SUMMARY: Telecommuting

["Lori E. Moore" <lorimoore -at- MICRON -dot- COM>]

Howdy, Tech-whirler friends!

I've had my mail turned off so often, that I recently caught
only bits of what appeared to be a telecommuting thread.
Hope the info below will help those who inquired on the
subject...

Lori Moore                        }}}}} Freebird }}}}
LORIMOORE -at- VAX -dot- MICRON -dot- COM
Micron in Boise, ID, USA


   In early summer, I asked this group for information
on telecommuting (the practice of working at HOME for your
employer one or more days a week).  I promised to check
into the issue and summarize in the fall, so here she be!

   But first...
A big THANK YOU goes out to our kind peers who responded.
You provided leads and personal experiences that I needed
to kick off my study.


Here's the order of my summary:
PRO'S AND CON'S........ for both you and your company
CONTACTS............... locations to obtion more info
MY COMPANY'S RESPONSE.. ???

NOTE:  I cut out advise from telecommuters and some other
tidbits I came across.  Write me privately if you're interested.)

PRO'S AND CON'S (gathered from a variety of written/oral sources)
---------------

Pros:

- your productivity increases
- quality of your work increases
- your supervisor must rate you on your output, not how busy you look
(could be a pro OR a con... :>)
- it's enticing, to recruit/retain employees
- reduced interruptions
- the workday is less stressful
- you have more control in balancing personal and work schedules
- each day's 8 hours are work time, not social time
- reduction in office/parking space requirements
- reduction in traffic; therefore, air pollution
- reduction in sick days (you can comfortably work at home with minor
illnesses)
- reduction in 'office politics' (co-workers see less of each other)
- reduction in arguments over the temperature/music in the office
- you learn to manage your time more effectively
- you tend to become more knowledgeable of the tools of the trade
because you perform much of your own hardware/software maintenance
- continuity in professional development (you can 'stay' at your
job), even though you might relocate due to your spouse's job
- in bad weather/natural disaster, the work continues

Cons:

- you can feel isolated
- your managers/co-workers can feel isolated from you
- you might miss casual exchanges of information and ideas
- it sometimes takes a LONG time to find your niche working at home;
or you may never find that 'comfort zone'
- requires unwavering self-discipline ("Let's see - eight hours
of work time or eight hours of WWW?")
- some co-workers will always refer to work-at-home days as "days off"
- harder to develop/maintain social associations that occur in the office
- it's so easy to finish "just one more thing" over and over again!
- start-up costs are high if you lack quality equipment and your
employer doesn't pay for it


CONTACTS
--------
- the Smart Valley Telecommuting Guide page is found at:
  http://www.svi.org/SVI/PROJECTS/TCOMMUTE/tcguide.html
  WWW home page: http://www.svi.org

- the following are newsletters on the subject:

    Telecommuter Review:                    Telecommuting Times
    The Gordon Report                       PO Box 143
    Gil Gordon Associates                   Cheltenham, PA  19012
    10 Donner Court
    Monmouth Junction, NJ  08852

- this is a report of the California state government's
  pilot program (cost- $10.90):

  California Telecommuting Pilot Project Report
  Stock No. 7540-930-0400-6
  State of California
  Department of General Services
  Publications Unit
  PO Box 1015
  North Highlands, CA  95660         (WHEW!  typical of a gov't, huh?)

- "Telecommute '95" conference in Santa Clara, CA, Nov 7-10
  Contact Numbers:  (800) 854-0056 or (410) 267-0700
  Cost:  Prices range from $345 to $1295, depending on which
  activities you participate in.


MY COMPANY'S RESPONSE
---------------------

In a nutshell, they declined.  Since this company is very open to
suggestions, I knocked on the vice president's door and we discussed
the possiblities.  (I thought this would save time in preparing
a proposal if Micron had already investigated the subject.)  In the
next few days, the vice pres. asked the pres. if a 'Quality Team' could
study the issue.

Although the president is familiar with the benefits of telecommuting,
he feels it's "contrary to our culture here."  He didn't outrule it for
the future, though.  Oh well,... it was worth a shot.  I can't say for
certain that this work style would suit me, but it would be nice to have
the option available.