Our latest guide, “Agency of the Future: Telework More Than a Trend – A Workplace Transformation,” features case studies and best practices from the Government Accountability Office and insights from HP’s Chief Technologist for Thin Client, Tom Flynn. Download the PDF.
Do you remember The Jetsons? The show centers on a family living in the futuristic world of 2062. The world featured flying cars, robotic maids and machines that could do the impossible, cooking dinner in an instant, pressing the laundry and walking the dog with the push of a button.
However, even in this futuristic world, George still got dressed every morning and left his house of gadgetry to trudge to the office. The writers behind the 1926 cartoon couldn’t fathom a future where an office could be in the home. To them, the office was a destination outside the house – and, to some extent, that belief is still true.
According to the 2012 Status of Telework in the Federal Government report, roughly 35% of the federal workforce is eligible to telework, but only 11% take advantage. The main reason for the low percentage is that employees feel culturally pressured to work in the office by supervisors who are not comfortable managing remote professionals.
However, that cultural bias against telework is shifting as technology makes it easier to stay connected to colleagues and work-related information. Instant messaging, Voice over IP and mobile phones, plus the ability to access email and the web anytime, anywhere, is allowing employees to stay plugged in to the office. They are no longer out of sight out of mind, because technology allows them to remain present.
In this report, GovLoop outlines the future of telework in government:
- State of Telework: The Numbers Now and the Vision for 2020
- Doubling Down on the Future: How GAO Gambled and Won With Telework
- Leveraging Technology for Telework: Virtual Desktops, Video and Virtual Rooms
- Gaining Support from Senior Executives
- Training Top-Notch Teleworkers
- Staying Connected with the Right Tools
- Creating a Culture of Performance Management
- Getting Over the Cultural Hurdles
- Transferring Lessons from Field to Headquarters
- Your Telework Cheat Sheet
Below are some additional resources that were used as part of the research for this report:
- GAO’s Annual Telework Assessment to Congress
- GovLoop’s Telework Calculator
- GovLoop’s Telework Infographic: How Telework Makes Better Bosses and Top-Notch Teams
- OPM’s Guide for Telework in the Federal Government
- OPM’s Government Performance Management Cycle
- Telework Enhancement Act of 2010
- The 2013 Tele-Vision Awards Program
- Federal Employee Telework Savings Calculator™
- Federal Telework Return on Taxpayer Investment
- Results-Based Management: The Key to Unlocking Talent and Increasing Productivity,
- Trial access to e-Work.com’s most popular remote work training programs
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