A Strategic Approach
While OPM has been working to promote telework within the Federal Government for over a decade, our efforts were re-energized with the passage of P.L. 106- 346. OPM hosted an all day inter-agency strategic planning session on April 17, 2001. The goal of the session was to expand our existing mechanisms for achieving maximum use of telework. In addition to OPM staff, the planning session included representatives of the GSA, DoD, Treasury, and the Department of Transportation. AT&T, with its demonstrated success with telecommuting, served as a resource to the group.
The session identified various forces driving the expansion of telecommuting in the Federal Government. They include: ongoing Congressional interest in promoting telework; changing demographics threatening the loss of knowledge workers to retirement; technological advancements that have decoupled work from a specific physical office location and support the concept that "work is not a place;" and environmental and ecological concerns such as air pollution and energy conservation.
Planning session participants agreed that agencies needed further guidance in identifying eligible positions through job content analysis and that the current definition of telework, which requires a minimum commitment of one day a week, is too limiting. There was consensus that all employees should be considered eligible to telecommute unless they possess individual characteristics that make the employee an inappropriate candidate, or job duties that demand the employee's physical presence at a central location.
The planning session identified several strategies as being critical to substantially increasing the use of telework in the Federal Government. The strategies include: new and revised telework policies; a focus on training and marketing; providing technical assistance and tools for agencies; continued study and increased focus on evaluation; incentives to increase telework utilization; and strengthening partnerships with agencies and other relevant organizations.
These conclusions were incorporated into OPM plans for helping agencies successfully integrate telework into their organizational cultures and operations. To assure that our activities remain focused on real needs, we continue to strengthen and expand our partnerships with the agencies and relevant telework-related organizations, working together on a number of projects in various venues. In addition, we have focused attention on the barriers agencies identified in our April 2001 survey to refine and target our efforts.
Training Strategic Plan
A unifying theme coming out of the strategic planning session, our partnerships with agencies, and our April survey, is that training and education are critical to expanding telework in the Federal Government. OPM activities, therefore, seek to enhance training for all parties involved -- agency leadership, managers and supervisors, and employees. A strategic training plan was developed in early spring 2001 to guide and focus our efforts in this area. As part of the plan, OPM has developed three distinct training modules, each targeted at the needs and concerns of a specific audience. These modules serve as a tool kit from which specific items can be selected to customize training for a particular agency.
Training and Marketing
Our marketing efforts, which are predominantly targeted at federal managers, focus on making the business case for telework. We also identify federal and private sector best practices, offer solutions for overcoming barriers, and showcase federal success stories.
OPM conducted a telecommuting seminar in March 2001 attended by approximately 300 agency representatives. We have made presentations on telework at several conferences and training sessions both in and outside the Washington D.C. metropolitan area. In addition, we are working closely with federal agency Human Resource Directors, fully integrating this leadership body into our telework activities.
Telework Leadership Conference
Understanding that top agency management support and leadership are crucial to the expansion of telework, OPM and Congressman Frank Wolf of Virginia co-sponsored a Telework Leadership Conference on October 19, 2001. We invited agency Assistant and Deputy Assistant Secretaries, as well as Human Resource Directors, to attend. OPM Director Kay Cole James welcomed over one hundred agency leaders, making the case for telework and energizing participants to take the lead within their own agencies. Conference attendees heard from Rep. Frank Wolf of Virginia and Rep. Constance Morella of Maryland, both of whom emphasized congressional interest in seeing that agencies fully utilize telework. GSA Administrator Stephen Perry also offered a thoughtful presentation on developing an effective telework strategy.
Satellite Broadcast
The Leadership Conference was followed by a satellite broadcast to federal agencies on November 14, 2001. The audience included managers, supervisors, and front-line employees. The broadcast, entitled "Telework Works," included opening remarks from OPM Director James and Rep. Frank Wolf (R-Va). We also heard from a panel of telework experts from OPM, GSA, and the Department of Transportation who offered strategies for setting up and implementing successful programs.
Internet-Based Training Module
With help from the Human Resources Management Council, OPM has developed an internet-based telework training module that provides resources and tools for human resource staff, telework coordinators, managers and employees to help facilitate expansion of telework governmentwide. Twenty agencies have been participating in the design of the training module over that last three months.
The main elements of the training module include:
- A program for federal managers to help implement strategies that will overcome the common barriers to telework.
- A program to establish positive attitudes toward telework by helping to overcome common employee fears and develop employees' time management, task management and communications skills.
- An extensive informational unit for human resource staff and telework coordinators offering guidance and best practices to assist managers and employees with the implementation of telework.
One-Stop Telework Website
In late June 2001, OPM and GSA launched a joint website to make it simpler for agencies to find all the information they need about telecommuting at one location: www. telework.gov. The website offers links to both OPM and GSA telework information. A wide array of resources can be accessed including OPM and GSA policy guidance, agency telework policies, guidelines for designing and implementing telework programs, answers to frequently asked questions, and telework conference announcements and registration information.