Flexible Work in a Recession -- Just DO IT!

Flexible Work in a Recession -- Just DO IT, because .......

(Thoughts triggered by a NYTimes, 2nd of October, Motherlode article)

The commonly held view is that the recession has removed the need to offer Flexiwork to encourage retention; people wanting to put in as much face time as possible so that their employer sees their value & so does not lay them off.

However, currently people are beating down the doors of Federal Agencies to land "secure" jobs, but Agencies are not scaling back their Flexiwork programs, because they know that the recession will surely end and they don't want their staff heading for the exits back to the private sector.

In fact, John Berry at the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), is very forcefully promoting a uniform, government-wide Telework (aka Flexiwork) policy across all Federal Agencies, supported by the new "Telework Improvements Act of 2009" (H.R.1722 and S.770) being pushed by, amongst others, Gerry Connolly (D-VA), Jim Moran (D-VA), Frank Wolf (R-VA) and John Sarbanes (D-MD).

The Federal Government has a 'Baby Boomer Retirement Boom' on its hands, which will result in a Knowledge Shortage. Having Flexiwork in place means that the retirees' knowledge can be kept available by offering part-time work. Also, because the value of their retirement funds most likely almost halved during the recent financial melt down, retirees will need to work beyond retirement age. Legislation is in Congress to prevent retirees from being penalized by the tax laws if they do choose to work after having 'retired'.

Even though we are probably bumping along the bottom of the recession, the traffic congestion remains a 6 hours/day ordeal; some one forgot to tell the commuters! If everyone Telecommuted (yes, another word for telework/flexiwork) 1 day/week, that would reduce the number of cars on the roads by 20% - not a difficult calculation.

George Mason University research found that a 1% reduction in the number of cars on the roads results in a 3% reduction in traffic congestion in terms of driving time. Imagine what a 20% reduction in the number of cars on the roads would do. We would positively magnify the "Friday Affect's" (notice how much easier the commute is on Fridays?) impact on traffic congestion EVERY day.

If you calculate the personal savings caused by driving 34 (the average round trip commute) fewer miles per week:

• Less gasoline $s
• Less car maintenance/oil change/tire $s
• Less exposure to potential accidents
• Less dry cleaning $s
• Less Skim Latte $s
• Less lunch/snack/vending machine $s
• Less care $s
• Less stress
• Increased ability to manage your life to balance work & personal time
• Less exposure to others' sniffles/sneezes/flu

The Commonwealth of Virginia estimated the personal savings value of teleworking one day/week as a $2,000 tax-free raise! As one of the TV ads says, "Ask for it at Work!", so DO.

Twitter from Telework Town Hall Meeting Identifies Problem of Half-Hearted Fed Telework

Based on Wired Workplace (NextGov.com) article of 28th Sept.2009

Lorraine Doo on 09/25/09 Twitted: "Many federal workers would like to telework, and would be very productive doing so. Employees do not see telework as a day off at all - to the contrary, most see it as a day to be much more productive, and free from office interruptions. Many also see it as being appropriately responsive to environmental issues."

"The mandate for telework needs to come from senior executives in the federal agencies. There is little perception among employees that telework is truly desired by management in the federal government. Senior management needs to insist that line level managers support this..... and be able to provide evidence that their staff are taking advantage of it."

There you have it -- every Executive level of Government Agencies & Departments MUST unreservedly Champion Telework and be seen to do so. Giving lip service to being on board telework is not acceptable. Neither is "going slow" on its implementation, founded on the hope that the next Administration will not be as keen on making Telework work as an SOP (Standard Operating Procedure).

So how do we get 100% Manager buy-in, whether of their own volition or kicking & screaming? Make it part of their Annual Performance Review, and performance must be based on Telework implementation objectives that have quantifiable metrics.

Consequences, both negative and positive, for being or not being, a living & breathing Telework Champion must be created and exercised. These might include not getting a salary Grade increase or even a drop in Grade or no COLA. To make an 'Unacceptable' Annual Performance Review more tolerable, 360 degree reviews should be used at all levels -- a kind of Co-op style management system!

Homeland Security (DHS) may be Helping our Enemies

What is DHS thinking - it plans to take over the site of Saint Elizabeths Hospital, the former psychiatric institution, for its new HQ with 14,000 DHS employees. I will explain why this is sadly ironical.

One of the greatest military tactics practiced through history has been, when under attack, to disperse your physical and human assets to make them more difficult targets to hit/destroy. So, what is DHS planning ... to concentrate 14,000 of its 22,000 personnel (currently spread over 40+/- buildings in the Washington DC area) at one campus just across a river that runs between the new DHS campus and the Capitol Building.

Our enemies must be rubbing their collective hands together in glee - I can hear them saying, "Now we only have to attack one location to destroy our enemy, not 40 as before -- thank you god!"

One rationale for the concentration is that the new campus will "streamline communication." This thinking (or is that really NOT thinking?!) returns us to the Industrial Revolution mentality of the concentration of the means of production. The Technological Revolution has brought about the capability to "work anywhere and any time that your work requires you to work" while remaining in contact as needed; otherwise known as Telework.

Besides email and IM, we now have texting, tweeting, videoconferencing, CCTV, thin client, SaaS, cloud computing, collaborative docs, RFID locators, iphones and audio-only mobile phones.

