While federal agencies are under pressure to implement the Telework Enhancement Act, which requires agencies to adopt policies for working outside the office by June, 2011, the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) already provides a glimpse at telework best practices for government agencies.
DISA implemented its telework program in 2005 and in 2007 received a reward from the Telework Exchange for best new telework initiative. Now, more than 50 percent of its workforce has the option to work remotely.
One of the key strengths of the DISA telework program is for senior leadership to be on board with the program and trained in the practices, said Aaron Glover, special assistant to the director of manpower, personnel and security at DISA. Agencies also need to invest in the necessary infrastructure to support teleworkers, including government-furnished laptops that connect to secure networks and high speed internet. Requirements need to be established on how employees handle classified information and training programs for both managers and employees needs to be implemented, Glover said.
“The key to our success has been providing training to all our managers in regard to teleworking — how you manage the remote workforce [and] communication with the employee, and make sure expectations are identified so everybody knows what’s going to be expected while the employee is teleworking,” Glover said.
DISA has an Open Source Corporate Management Information System that lets employees apply to telework, create a schedule, complete the required agreement and safety checklist, and submit telework requests to their supervisors.
“The program manager can see the overall picture of how many applications are approved, disapproved or pending, and break it out by organization,” Glover said.
While some in government have wondered how to supervise and oversee remote workers, DISA dispels this notion and monitors their teleworkers the same way they manage on-site employees. The Telework Enhancement Act states that teleworkers and non-teleworkers must be treated identically when it comes to job appraisals and work requirements.
“Managers need to focus on the value of the work output rather than the individual’s physical presence in the office,” said Cindy Auten, general manager at the Telework Exchange, a federal telework advocacy group.
