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Striving to Keep Teleworkers Happy
coondoggie writes "Employees who work from home or in remote branch offices often feel disconnected from corporate life and worry they will be forgotten and bypassed for promotions. Managers and employees have to make a concerted effort to stay in touch, experts say. At IBM, Pelino and others set out to improve corporate culture. The company sparked new life into an old tradition: IBM Club, which brings together employees for intramural sports, picnics, movies and other types of social, cultural and recreational activities."
Don't worry. So do the people who work at the head office.
But if a promotion didn't come, I wouldn't be upset. As a teleworker for a local staffing service, I save enough money on gas alone. I have the comfort of my own bathroom, the comfort of my own house, and the comfort of my World of Warcraft video game on my breaks. I really wouldn't trade that to have to travel to the office every day and interact with people, even if it means never getting promoted.
Yay.. Another opportunity to have the athletic drag the non-athletic of us into 'competitions'. I'm not even fat or out of shape....just tired of Little Leagues that extend into your golden years...
- E
I agree. Managing strip club + hooker expenses via email/phone is simply too difficult.
Much easier to broach the subject over a friendly game of tennis.
This is one of the reasons I finally left IBM. While I worked in RTP, at an IBM campus, I loved it. Surrounded by IBMer's, there were lots of activities and clubs for us to use. Once I moved to a customer site, all that disappeared. Left in a supply closet, reviled by the customer and IBM alike, we festered. Job satisfaction dropped, and so did that feeling of belonging to IBM. Add into that the drastic cost cutting IBM has implemented, and things generally sucked. We all stopped going into the office because of gas prices, and roving bands of irate customers. IBM made no effort to get the local people together. Now that they are trying to breathe "new life into an old tradition: IBM Club" I predict the same old same old. This "club" in unfunded, ignored, and generally cast aside. IBM needs to start investing again in people, not gimmicks and cheerleading.
...At IBM, Pelino and others set out to improve corporate culture. The company sparked new life into an old tradition: IBM Club, which brings together employees for intramural sports, picnics, movies and other types of social, cultural and recreational activities...
Wouldn't it be ironic that the people it is intended to bring together might not hear about it because the notices for those activites is posted in the lunchroom?
Why yes. I am an optimist. Why do you ask?
Hope be with ye,
Cyan
As someone that was an IBM employee and still knows people that work at IBM I can tell you that this is mostly spin. Moving people to work from home is all about the mighty dollar. IBM saves quite a bit in expenses by having people work from home. Also, IBM doesn't really care that much about it's U.S. workforce as it is primarily interested in moving jobs to India. The last announced goal for the workforce in India is 40,000 employees. Little hiring is being done at all in the U.S. by IBM while attrition continually reduces the U.S. numbers.
"4)I have not partied with Andy Dick" -- Matt, Salon.com 11/23/99 "I Anakin"
That's exactly why I freelance instead of work for a corporation.
I live in the mountains and can go skiing, paragliding, mountain biking, climbing etc whenever the weather permits and fit my work (about two days a week is enough to pay the rent/bar tab) around my play. Sure, I don't have a lot of money but if I worked full time in London I'd spend it all on going to the mountains on holidays.
A basic problem with "telework" is that promotion within the company is unlikely. But job changing is easier.
>Employees who work from home or in remote branch offices often feel disconnected from corporate life
I thought that was the PRIMARY benefit! What more could you want? Do yer job, do it right, do it in your PJs.
Shadus
Beat the shit out of the managers that make teleworkers have to justify that we are really doing our jobs away from the office.
It never fails, it seems every quarter some moron in Finance or some new manager in some department questions the value of teleworkers and other stupid comments or questions about the people they dont see daily.
When you have to defend yourself in SPITE of your work quality and quantity on a regular basis it kind of makes us really pissy.
Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
Sometimes being a part of office culture can open opportunities for conflict, and teleworkers may have the best longevity because they are spared the indignities of office noise and too much closeness.
