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 Features
The Power of Partial Telecommuting
 Eligibility
This is a complex topic for a company to consider, but there are a number of viable options. In general, three criteria usually apply when considering who’s eligible:
- Do they have a compelling reason? Do they need help balancing family and work, have an illness, an injury, or a recent childbirth? Do they have a monster commute, or one that provides a great deal of stress on the employee? Is it a deal-breaker benefit that they can’t live without?
- Will they give back more to the company in exchange for the ability to partially telecommute? This usually is in the form of being able to occasionally work extra, sometimes even on a weekend to solve critical issues, or simply to put in more hours per week than required by onsite employees.
- Are they one of the critical team members? Sure, we’re all critical, but are they one of the really exceptional ones worth bending over backwards for?
There are many questions when determining eligibility, many of which are answered by the above criteria. Questions include:
- Can single people telecommute? – Yes, see reason #2 or #3.
- Can employees who have a 5 minute commute, telecommute? Yes, see reason #2 or #3.
- Can employees reviewed in the bottom 3rd of performance assessment telecommute? Yes – See reason #2.
- Can they be a leader from home? – Yes, many telecommuters perform well in leadership roles from home. Sometimes that’s because they are a superstar who has had a special plan drawn up for them, or because they become more pro-active by working from home, or simply that they put in so much extra time from home that they become one of the most productive people in the company. Regardless of the reason, with or without a formal leadership title, expect and encourage them to be a powerhouse from home.
- Can managers telecommute? - Managers are a tough question. How can you manage when you aren’t there to physically pat someone on the back, or have a closed-door meeting if needed? A good strategy for this is to have a manager and assistant manager. There must always be a manager or assistant manager onsite everyday, but otherwise, they can work out a 2-3 day rotation routine to work from home. There are always times, crisis situations, and days when they must both be in, and good managers understand this.
- Can all five programmers in a five programmer department telecommute all five days? – The short answer for this is no. OK, sure, some companies can do this, but for the majority, this is a bad idea. Let’s tackle this question in two parts. First, can anyone telecommute 5 days a week? Unless someone logistically can’t come into the office, then programmers should not be offsite for more than 4 days a week. Having 1 day a week of face-to-face time, provides an enormous benefit to the team in terms of bonding, and resolving any issues that had proved too difficult to resolve remotely. The second part is already answered, if 1 programmer shouldn’t work 5 days a week at home, then 5 certainly should not.
- Ok, if not five days a week, then can all five programmers in a five programmer department telecommute four days a week? Probably not. Again, some companies can make this work and tend to design their workflows around this concept; however, for the majority of the world, we need to have some people onsite all the time for in-office coverage. If a company staggers people, it can ensure in-office representation of the programming team. This isn’t an insurmountable issue, but it should be noted that having a minimum of 1 programmer onsite all the time is important for resolving issues with the rest of the company. In addition, it’s recommended that a manager or assistant manager be onsite everyday, especially for multi-department resolution of issues.
- What if two people in one department are approved for telecommuting but they can’t arrange mutually compatible days? (i.e., so they can never both attend the same departmental meetings) – The methods of team communication apply here. Finding a way to conduct meetings that include telecommuters is essential. Don’t be afraid to explore all of the tools available for multi-remote user meetings, especially those designed especially for remote meetings. This is a problem that some companies make their livelihood off solving, so be sure to fully explore the options and pick the right one for you.
- Are there temporary telecommuting options, which are only available for specific durations? I.e., the birth of a child. – Yes, see reason #1.
- What if an employee meets all requirements, but just wouldn’t be productive at home. Left on their own, they’d be less productive. – No. Everyone is motivated and works optimally under different conditions. For some, working from home makes them less productive than they would be in the office. The bottom line here should be that if they aren’t productive, then they need to move back onsite. A superstar who isn’t effective at home isn’t being a superstar, and a person who isn’t working hard for the company isn’t giving the company a benefit by having them work from home. The person in question should be talked with, given recommendations on how to be an effective telecommuter, and a chance to correct the situation. If they still fail to be effective, they need to then be onsite.
 Next: Plans, Optimization
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