As agencies face the July 2011 deadline for implementing the Telework Enhancement Act of 2010, a recent report funded by the IBM Center for The Business of Government offers guidance for navigating the obstacles and risks of public sector telework adoption. The act, which became law late last year, requires agency heads to establish a telework plan.

"Instead of each agency developing its own telework policies and procedures, the legislation sets forth a government-wide framework which both endorses and encour­ages the use of telework throughout the government," writes report author Scott Overmyer, director of the Master of Science in Information Systems program at Baker College.

Successful telework implementation depends on top-down support, explicit policies, training, revised performance metrics and an "inclusive" work style, according to report findings, based on case studies of four federal agencies.

All four agencies in the study reported management resistance as an obstacle to telework. What's more, 60 percent of telework coordinators participating in an IBM survey reported management support as a major challenge to teleworking in the orga­nization.

Although flexible work environments are becoming more accepted, there are still pockets of managers who believe that in order to work effectively, an employee must be at their office desk, a work-life program manager told report authors. 

The report makes 10 recommendations, based on an examination of telework programs at the Defense Information Systems Agency, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, Patent and Trademark Office, and National Institutes of Health:

• Devel­op a comprehensive telework plan by July 2011.
• Develop clear, written telework policies and telework agreements.
• Train employees and managers to support telework policies.
• Develop effective measures of performance.
• Base individual evaluations on performance, not presence.
• Emphasize "managing for results," and managers will have to be more proactive.
• Review employee performance based on measur­able outcomes.
• Embrace a more proactive and "inclusive" management style.
• Include telework technologies in agency bud­gets, but allow the use of personal equipment when practical.
• Focus on security issues while implementing new tele­work policies.

For more:
- see the report (.pdf)

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