So....now besides going to work 9 to 5 monday to friday and beyond...you go on company branded organised excursions with your fellow employees and their families...at which you all bond and the company tries to let you know about how much they care about you? I'm sorry, but this for me (and I'm sure quite a number of my generation) is pretty much what's putrid about western corporate culture today....when it suits companies, they want to have 'a positive one on one relationship with someone'[personifying probably the least personifiable construct on the planet] whether it be customer or employee, that 'lets them know they care'. When it doesn't and a companies execs want to put the boot in its 'not personal, just business'.[my fellow programmer incidentally reckons the only way to deal with that line is to make it personal]. Western business culture today seems in practice at least to either use the company as a vehicle for overtly oily and condescending overtures to customers or employees, or as a shield to hide behind when extremely irresponible decisions have been made. Its why, if I cn help it, I never want to work for a large company in my life. Once the damn things pass a certain size, they take on a personality all of their own, and it's generally not nice.
Isn't the point of working from home to be "disconnected from corporate life"?
Here come the "corporate culture" wonks, yet again. I love how an entire industry of HR consultants and managers have bought into, and actively promote, this notion of corporate culture as something that can be "improved" or changed. Generally it only goes downhill over the long run once these kinds of initiatives are enacted, because most people see it to be what it really is: a feeble attempt at controlling employees emotions and psychology to make them feel personally accountable for business success or failure. Let me know how that works out and how you feel after the next round of layoffs...
If it is a promotion you want and are not getting here is what you do. Call the boss on the phone or
run into the office to talk to him. Tell him you would like to be promoted to such and such whatever that may be. One of three things will likely happen, he will either say no, say yes or try to passify you with some BS which is the most likely course of action. Now if he says no or throws you some BS you have two courses of action.
1. Sit at home for the rest of your life and do your job like a good little boy or
2. Find somebody else willing to give you that promotion and more money to boot.
If you suck then you are best off sticking with number 1. If you have skills that should be rewarded and are valued then number 2 is your course of action.
You are in charge of where you want to go with your career, nobody is gonna look out for you except
yourself.
I have found myself in a similar situation a manager that want's to keep me in my current position
forever since I am the best at it and it would be hard to fill that position. Well guess what, his desires are not my desires so it is obviously time to rid myself of the relationship. Took me a whole two days to find somebody to step up and give me both the position and the money I want.
I work full time from home in a senior development position and can relate very much to the disconnected feeling that is discussed in the article, but the solutions that are discussed are addressing the wrong problem in my opinion. The problem is communication but it is professional communication, not social communication that is often lacking.
:)
We have found that short and sweet daily "stand-up" meetings in the morning with only the immediate team members (others of whom work from home as well) are far more helpful than weekly or monthly all-staffs or get togethers. In my experience it is rare that more than 2-3 people actually speak on an all-staff conference call of more than 10 people - how can that help improve communication? Get togethers at a restaurant or park, what have you, are fun and allow for familiarization but they are outside of work and do nothing to improve the day to day communication of the issues at hand.
We have also found webcams to be unhelpful, the concensus being that without eye contact it's just TV. Screen sharing tools like VNC or webex paired with a speaker phone are far more effective when extended collaboration has to happen, while IM takes care of the rest.
