This month, Commuter Connections unveiled new resources to help employers adopt telework programs. While these resources were developed to advance a goal in the Transportation Planning Board’s Visualize 2045 plan to expand telework and other options that reduce solo car trips, they are also of value during the COVID-19 outbreak as employers turn to telework to help ensure the safety of their employees, the continuity of their business operations, and to do their part to protect the community through social distancing.
The telework resources, which can be found on the Commuter Connections website, include sample program guidelines that can be used to construct a telework program and a sample Teleworker Agreement. The site also lists teleworking “Do’s and Don’ts” for both managers and employees related to communication, productivity, and management.
Commuter Connections has promoted telework, offered employers assistance in establishing programs, and tracked its steady growth in metropolitan Washington for the past several decades. According to its most recent State of the Commute Survey in 2019, 35 percent of commuters reported working remotely or from home at least occasionally, which is up from 19 percent in 2007. These teleworkers represented 1,073,000 regional workers.
Develop good communication and access procedures for your employees so they are clear about meeting times and availability when teleworking, for example, suggest that teleworker email their team when starting and ending their telework day Integrate teleworkers in innovation exchange such as brainstorming with the use of technology Communicate with the teleworker like you would in the office Plan meetings when your teleworkers can participate Consider short team huddles or online meetings Encourage good communication skills, such as responding to emails and voicemails in a timely manner
Manage by measuring results Build trust through troubleshooting with the teleworkers Encourage goal setting - use the Telework Task Schedule or Daily Log Delegate assignments equitably among your teleworkers and non-teleworkers. Think creatively of how work can be re-organized for the purposes of teleworking Provide feedback in a timely manner Ensure that you have a performance evaluation process in place for both teleworkers and non-teleworkers.