In its fiscal 2005 telework report, the General Services Administration found that the number of eligible teleworkers and teleworking employees continues to grow. In 2004, 140,694 employees at 82 agencies teleworked at least one day a week, a hefty 37 percent increase from 2003, when 102,921 workers teleworked.

GSA concluded in the report that this growth represents a “steady escalation” since Congress passed the telework law in 2001.

For many years, managerial resistance has been—and in many parts of government, according to federal telework experts, remains—the one major challenge that is difficult to overcome.

In the latest GSA survey, for instance, 38 percent of agencies polled declared that management resistance is still a barrier to telework.

The reasons vary. Here are a few:

• Many managers believe that if they can’t see their employees actually working, then they must not be working.
• Managers want to be in control of the office environment, and teleworking seems to strip them of that hegemony.
• Supervising teleworkers demands a radically different management style, presenting yet another cultural-change hurdle.

Here are some best practices to help executives overcome resistance to telecommuting and make the transition easier:

You have to have class. It is a good idea to train managers on how to supervise teleworkers. Managing teleworkers requires a different set of skills, because managers must concentrate on the results delivered and not the hours worked by the employee, according to federal experts.

One agency held a three-day training session for its managers where the goal was to “change their mindset” about teleworking.

Online training sessions and meetings with officials at agencies that have seen success in their telework programs are also helpful, experts said.

Set expectations. Before any employee begins teleworking, the supervisor and employee must sign an agreement that outlines the employee’s performance metrics. As part of the agreement, the employee should be required to take a cybersecurity training course, and it must be made clear when employees should be available and working at their telework site or home office.

The supervisor-teleworker agreement should be reviewed at least twice a year, and if the arrangement is not working, it should be ended before the office’s or the employee’s performance suffers.

One agency official who has supervised teleworkers for many years said employees must understand that there will be times when they have to be present in the office, even if it’s their telework day, and that they are expected to work when government offices are closed due to bad weather or other emergencies.

Agency gear. Under no circumstances should employees use their own computers when teleworking, experts said. Many agencies are replacing teleworkers’ desktop PCs with notebooks and providing either a dedicated broadband hookup or paying about 50 percent of the cost for a high-speed Internet connection to telework sites.

One official said that when teleworkers use agency computers, managers can control software updates and maintain security controls. And any problems can be solved by the agency or contractor help desk.

Reservations required. When teleworkers do come into the office, which will happen from time to time, they have to have a place to work. Experts recommended setting up a “hoteling” program where desks, telephones and technology hookups are provided for telworking employees who need to work in the office.

Hoteling also should include an online reservation system, so teleworkers don’t all show up in the office at once and find there isn’t enough equipment to go around.