A rallying cry for federal telework

Telework in the federal government should be growing far faster than it is, and that is one of the biggest challenges for federal agencies, the president of a public interest group said Max Stier, president and chief executive officer of the Partnership for Public Service, spoke at a recent event sponsored by the Telework Exchange about the lack of initiatives in moving telework forward in government.

The biggest change, he said, is requiring agency managers to oversee employees who work outside government facilities. And the toughest task is effectively communicating an agency's objectives.

"If you can't provide the answer without having them in front of you, telework won't work," Stier said. "Having employees sitting at their desk isn't a goal. Agencies need to invest more in training for managers to learn techniques for managing remote workers effectively."

Some agencies have moved faster than others. But all agencies face the challenging issues of security, providing effective technology and trusting their workers to do the job outside of the office.

For more on the challenges of telework in the federal government:
- check out this Federal Computer Week article