Free coffee, soda, nap room? Full gym, free or subsidized cafeteria food? Short Fridays in the summer? Forget all that. Today, what tops the list as one of the most attractive perks a company offers is the ability to work remotely. But does working remotely have a bad rap? The answer is, for the most part, yes. The reason: The image of a remote worker is that of an employee who sits around in his pajamas, doesn't shower until noon, goofs off by talking to friends and family, and surfs the Net instead of doing his work. But that's not what really happens with remote or teleworkers. Most are dedicated employees who spend their time more efficiently and, in fact, goof off less than their in-office counterparts. This new image is starting to take shape, with more employers embracing virtual workers.

Working in the office is not as great as it's cracked up to be. According to CIO magazine, 70 percent of U.S. workers commute to work every day. Commuters spend an average of 23 minutes each way traveling to and from work. Not to mention the time spent at the water cooler discussing their opinions of American Idol or the untimely spring snowstorm. So why don't more of us telecommute? The biggest reason — most companies' senior management doesn't like it. And in cases where companies allow it, management considers teleworking a privilege.

Many terms are used to describe today's knowledge workers who don't report to the office each day. They're called telecommuters, teleworkers, or remote or virtual workers. These are workers who spend at least part of the time working away from the traditional office. Although sometimes telecommuting is a full-time approach, in most cases, telecommuters spend one or two days a week working away from the office. Telecommuting does not automatically imply that you are working at home (the preferred term is "working from the home office"). Many telecommuters are like Arab Bedouins, setting up office in their cars, in a hotel room, at a café, or even in mobile offices. Today, many large organizations offer mobile offices around the country. These may be at airports so workers can use them as they travel, or they may be set up in places where a full-blown office is not warranted. In addition to telecommuting, employees make alternative work arrangements, including a condensed workweek and job sharing, to better balance personal life with work. These trends are not only better for the employee, but they also provide the benefit of fewer cars on the road, resulting in fewer traffic jams and a better environment.

Working remotely has traditionally been reserved for certain jobs. For instance, when you call customer service, the person on the phone could be anywhere, even at home. But the trend toward more work being done remotely has been in the works for years. In fact, some companies believe that remote workers are not only more productive but can also save the company money — big money. Believers include the likes of IBM, Nortel, Xerox, Hewlett-Packard, and AT&T (where 55 percent of the managers telework). According to BusinessWeek, Hewlett-Packard expects to save $230 million of annual space expenses by next year. Sun Microsystems, another believer, is reported to have saved anywhere from $300 million to $500 million, mostly in real estate costs, in the last five years. Real estate, furniture, and operating expenses aren't the only cost savings derived from teleworkers. It is believed that employees who work from home are anywhere from 15 to 20 percent more productive. For a 40-hour work week, that translates into six to eight additional hours of productive work. The ability to work remotely is often viewed as a recruiting and retention strategy and is said to boost morale and loyalty. Offering the opportunity to telecommute effectively saves money in recruitment and retention. So what's the hold up?

A recent study by Korn/Ferry International shows that 61 percent of executives think that telecommuters are less likely to advance in their careers as compared with employees who work in a traditional office environment. The question remains whether this belief results from bosses viewing teleworkers as less motivated or whether the "out of sight, out of mind" theory applies. One thing's for sure. The Korn/Ferry study reveals that although many executives have started to embrace telecommuting as a part of their global environment contribution and as a way to offer the right balance between work and life, telecommuting can be a career killer, as most executives will likely choose company leaders from among those who work in the traditional office (for results of other surveys and studies, see "Additional Statistics," below).

The public sector has also been active in promoting telework. In March, The Telework Enhancement Act of 2007 was introduced, reversing a law that makes federal employees ineligible to telework unless their agencies decide otherwise. Government agencies now must prove that the employee's job cannot be done remotely in order to disallow it. For example, employees who use sensitive material or who work with national security would be ineligible. The senators who introduced this bill state that the reason for this legislation is twofold. Teleworking is more efficient; it reduces expenses, enhances productivity, and relieves traffic congestion. It also improves the life and morale of federal employees. In fact, Congress has proposed fining agencies that disallow telecommuting.

