offers functionality on par with $1,000/month systems of a year ago.
They offer no-brainer sharing of screen space without special setups or training. Even the smallest business can get on board, as there are no per-use charges. The basic versions allow up to 10 attendees, any of which can take control if given permission.

To illustrate, let me give a scenario repeated often in my office: A client wants to discuss something, such as a spreadsheet or a marketing idea. We make contact via instant message or e-mail, and I assign a meeting link (provided by the software on demand.) They select that link, and we’re both looking at the same screen 45 seconds after we decided to have the meeting - no fuss. We get on the phone and share mouse control, talking and working out solutions. I’m also able to collaborate with programmers, artists, and other consultants, forming a virtual team of professionals in seven states, working with an efficiency I could never have imagined that day in California.

You might say “Okay, okay, web companies can easily use this stuff, but what about traditional businesses? Are there applications for small manufacturing, law firms, accountants, purchasing agents, and travel agencies?”

I contend that many different disciplines could realize productivity gains using tools like these, even if only occasionally. Imagine an impromptu chat with an accountant to discuss a small QuickBooks issue, or a two- or three-line revision to an agreement with your attorney so you can close a deal. How about discussing patient records or troubleshooting computers?
You can reach top talent without consideration for their location and assemble “virtual teams” rapidly for certain projects, employing the best specialist for a particular role. Stay-at-home caregivers can be tapped for their talent for a few hours a day, and vast amounts of administrative work can be “in-sourced” to people in your community. Web or phone salespeople can assist customers with difficult purchases and sick employees can sit in on the team meeting. The list goes on.

With tools like this, you do give up some of the personal touch needed for a coherent team, and virtual meetings must not replace all contact. We will need to see each other, smile and shake hands from time to time. But now we can plan it, getting together when it makes sense, and meet online otherwise.

With the technology issues all but solved, what about the resistance we saw in the early years by managers? I can’t tell you for sure, but $4-per-gallon gasoline, clogged highways, airline chaos, and grave environmental concerns may play a part in reconsidering it.
I’m feeling optimistic for the future as I use these systems. They offer genuinely useful cooperation capabilities without as much “people moving.” Will our children’s world be improved by some modifications in the way we do work? Will we begin to work within our own communities and drive less? It’s virtually certain if you ask me.

Telecommuting Jobs Here (Data Entry Workers Needed)

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