Convincing Supervisors About the Benefits of Telecommuting

April 24, 2008 at 1:16 pm · Filed under AppGap Tips, Tips + Pointers

Telecommuting is becoming more commonplace, thanks to the availability of the internet and collaboration apps for businesses. However, not all companies are open to the idea of letting their employees telecommute. If you want to maximize the potential of mobile working, but your company hasn’t embraced the idea yet, there are some steps you can take to get started.

Gauge your supervisor’s thoughts on the subject. Someone else has to give the final word regarding your telecommuting proposal. This could be an individual, a set of individuals, or a department. The first thing you need to do is find out who will make the final decision before you start.

• Go through company policies and manuals. Does your proposal fit? Would telecommuting go against any set rules or policies? Find any clauses that can help support your proposal. These will come in handy during your presentation.
• Look for examples. Find existing teleworking examples within your office or another similar company. It’s ideal to find an example who has the same job description as yours.
• Find out your company’s history on granting special requests. How has your supervisor reacted to other special requests previously? Is your ocmpany open-minded when it comes to new productivity ideas?
• Learn more about the decision-makers. Who are they and what role do they play in the company? If you can, spot a possible ally in the committee.
• Consider your timing. Can your company afford to be supportive at this time in its growth? Consider the problems that your company or industry is currently facing.
• Speak within their framework. Don’t use jargon, especially if your company isn’t even familiar with the term “telecommuting”. Demonstrate your ideas in words and visuals that they can understand.

Build your case. Your proposal needs to be as strong as your determination to telecommute. Here are some points to consider when you’re building up the strength of your proposal.

• Telecommuting is cheaper. If you work from home, you won’t be using as much company resources. These resources can span from electricity to equipment to the lounge’s coffee filters. Try to quantify how much the company will save each week.
• It is more efficient for the company. Show how it’ll make the jobs of other people easier as well. Find statistics about how there’s increased personal productivity among teleworkers.
• It reduces the need for taking a leave. Your proposal must include studies that display telecommuting’s health benefits. These health benefits will lead to less sick days for you. Also, since you work at your own pace, you’ll be less stressed and might need less vacation leaves.
• Get the approval of your colleagues. Especially the people who work with you, who are part of your team and will be directly affected by your choice to telecommute. This shows upper management that you’re not trying to be special and won’t cause unnecessary envy from your colleagues.

Find a way to quantify your work. How will your work be monitored when you’re telecommuting? Will your colleagues be able to reach you? Show your supervisors your minimum expected daily output, how they can keep track of your work, and the various means of communication involved. Use tools that your direct supervisor is familiar with, so it won’t be too much work on her part.

Give it a trial run. Supervisors are most likely to accept something new if you add a “Try it before you buy it” clause. If you’re dealing with a particularly difficult supervisor, you can propose to do the trial run during a couple of days on vacation leave.

Getting approval to telecommute can be a daunting task, although it shouldn’t be. As long as you keep in mind the advantages it brings to the company, your supervisors can see the big picture more easily.

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How Web 2.0 Changed Workplace Culture

April 22, 2008 at 1:18 pm · Filed under AppGap Tips, Tips + Pointers

When the idea of Web 2.0 first surfaced, many businesses found themselves facing new challenges and opportunities. The new internet landscape was more collaborative and more user-oriented, and the new audience was more keen to try out the new tools at their disposal. As these tools are integrated into the business world, work processes change - along with workplace culture.

Organizations have polarized attitudes to Web 2.0. Generally, businesses either embrace Web 2.0 tools completely or consider them distractions or security risks. Both reactions are, of course, justified. Web 2.0 afficionados are disappointed when they are working with a team who isn’t as tool-savvy as they are. On the other hand, evangelists of traditional communication stick to familiar ground, rolling their eyes when they see coworkers spend hours on instant messaging or social networking. If there’s no proper dialogue established, this makes the workplace seem like a battlefield of Technology versus Tradition.

There’s a struggle to combine old tools with new ones. Workers who are eager to try a Web 2.0 approach to collaboration find themselves awkwardly stuck halfway, usually because of the steep learning curve of new technologies, being caught up in an undeserved hype, or because of the resilience of time-tested processes.

