The way Jason Stverak sees it, employees of the Franklin Center for Government & Public Integrity have an office—minus the cubicles, vending machines, and water-cooler chatter.
“Their office is a laptop,” says Mr. Stverak, president of the nonprofit that serves as a journalistic watchdog for all levels of government. “They can slip that into a bag and get their work done wherever they need to do it.”
Since 2009, Mr. Stverak and his colleagues have managed a virtual work force that has grown to 55 full-time employees and several contractors. The nonprofit maintains a headquarters in Alexandria, Va., where a handful of staff members split time between working remotely and in the office. Everyone else works remotely from throughout the United States.
The group’s ever-evolving approach succeeds, Mr. Stverak says, through frequently checking in, using technology to connect and collaborate, and planning occasional face-to-face meetings that focus on building relationships.
For some nonprofit organizations like Mr. Stverak’s, allowing employees to work from home can both save money and help retain employees who might otherwise be fighting traffic and frantically juggling child-care arrangements.
“Every dollar we have comes from a donor, so it simply doesn’t make sense for us to invest heavily in bricks and mortar,” he says. “And employees appreciate the flexibility this approach allows. The ability to be at home at 3 o’clock when the kids come home from school is immeasurable when it comes to building loyalty.”
And yet, employers find that the practice doesn’t always work smoothly: Meetings can become harder to schedule, and some employees may slack off when left to their own devices.
In the wake of the national debate spurred by the decisions of Yahoo and Best Buy to cut or severely limit teleworking options, many employers are taking a closer look at how they manage their telecommuters, seeking to balance their workers’ and their organization’s needs. Nonprofit leaders and management consultants offer some tips for making sure that work-at-home options go smoothly:
Get the leadership on board. At Anita Borg Institute for Women and Technology, an advocacy nonprofit, “our CEO was a big proponent of the flexibility and made that very clear,” says Jerri Barrett, who worked at the organization for five years and managed a telecommuting employee there before recently leaving to launch a start-up business. “You need to have that support from the top down. If half the office buys in and the other half doesn’t, then you are bound to have problems.”
Develop or update guidelines. Crafting or updating a work-from-home policy helps insure fairness, prevent problems, and provide managers and employees with guidance if an issue does arise, says Debra Dinnocenzo, president of VirtualWorks, a company that consults with businesses and nonprofits that offer work-at-home options.
After putting together a first draft of work-at-home guidelines, Ms. Dinnocenzo suggests that an organization’s senior officials solicit ideas from all employees or from a team that represents a good cross-section of the jobs that allow for remote work. Among issues that can be covered: when and where remote work is permitted, creating dedicated workspace at home, the required technology, and what expectations are regarding answering e-mails or calls after traditional working hours.
And, Ms. Dinnocenzo notes, “it’s important to be prepared to answer any questions the board of directors might have about virtual work policies.”
Strive for fairness and consistency. Although specific roles within an organization may require different guidelines, rules should be applied as consistently as possible—in part to avoid violating anti-discrimination laws.
“If you don’t have a consistent system in place, co-workers are bound to start perceiving unfairness and then they are going to start to lose trust,” says Elliot Lasson, executive director of Joblink of Maryland, a nonprofit that helps people find work. Mr. Lasson blogs frequently about workplace issues, and though the charity maintains a storefront for meeting clients, he and a part-time employee also sometimes work from home.
The Anita Borg Institute for Women and Technology tackled the fairness issue by asking all employees to report to the office Tuesday and Thursday and work remotely on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Typically, in-person meetings are scheduled for Tuesdays or Thursdays.
“You had to have a pretty good reason if you weren’t going to be in the office Tuesday and Thursday,” says Ms. Barrett. She says the system gave employees a structure to plan their weeks.
Respect boundaries. Working from home can make some employees feel like they are always on the clock.
“Just because you have a smartphone doesn’t mean you should be required to answer calls or e-mails any hour of the day or night,” says Mr. Lasson.