As a career consultant, I've experienced the nomadic lifestyle of teleworking for over 20 years now. I've enjoyed the benefits of flexibility and not having the horrendous daily commute, but I've also felt the impact of "not being there." Being a consultant is particularly challenging. Early in my career, the idea of telecommuting was not acceptable to my clients. They wanted me on site. They wanted to watch me crank out the code. I totally ingrained myself into the culture of the client's company, participating in events, including holiday parties. Many times, I handled multiple clients, setting up office in the trunk of my car and leaving behind work-related materials (even family photos) at each client site. But that left me feeling isolated from my own employer. I didn't get to meet my colleagues, the other road warriors. Company meetings and parties were not as much fun because nobody really knew anybody. Back then, there was no e-mail. So it wasn't as easy for a company to communicate with its remote employees as it is today.

Fast-forwarding to today, most clients actually prefer that I work remotely and go to their office for key meetings, reserving less important meetings for teleconferences or webcasts. Although the nature of my deliverables has changed from RPG code to business analysis or project management, it's more the change in culture. After all, with globalization, more and more people are getting comfortable with the idea of virtual workers, particularly in IT. Consider the number of IT jobs that have been outsourced to workers in India, the Philippines, and other countries. Plus, with today's available technology, it's much easier to disseminate information, conduct meetings using webcasts and conference calls, and use video conferencing so you feel as if you're there.

Whether or not you're a consultant, working remotely in the IT world has its own unique challenges. The out-of-sight, out-of-mind concept applies more readily, particularly at the developer level. Remember, a remote developer can be had for much less in many other countries than here in the U.S. (assuming that's all you do). Remote IT workers often feel that they give away the benefits of their knowledge, putting it all in the company's repository (e.g., database), but they don't receive the benefit of learning from their colleagues, which on-site workers leverage. These workers often feel that they're viewed more as a commodity and that they're planting the seeds of their own replacement. And then there's the difference between explicit and implicit knowledge. According to a Stanford University study,

Individual knowledge . . . lies on a continuum from explicit knowledge, which is knowledge that can be expressed very concretely; through implicit knowledge, which is known but hard to explain; to tacit knowledge, which is developed through experience and social contact. By its nature, tacit knowledge is very difficult to transfer. Because virtual teams use technology well, they are likely to share explicit knowledge with the rest of the organization better than traditional teams. But tacit knowledge is difficult to share without direct contact, which means that virtual team members will have a harder time sharing their tacit knowledge with teammates and learning from their team members. And that leads to isolation and frustration.

In other words, along with conversation at the water cooler about American Idol Sanjaya Malakar's hair, on-site workers discuss business topics, sharing and learning, which often leads to the generation of new ideas. The decision to be a remote worker is an individual one, weighing heavily on a number of factors such as job function, job security, and employer perspective.

Working remotely is not for every job, nor is it for everyone. In some cases, it's not even an option. But when it is, working off site requires a certain type of person to pull it off. Some of the qualifications of a good remote worker include self-motivation and discipline, organization, time management, the ability to work alone and make independent decisions, and the flexibility to using available communication and collaboration tools. And it goes without saying that teleworkers must be highly skilled in the use of technology and software, since that's what they will mostly rely on to perform their jobs.

Find the Best

Working remotely is not a good fit for everyone. It takes certain characteristics, some of which you are born with and others you can be trained in. In my 15 plus years of managing teams, I've had the pleasure of managing on-site as well as virtual workers, from local to global. Two key reasons for my success in managing remote teams — trust and not being a micromanager. But I had to hire with care. Here are the key things I looked for.

Leadership. Good virtual workers are natural born leaders. Leaders aren't afraid to ask questions or initiate communications. Leaders tend to have goals and are driven to succeed. They may ask for instructions from you, but if not provided, leaders come up with their own. These workers are great at self-management and don't require a lot of handholding. They also know when it's appropriate to come to the office. One of the ways that I was able to distinguish between leaders and followers when reviewing résumés was to pay attention to the section often called Personal Interests and Hobbies. I looked for people who had been Cub Scout leaders or captains of a sport team in school or who had led an effort in their community. If they failed to list interests and hobbies on their résumé, I would ask candidates to tell me what they did in their free time. I looked for leadership in their personal life because that characteristic naturally extends itself to the workplace.