The important thing to remember is that you shouldn’t ditch one system for the other. Instead, find a way for them to work together and slowly integrate them until you find a seamless, more efficient workflow. There is no such thing as the perfect tool or process - it’s all about what your business needs. Don’t fix what’s not broken, but if something can be improved, don’t let it stagnate. What are the pros and cons of each approach and how do you strike a good balance?

The lines between ‘personal’ and ‘business’ are blurred. Look through an average professional’s MySpace or Facebook page. Usually, you’ll find that they’ve added both personal and business contacts to their friend lists. Web 2.0 has made it possible for our supervisors to view our family photos, and our friends to see what we’re up to at work. True, you can create a different account for each of your worlds, but doing so is hardly worth the trouble.

There are some bonuses that come along with having your personal and professional life mix. Establishing a tighter rapport with your colleagues and supervisors can help improve your standing in the company. However, there are times when personal can get too personal, creating awkward situations that are detrimental to your team’s work. Take advantage of the customizable privacy settings of the social networks you belong to. This ensures that your colleagues won’t view items that were intended for friends or family.

If we want Web 2.0 to work within our businesses, we need to be aware of these changes and how to deal with them accordingly. Since technology changes so rapidly, we should also make room for the changes that will arrive as a result of Web 3.0.

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AppGap Tip: Helping your team adjust to online collaboration

April 9, 2008 at 9:25 am · Filed under AppGap Tips, Collaboration, Tips + Pointers

Not everyone has embraced the plethora of web apps that made online collaboration what it is today. Part of this may have to do with the fact that traditional collaboration is working well for the team (don’t fix it if it ain’t broke) and the reluctance to adapt to new ways. Most of us, especially those working in a corporate environment, are used to boardroom meetings and conference calls. These tried and tested techniques have their place in the business world, but sometimes, adapting new technologies into our work process makes it more efficient.

If you’ve done your research and discovered that online collaboration will increase your team’s productivity, what do you do if your team is reluctant to adapt? More importantly, how do you make it a less bumpy transition for everyone involved?

One way to start is by showing them your research. It helps to produce estimated numbers on how much time or money online collaboration will save you. Don’t use any Web 2.0 jargon as this might intimidate them further. After all, you’re supposed to make them comfortable with the idea of online collaboration. If you can find some case studies of actual teams that already reaped the benefits of online collaboration, include and refer to them in your proposal.

Make the transition slowly. Instead of moving all collaboration online in one giant step, take small steps with your team by starting with the smallest tasks or projects first. A step-by-step move to web collaboration allows your team to adapt better, and even to give suggestions along the way to improve the workflow. This helps you work out small kinks in your system as you go along, which is preferable to making corrections only when all of your projects have moved online.

Look for collaboration tools that aren’t too different from current software you’re using. People are less hesitant to accept new things if there’s some amount of familiarity. Choose collaboration tools that have a similar interface with software that they’re used to working with. This way, using the new tools will feel more intuitive for your team. If it’s possible, find ways for their new and old tools to sync, but lessen your team’s dependency on these syncing features as time progresses.

Offer your team some training resources that show them how to use their new tools. Whether it’s a video tutorial or a one-on-one teaching session, take the time to show them the features of their collaboration tools. While you’re taking the tools for a spin, tell them the actual benefits of each feature. For example, don’t just say “Google Docs allows you to share files with your other teammates.” Try adding something like “This means that there will be less emailing back-and-forth from everyone when we’re editing a report. There will be less clutter on your email inbox and hard drive.” This shows your team what a particular feature means for them. It’s very specific and it shows that you had their best interests in mind when proposing the switch to online collaboration.

It also helps if you let your team know that the switch to online collaboration is reversible. Tell them “Let’s try it for a month, and if it doesn’t work out we can go back to the way we were doing things.” You’ll find that when they see the benefits of online collaboration themselves, it’s much easier to convince them to integrate it with their regular work process. Just make sure you can quantify when something doesn’t work out - whether it’s an efficiency rating, or money and time savings. Your basis of what works and what doesn’t has to be measurable, not just based on perception.

By implementing the tips above, it will be easier for your team to accept online collaboration as part of their working lives. If it’s done right, they’ll probably even wonder how they were able to work without these tools in the past.

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