Managers should openly discuss with employees under what circumstances they should be expected to respond to requests or questions outside of traditional working hours, say experts.
At Teach for America, the education charity that has long embraced work-at-home options for its jobs that can accommodate them, certain roles require an “on-call” approach—such as an administrative assistant for a traveling executive. When that’s the case, those expectations are established when the employee starts the job, says Aimée Eubanks Davis, vice president for public affairs who was previously “chief people officer” at the organization.
Otherwise, Ms. Eubanks Davis says, the charity’s managers have made a conscious effort to leave workers alone after hours.
“Many of our leadership team members won’t send e-mails late night or on the weekend, even if they choose to work during those times,” she says. “That way, our team members won’t feel like they are expected to be working and responding during their personal time.”
Make the most of technology. Try cloud-based software, such as Google Docs, both to collaborate and to track in real time an employee’s work on a project or document. Use online video-conferencing services, along with regularly scheduled conference calls, to help keep projects on track and help colleagues feel connected.
And don’t get complacent, experts caution: Do a quick survey from time to time to make sure the tools are working as efficiently as possible. Ms. Dinnocenzo notes that employees might be hesitant to bring up a technology problem for fear it might jeopardize their telework situation or paint them as complainers.
Check in. But don’t let a telecommuter make you chase after him or her to get progress reports. A few years ago, Lisa Gibson, executive director of the Peace and Prosperity Alliance, supervised an administrator who split time between the office and at home, an arrangement that Ms. Gibson says never quite worked.
“I felt like I couldn’t get as much done because I was continually calling the person working at home to report to me where she was on a project. It took extra effort just to find out where things stood,” she says.
The recession led to Ms. Gibson eliminating the staff position; recently she has hired “virtual assistants,” who take on specific tasks, on a contract basis. She prefers managing them, she says, because she’s found that workers who are paid on a project basis tend to be more motivated to produce.
If she hires a full-time staff member again, she will require more in-office appearances, in part to facilitate brainstorming. “Let’s face it: People have other things at home to distract them,” she says. “I think some people tend to do a bit less, or worse, spend the day on Facebook.”
Watch for signs of trouble. Speaking of Facebook, there are some clear signs that a teleworker might be unproductive. Managers should watch for frequent and extended delays responding to e-mails, phone calls, or texts during business hours.
If barking dogs, crying kids, or blaring televisions serve as background music during every phone call, it’s time for a serious talk about creating a distraction-free workspace or heading into the office more often, say employers. Of course, the clearest indication of a problem is poor performance—missing deadlines, submitting sloppy work, or not following through on commitments.
The Franklin Center for Government & Public Integrity focuses on hiring people who have worked independently in the past and can demonstrate they are self-motivated. But the group also brings newly hired workers into its headquarters early in their tenure to build face-to-face relationships and immerse them in the organization’s culture, history, values, and operating procedures.
Typically it works out, but sometimes a new hire simply isn’t suited for remote work.
“If you see someone falling behind, you reach in and do everything you can to help them succeed,” Mr. Stverak says. “Sometimes it gets to the point where you have to say to them maybe this isn’t the right opportunity for you.”
Respond to changing needs. Revise policies as an organization grows and changes. Ms. Barrett says near the end of her tenure at the Anita Borg Institute for Women and Technology, she began to wonder if more face time might be beneficial.
“In the beginning, I thought the two days in the office was perfect, but as the organization grew it got a little more complex. I started thinking maybe it makes sense for people to be together three days a week,” she says. “I think the larger that an organization gets, the more important it is to create a clear structure and consistently evaluate what is working.”
And sometimes, an all-hands-on-deck mentality is required. Such was the case when Teach for America was busy building its technology infrastructure.
“During that time, we did have to say no one on the tech team could work remotely,” Ms. Davis says. “We made it perfectly clear that was the expectation. Not everyone is always going to be happy, but you have to do what is right for the organization.”
