Planning for Telework
Not only disasters, but planning telework for major disruptions like strikes and large public events. Out here the 2010 winter games are coming. I hope that by 2007 companies have made real progress in letting people telecommute.
OPM Finds Agencies Are Doing Better at Preparing for the Worst by Stephen Barr (Washington Post, April 30, 2004) reports that the Office of Personnel Management has conducted a survey on the state of the federal agencies' emergency preparedness. Among the findings reported in a memo this week from Kay Coles James, the OPM director: “Only 43 percent of the agencies have a policy on the duties that telecommuters should carry on during an emergency.”
“OPM… plans to host two government-wide training sessions this spring to help agencies plan for emergencies and natural disasters. The training will focus on planning for and evaluating shelter-in-place and evacuation drills and the use of telework during an emergency.”
Great idea, but you can't wait for an emergency to happen, and then try to start teleworking. You can't do it through planned drills, assessment, and practices either. Telework should be incorporated as a standard operating procedure in order to ensure that it will work efficiently and effectively, especially during a suddent or long-term crisis.