What to Do When An Employee Asks to Telecommute: Online Collaboration«

If it hasn’t already happened, it’s coming: one of your employees is going to ask you if they can telecommute. It may even happen this week, as it’sTelework Week. Many office-based jobs can now be done from anywhere with the right technology. The possibility of employees working remotely is something that is better to think about before the question comes up, rather than finding yourself grasping for an answer in the moment.

Getting Comfortable With the Idea

The first question has to be whether you feel comfortable with letting employees telecommute. The simple truth is that many employers do not, although for many of them it’s something of a gut reaction. If you’re in that group, you have to break down why you  feel that way. The biggest concern is often that if your employees aren’t in the office, you won’t be able to tell if they’re working. There are ways to resolve this issue, however:  you can sett up a way to have employees report in regularly or switch to an accomplishment-based system, rather than expecting employees to show up for a certain number of hours every day, for example.

You may also find that you have concerns about security or expense. Telecommuting arrangements will be different at every company, so the expense will vary, depending on the equipment and  software you’ll need to provide your employees with for their home computers and similar issues. There are ways to protect documents and sensitive information when you make it accessible to employees outside your office, but the levels of security vary and you’ll need to do some research to find exactly what you need.

Do a Trial Run

One of your best options as an employer is a trial run. If an employee asks to telecommute, you can always agree to give it a try and if it doesn’t work out ask the employee to return to the office at the end of the trial period. Similarly, you can put the responsibility of doing the research into what tools will be necessary onto the shoulders of the employee who wants to get out of the office. That person certainly has a reason to look for secure options that will reassure you about the process, as well as to make sure everything goes smoothly.

Telecommuting is becoming more common in organizations of every size. It makes it possible to work with the best people for your projects, no matter where they are based. It can be an opportunity to keep your team happy and it’s a privilege you may be able to provide without a lot of work or expense on your part. Even if telecommuting doesn’t wind up working for all of your team and on all of the projects you work on, it’s worth at least trying out to see when it will work and when it could be useful.

PhotocourtesyFlickr userMike McCune

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