Strong communication. Having strong oral and written communication skills is important in a virtual worker. You want someone who communicates well on the phone and can get his point across in an e-mail without writing a novel. If it takes more than two e-mails to make a point, you've failed to use e-mail effectively, which can lead to frustration. Because a virtual worker is unable to read facial signs and body language via phone conversations or e-mail messages, he must be careful with his use of words and humor. This also applies to his interpretation of what others say on the phone or write in an e-mail. I always looked at the candidates' writing styles on their résumés. Needless to say, one spelling error and I wouldn't hire the diva of Java programming no matter how desperate I was. I was that strict about it. Besides spelling errors, I looked at the way a résumé was organized and how the candidate effectively communicated his work background to me. I've interviewed candidates whom I tuned out after the first few sentences, simply because they couldn't stay on course to answer a specific question or were too verbose explaining something in their background. Clear, crisp communication is a key skill in any employee, but it's even more important for a virtual worker. If the person doesn't sound great during the phone interview, don't bother.

Strong work ethic. There is no question that a strong work ethic is a highly desirable quality in every employee. But when it comes to virtual workers, those without it are the slackers who may sit around the house in their pajamas 'til noon. But even those who have a strong work ethic may lose it because of job dissatisfaction. So you want to make sure this characteristic is maintained through whatever means are necessary. Merit increases and bonuses are designed to help reward and maintain the positive workers, but a little ego boost via an e-mail or call praising an accomplishment or job well done can go a long way to reinforce positive morale. In fact, praising the virtual employee's efforts even if the result was not a perfect success is a good idea. Identifying strong work ethics is tough to assess during the interview process. But you can get a measurement of it by finding out how goal-oriented and self-disciplined an individual is. These characteristics demonstrate themselves in many ways. If the person sounds excited as he tells you about a project's conclusion and the benefits it has brought to the team or company he's worked for, that person is goal-oriented. But if all that person talks about is his great programming skills, he may not necessarily be as focused on outcome or result.

Team player. Virtual workers who are not team players tend to value individual contributions over the team's. These don't make great virtual workers because, by virtue of being remote, they naturally have less interaction and become more and more isolated. A team player values his team's achievements over his own and is more likely to interact with team members using whatever means necessary. They're more likely to make telephone or e-mail contact to discuss things rather than to make assumptions and hope for the best. One way to tell a team player from an individual contributor is to ask. Candidates are often unsure which answer you're looking for when you ask whether they prefer to work on a team or individually. So they either give you the answer they think you're looking for or tell the truth. You want your virtual workers to agree with the team and the company's goals. If you want to know whether they agree with your goals, ask them to describe their ideal job or company. Remember that virtual workers have less face-to-face interaction than traditional workers do, requiring a stronger sense of team, which tends to naturally weaken by virtue of being remote.

Organization and time management. Because they tend to receive less guidance, virtual workers need to have great organizational and time management skills. When employees work in the office, managers are available to wander around and check in with them, offering suggestions and checking on progress, even if casually. Without that level of interaction, the virtual worker must be better at time management and a better judge of how to organize and prioritize tasks on his own. These employees self-manage based on results rather than the hours they've put in.

Do You Have the Right Stuff?

Managing a remote staff requires a special set of skills. To help you effectively manage your teleworkers, Part 2 of this article offers some guidelines and discusses what you should include in a telework agreement. For those of you wanting to work remotely, we'll also look at the steps to take before you propose your idea to the boss.

Nahid Jilovec is a System iNEWS technical editor and has been in information systems consulting for more than 24 years in a wide range of industries, with a focus on e-commerce. A prolific author and award-winning speaker, Nahid has published four books. Her latest one, EDI, UCCnet, and RFID: Synchronizing the Supply Chain, is available at PentonTech.com/education/edi-bookorderform.pdf. You can e-mail her at nahid_jilovec@hotmail.com.