Teleworking and What it Can Mean for Your Business

Seizing the Opportunities, Handling the Challenges of Virtual and Distributed Work

Introductions

Noticed a lack of good advice about how to

realise the benefits of remote work

Leading role in the national conversation

My boss lets me work from home….

For Telstra employee Jenni Thorne, teleworking has

made her more productive

A Telstra Employee

Question

What do your friends and colleagues say about about work from home or flexible work?

Today’s Presentation

Australian and international companies demonstrate that

telework and ‘anywhere working’ can offer significant benefits to

business

Changes are needed in the overall business, at the management level

and in the workplace

The whole picture is complex, but there are some rules of

thumb

There are pitfalls to avoid

The Way We Work is Changing

By 2025, 5 billion People will have

access to the internet

Markets Rebalancing globally

Babies born in 2012, At least one in three will live

To the age of 100

Manufacturing Is falling

While the proportionproviding services is

rising

Rise in Remote Work

• In Australia 51% of employees now use the Internet to work away from the office, either

as teleworkers or working outside work hours -

• an estimated 5.6 million workers

• Global mobile worker population expected to reach

1.3 billion by 2015 • International Data Corporation

The Mobile Worker Population is Rising

Technologies are Revolutionising the Workplace

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Mobile devices

Secure access to data and applications

High speed networks

Unified communication systems

Group collaboration software

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• Mobile work• Work-shifting • Hot desking

• Telecommuting• Remote work• Virtual work • Agile Work• Flexi-work

• Distributed work• Activity-based work

• Telework• Work from home Work that breaks free of the traditional

model of ‘9-to-5 in the office’

The New Workstyle

The Benefits for Business

Competitive advantage

20% productivity gains

Improved attraction and retention

Reduced costs including real estate by 25-50%

Improved service outcomes

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Some businesses in Australia are already reaping the substantial rewards that are possible by bringing in a

telework program and making remote work the new norm

Leading Australian Businesses

Leading International Businesses

Aetna, Inc. is an American managed health care company

Nortel was a multinational telecommunications company

Cigna is a health insurance and health services company in the US

Xerox is a world-leader in document technology and

related services

Sun Microsystems reported a $71 million

reduction

The travel division of American Express has a large

telecommute workforce

At AT&T, telework director Joseph Roitz reports that the extra hour of work gained each day by telecommuters last

year translated into a $148 million operational benefit

In Practise - Video

That work won't get done 

That the quality of interactions between remote workers and their colleagues will diminish

That workers could be unsafe

Fears

Complexity

There are so many variables at play:

leadership, management,

technology, work environment, skills,

innovation, flexibility and so on….

....that our approach to effective telework needs to recognize the complexity involved

Manager training

Willingness to innovate

Leadership

A suitable workforce

General flexibility

Capacity to measure performance on the basis of outcomes  

Planning

Seven Critical Success Factors

Leadership - Macquarie Group

Willingness to Innovate - Westpac

A Suitable Workforce - Medibank

Manager Training - Stockland

Flexibility

As the Huffington Post noted recently, global businesses

today are faced with a whole new set of challenges when

competing in a volatile, highly digital age.

Call it ‘agility’ or ‘flexibility’, this critical success factor is

about an organisation’s capacity to respond to

changing circumstances efficiently and rapidly.

Outcomes-based performance - GAP

We have all heard the saying “you can’t manage what you don’t measure”. On the other hand, we know that management is more

than measurement.

Planning – GE Energy

In the case of telework, planning is important on a

number of levels, not least because an

employee needs access to the tools necessary for their work while away

from the office. 

Managers

Keep the Ball Alive

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But are rewarded with a happier, more engaged team that delivers stronger results

Managers need to upskill  

The manager's job becomes clearly articulating and monitoring the results

that are needed - rather than levels of activity

Written performance plans are an important tool, as are

weekly objectives and reports  

Managers

• Provide certainty around the team's mission, goals and ground rules

• Use social networking tools, collaborative online tools, videoconferencing, webinars, phone calls

• Maintain social contact• Keep remote employees in the loop   • Keep communication open and steady

between staff • Email should not be the primary means of

communication

  

Above all, Establish your Leadership Role Clearly  

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Empower

ManagersSupport

Coach

Pitfalls – the Five Biggest Mistakes

Confusion about

‘success’ and ‘failure’

Failing to start small

Pitfalls

Pitfalls

Expecting more of the technology than it can

provide

Pitfalls

Failing to recognise the

impact on managers

Pitfalls

Thinking that telework is

either ‘an HR issue’ or

‘an IT issue’

Ground We’ve Covered

Australian and international companies demonstrate that

telework and ‘anywhere working’ can offer significant benefits to

business

Changes are needed in the overall business, at the management level

and in the workplace

The whole picture is complex, but there are some rules of

thumb

There are pitfalls to avoid

Nina SochonManaging Director

info@teleworkhowto.co

m 0406 500 474

‘Work’ is increasingly a thing you do, not a place you go