Flexibility:
Telecommuting - Success Story
(SAMPLE – to be replaced by Our Company)
Here are two examples of how Telecommuting has been used successfully at
Our Company:
Mary Martin, Software
Designer, Software Engineering
Mary was the lead engineer on a large project when she requested
telecommuting two days a week. At that time she had been with the
company for seven years and had consistently been a good performer.
Mary’s manager, Joe Seymour, selected Mary to be the lead because of
her abilities to motivate and communicate well with her coworkers.
Before Mary took on this role Joe had been getting a lot of feedback
that team members were getting limited direction and that her
predecessor had been aloof and unapproachable. Mary turned this team
around by being involved and attentive.
Before approving the telecommuting arrangement Joe wondered how well she
would be able to continue leading her team while out of the office two
days a week. But he decided to approve the request, largely because Mary
had been doing a good job of assigning, managing and coordinating the
multiple tasks involved and made the case for continuing to do so when
she completed her Flexible Work Arrangement Proposal Form. It was a
thoughtful, thorough plan with excellent back-up
scenarios.
The arrangement is working wonderfully. Mary has empowered her team to
make appropriate decisions independently, and she is accessible by
pager, cell phone and email when team members want to discuss something
with her. The contract they
are working on also requires customer reviews quarterly on-site.
Typically, the preparation for these reviews require an intense
week or two of work just prior to the site visit, often involving long
work days. Mary usually doesn’t telecommute during the quarterly
review preparation time.
Mary finds the key to her successful telecommuting is Communication
(“With a Capital ‘C’,” Mary said.) “As long as I do a thorough
job of communicating with all parties concerned (coworkers, team
members, management and customers) regarding how to contact me if
needed, we have no problems. And
what’s wonderful is that we have the technology now that makes this
communication appear seamless. Customers don’t even realize that
they’re contacting me at home.”
Doug
McKee, Senior
Researcher, R&D
Doug had an interesting motivation for requesting a flexible work
arrangement: He manages his son’s rock band and wanted to be able to
do so without having this ”hobby” interfere with his work at the
company. While the reason someone wants to apply for a flexible schedule
is not a factor in the company’s decision-making process, it is often
the basis for increased engagement at work. This is one story of a
win-win for work and family.
Doug combines telecommuting with flextime. He works from home one day a
week to accomplish his company tasks in a quieter environment. He is
very productive on the day he works at home and made the business case
for this when he applied for the arrangement. Doug has flexibility in
his schedule that allows him to attend to band management details while
still completing his company work. On performance days/nights, he
adjusts his normal day to accommodate travel and late nights that are
part of being a manager of a rock band.
How does Doug do all this and still get his company job done? Most
importantly, he has the support of his manager, Madeline Mixer, who
finds that Doug has become an even more valuable, creative and effective
employee over the past two years that this arrangement has been in
place. Secondly, he and Madeline regularly discuss the expectations for
his position and refine his objectives very clearly. This has led to a
high level of trust between Doug and Madeline and has resulted in Doug
feeling empowered to do his job.
The experience of running a small business while meeting a personal need
is growing Doug's skills and he finds these skills valuable in his
company job today.
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