As far as the promotions go if the team you're on isn't communicating professionally and producing crap code you have no chance of getting promoted - no matter how many funny jokes you tell at the IBM "Lunch 'n Bowl"
while [ 1 ]; do echo -n -e "\xe2\x95\xb$((($RANDOM&1)+1))"; done
Whoever it was that said this was spin was completely accurate. I work in Pelino's old region-- and have been a telecommuter 15 years-- and he was gone before anyone tried to breath life back into the IBM Club. 'Back in the day' it was ok because, having worked in the office, you knew all the folks who showed up at the events. Now with "professional hires" and the for-hire talent coming in and out you can go to these things and not know a soul there. So, most of us don't go anymore. Pelino himself, when he was 'spearheading' this initiative was a complete cipher. He had some big time title and reported into HQ, but he had zero local responsibilities. However long he was in the region, I layed eyes on the guy one time. He was a big difference maker. Not. In fact, one of IBM's biggest problems in terms of morale is the pathetic notion that this sort of pointless garbage raises anyone's spirits. I have reported to someone who lived within 200 miles of me exactly 17 months in the last 15 years. And having this odd idea that managers ought to manage-- which includes sampling activites and results, coaching and directing-- and since IBM managers haven't done any of that in at least 10 years, I'm constantly at odds with this stream of placeholders who've been signing my timecard. Sign me counting the days to retirement ...
you do not talk about IBM Club.
The second rule of IMB Club is. YOU DO NOT TALK ABOUT IBM CLUB.
maybe it is time to not spend all day posting to slashdot then - dumbass.
Am I the only one that actually likes telecommuting?
Seriously, there's a lot of things to not like about IBM, but telecommuting certainly rocks. For one, I get to skip an hour of traffic coming and going and save up on the money. My job as a sysadmin is very lax and easygoing, and I'm studying Computer Science simultaneously, which means that the free time that I'd spend in the office I can spend home studying or, God forbid, working naked in my bedroom, or outside in the backyard(you CAN take the laptop outside).
Socializing? You just coordinate your time telecommuting so that you have 2 days in the office so you can spend time with your team (assuming that your team is worth spending time with). I'd tell you, in a day with little stuff to do I'd rather do my own socializing inviting a friend over than spending in with a random coworker.
And sleep. Man, there is nothing better for your health than getting to sleep an extra hour because of not having to deal with the bullshit of getting dressed and driving. Better yet, you can get out and run or do exercise before tunring the machine on.
People who dislike telecommuting are simply not creative enough to know how to deal with it. A couple of weekly meetings in person with the rest of the staff suffices to kill the feeling of disconnection. The rest of the free time and benefits you get by being home are absolutely amazing if you use them right. I get to cook, watch TV, or read whatever I want. Yes, it does take personal discipline to lose the distractions when there's work to be done, but it's damn well worth it.
Cosas de un sysadmin argentino: http://aosinski.phpnet.us/
Do you have Carpal Tunnel or just muscular strain.
You should go and see a physician immediately... not post to slashdot.
Your company will have insurance against this, but you need to show that you sought medical help appropriately or the insurer may find ground to refuse payment.
Norman Cook's Ode to Sl
When I was 100% telecommute I was always terrified I would be promoted and given responsibilities that required me to travel, or else, forced to relocate to a main office.
-fb Everything not expressly forbidden is now mandatory.
The problem is that in su*burp*ia, you often don't see a lot of faces outside the company since everyone's working different hours, taking care of kids, whatever, and in most suburbs, people don't even walk on the street that much. So it isn't a matter of disconnection from the company as from life in general. If more people lived in cities and smaller towns rather than in uptightass developments, maybe we'll make some progress there.
-b.
I'm a full time Office guy. I ALWAYS come into the office (because that is where my job is - You can't repair the computers when you're at home).
Just today, one of our Account Management Reps (who usually works from home, but comes into the office 1-2 days a month) came in and brought Soup, Cake, and christmas cards for everyone in the office.
She loves to cook, and she loves working at home, and the people who work in the office get positive reinforcement for working in the office.
Of course, there are the occasional remote users who never bring munchies, and only call to bitch that comcast sucks.... but screw them.... No soup for you!
I've worked several companies that not only encourage telework, they require it. Most people call it "tech support", and making yourself available in that capacity is not a bad thing for the career. It just means you spend your life carrying pagers and cell phones, contractually guaranteeing response times that tie you close to home and network.
But face time is important. If no one sees you or knows what you do, you don't exist. Come budget time, neither does your paycheque.
I do not fail; I succeed at finding out what does not work.