The document discusses the benefits of telework programs and some common challenges that can arise for supervisors, managers, and employees. It notes that while telework is beneficial and should be expanded, not all understand its principles and best practices. Common challenges include ensuring accountability and work quality from remote employees, securing sensitive information, and maintaining team communication and culture. The document provides tips to address these, such as creating standardized telework approval criteria, engaging employees in discussions, and assessing and training supervisors on remote management skills. Formalizing performance monitoring and agreements is also recommended to help telework programs succeed.

1. ©2014 PowerSkills
Training & Development,
Inc. & Robert J Schout
December 7, 2014
By: Robert J Schout
TELEWORK SUCCESS
1
Telework, as a program initiative, is
vital for all work sectors (e.g.,
government, business, non-profit). The
facts …regarding productivity,
maintenance of acceptable and even
‘high’ performance, generational
demographic trend analysis, and
employee appreciation of workplace
flexibility options…all support
Telework, as a program, should not
only stay in place but be expanded.
That being said, there are many
employees, supervisors, managers and
senior directors who don’t understand
basic program principles, paradigms,
practices or problem-solving. Here are
some common challenges that pop up
and which must be addressed, in some
programs:
• Supervisor/Management
Challenges (e.g., competency
and confidence in dealing with
nuances of employee
management/decisions (e.g.,
ensuring accountability,
handling employee requests
and discerning right decisions,
2
etc..) Example: Being swayed
or confused by a blurring of
the term “situational” related
to telework decisions and
ensuring that there are
“standards, expectations
related to, and guidelines for”
telework approval
• Environmental Challenges
(e.g., security of sensitive
information off-site;
competing priorities in a home
environment…children,
chores; lack of bandwidth to
support technology)
• Team/Organizational Cultural
Challenges (e.g.,
management supporting a
culture of “fear”….fear of
grievances, fear of
repercussions, fear of having
to deal with resistance, etc.;
management creating a culture
of dependency on rules,
answers for everything,
equanimity; etc.)
Here are some tips to support success:
• Offer supervisors/managers
(or create with sup/mgrs) a
standardized list of criteria for
Telework Situational
Approval. The list should be
ranked in order of probable
consideration. An example is
listed here:
3
1. Job/Task applicability to
telework
2. Security of sensitive
information
3. Assurance of high quality
customer services (re:
internal AND external
customers)
4. Team workload
management and sharing
5. Quality and efficiency of
individual work products
6. Team (and cross-team)
relationship maintenance,
communication and
cohesion
• Engage all employees,
individually, in discussions
related to questions on the
Telework Employee Survey
• Engage the
supervisors/managers in
teams to develop “consistency”
of decisions and responses
• Assess supervisor/manager
competencies and confidences
in basic skill areas and for
nuanced interactions and
decisions; provide “advanced
training”
(Continued on next page)
INSIDE THIS ISSUE
1-2 Telework Success
2 Values at Work
3 New products, booklets
and webinars
PowerSkills Training & Development, Inc.
Training & development, Inc.

2. Lorem Ipsum
(TELEWORK cont.)
• Formalize agreements for
monthly performance assessment,
weekly monitoring of
tasks/projects, intervention
criteria and processes,
restrictions on telework
agreements themselves, etc.
• Step into “supervisory” roles and
habits and define your practices
to ensure accountability, quality,
development, team building,
customer services, etc.
• Make “development”,
“management of people and
processes” and “monitoring”
mainstays of your daily and
weekly practices.
• Convene weekly team meetings
and monthly partner meetings to
assess challenges early.
• Engage in immediate corrective
actions even for micro-offences.
• Balance telework time with on-
site face time to ensure worksite
coverage, relationship
development, and supervisory
face-time.
• Partner with labor relations
garnering the acceptance of tools
and strategies to insure employee
performance and productivity;
demonstrating that those tools
and strategies also ensure the
continuation of an employee’s
opportunities to engage in
telework.
©2014 Bob Schout & PowerSkills
Training & Development, Inc. All
rights reserved.
1
Values form the foundation of workplace
cultures. Whether the leaders and
organizational stakeholder values
demonstrate respect and integrity, or
coercion and autocracy…values in action
are experienced by all who interact with
the organization. They influence the
climate (collective attitudes), the culture
(agreed upon norms), motivation, morale
and ultimately performance and
productivity.
Values may be identified by the leaders
but they must be acquiesced to and lived
by all…beginning with the leaders, right
off the bat. However, even if certain
leaders do not live up to nor demonstrate
positive values-in-action, that does not
and should not give other stakeholders
leeway to become more lenient in
demonstration of their own – or the
agreed upon – values. Everyone
influences a culture through value-
demonstrations.
The trick, for success, is for an
organization to weave them into its very
culture. Organizations do this by first
identifying core values. Then
collaboratively defining them so that
everyone’s on the same page. Once that’s
done an organization must attach specific
behavioral metrics/measurements to
each value, along with specific ways to
weave them into processes, procedures,
policies, and operational management
practices.
Organizations trip up, inadvertently, in a
few ways. Take a look at this list and see
if your organization may be accidentally
tripping up:
1) Beginning the process of values
identification and definement
2
but then abruptly, or over time,
not finishing it.
2) Allowing leaders (e.g., senior
directors, managers, supervisors,
or team leads) to behave in ways
that are in opposition to the
stated values.
3) Identifying values and posting,
distributing and highlighting them
but not weaving them into
specific organizational operations,
management practices, and team
practices.
4) Lack of sustainment with
maintaining a value-based culture
as a permanent facet, instead,
implying that it is the
organizational change ‘flavor of
the month’.
5) Allowing employees or other
stakeholders to absolve
themselves from value-based
interactions because they can
point to one or a few leaders who
have tripped up.
Remember how long it took for you, as a
child and adolescent, to learn and then
integrate values into your everyday
behaviors and belief systems. My guess is
that it took years, and that you’re still
working on some day-to-day.
For values to be permanently in place and
enhance a workplace, it takes time,
persistence, fortitude, consistency, and
patience…all are VIRTUES. We’ll talk
about virtues in the next issue.
©2014 Bob Schout & PowerSkills
Training & Development, Inc. All
rights reserved.
Values at work

3. 3
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Bob@yourpowerskills.com
Ph. 619-517-6299
Make every day a step along the path of learning, leading, loving
and living a little bit more, as you grow into the fullness of your
potential. Don’t force it. Let it happen. Each day offers
multitudes of interactional possibilities; each one a chance and a
choice to learn more, lead more, love more and live more…
than you did just the moment before.
– Bob Schout

4. Powerskills training & development, Inc.
PowerSkills offers training seminars, coaching services,
organizational consulting, and retreat programs that are designed
to grow skills, spirit and community at work and in each
person’s life. We work with non-profit organizations,
government agencies, business and corporate enterprises, and
community groups to create empowering and enriching cultures
that ensure high performance, productivity, diversity, creativity,
opportunity and harmony.
For a list of our services contact us soon!
PowerSkills Training & Development, Inc.
Ph. 619-517-6299
4224 Plaza Sonata . Santa Fe . NM . 87507
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