What DHS should be doing is using these technologies to disperse its staff to locations that are outside the DC region's 'Fallout Zone' - the Washington Post had a most revealing article about this back in 12.2006. Its circumference was out as far as the Blue Ridge range to the West.

Today (21st Sept.09), FederalNewsRadio.com has an article headlined, "DHS mandates department-wide telework, COOP review this week." Now, just maybe, Saint Elizabeths could become a wonderful theme park - brilliantly central location and serviced by Metro - it could become a 1920s style Fair Ground on steroids.

Nokia Launches Netbooklet - Let the Games Begin!

[Based on an article in the WP by Tarmo Virki of Reuters on 24th August 2009]

Nokia's Netbooklet, the 3G, could finally free our workforce from having to work anchored to a desktop location. Notebooks started us on the way, but they have always been too clunky and ungainly. Then at the other end of the spectrum is the iPhone - perfect for the thumb-centric generation with 20/20 vision.

The Booklet will come in at only 2.75Lbs, with 12 hrs of battery life, using MS Windows and optimized for surfing the www; a perfect combination now that we have Cloud Computing, SaaS (Software as a Service) products, collaboration tools (viz Google Docs) and an ever growing fear of data theft.

I have often said that we need a dumb terminal style (a la CITRIX/SUN thin client concept) of portable computing device, which can only access the web - no data stored on board to be stolen or left in an airport bar. A "work anywhere worker" would then have a device which would be of no more value than a paving brick if stolen or lost - have to love it!

The weakest link in the IT security world is the human, so configure the Booklet so that it couldn't accept the dreaded thumb drive, had no USB port, and didn't need anything on it to be encrypted, because there was nothing there to encrypt.

The battleground between competing devices would then be based on reliability and price combined. The Netbooklet could transform the way we live & work, especially if the price at the pump goes to $20/gallon, as some are predicting.

Can Technology Fill Staffing Gap? [You Bet'cha it can! - Editor's note]

By Brittany R. Ballenstedt bballenstedt@govexec.com

August 17, 2009 in Wired Workplace, a daily look at issues facing the federal information technology workforce.

Examples of how Technology is filling the examiner staffing gap @ the USPTO to handle an increase in the volume and complexity of patent applications:

1.)  The Patent and Trademark Office's (PTO) "Peer-to-Patent" (P2P) project, which connects the PTO to a collaborative network of technical experts, is a kind of Wikipedia for Subject Matter Experts to collaborate to help make PTO examiners aware of 'Prior Art' related to specific Patent/Trademark applications.

So, essentially, this P2P project is making it possible to outsource some of the examiners' workload -- nearly 70% of them reported that the targeted number of applications they must complete is unrealistic. "These production goals are based on the number of applications patent examiners must complete biweekly and have not been adjusted to reflect the complexity of patent applications since 1976," a GAO report said.

2.)  The USPTO has a great Good Lawyer story in its Flexible & Telework programs. Examiners have cited the retention incentives and flexibilities provided by PTO as their primary reasons for staying. Between 2002 and 2006, the agency provided special pay rates, performance bonuses, flexible work schedules and a telework program to boost retention, the GAO said. Last year, 999 patent examiners participated in telework, according to the GAO.

June 4th 2009 was the 12th anniversary of their Work@Home program, for which 4,000+ patent examiners are eligible. It was set up and managed by the team of Chasser, Cohn, Levy, Dudas and Campbell.

The USPTO isn't the only federal agency facing workforce shortages or looming retirements. Your agency should be leveraging technology to offset these shortages and to encourage knowledge transfer and Sustainability, so ask for it at work .... today, NOW!

Commerce and Ag take 41/2 months to design a Broadband application form!

The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) has been assigned $2.5B and the NTIA (National Telecommunications and Information Administration - part of Commerce) assigned $4.7B. These allocations are the $7.2B for the increased deployment of Broadband to un-served and under-served areas. The USDA and NTIA are to oversee and allocate the $7.2B, which is funded from the Stimulus Bill signed into law by Obama in mid February.

Commerce and USDA will be holding information workshops in July in only 9 states (not sure what will happen to the others - telepathic osmosis?!) to explain the funding criteria and the application process. Applications will be accepted from mid-July to mid-August. Details are @ www.BroadBandUSA.gov.

The 1st $4B "winners" will be announced in early 11.2009 and then the grants will be distributed within 30 days .... just as winter is getting a grip and the ground is freezing -- perfect for digging trenches for laying copper, fiber and coax! The balance of the funding is supposed to be completed by the end of 9.2010; just as the ground is starting to freeze again in some regions.

The brilliant seasonal timing means that WiMax will be about the only solution that will work - dig down to a super high speed 'big' pipe, then stick up a tower and distribute broadband over WiMax. This is the solution in Appalachia under such programs as AllCoNet2. One thing that is generally true globally is that dead things tend to be buried -- the same applies in broadband distribution: viz copper wire and coax. Fiber, however, still has life in it, but mostly as the big data pipe. ISPs are suffering horribly on their bottom lines because of the cost of connecting that last mile or 5 miles into homes and offices.

Finally, Broadband was (in 6.2008) redefined by the FCC: up from 200kbps to the giddy speed of 768kbps; still pretty useless in terms of downloading pictures or watching video clips and pathetic for VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) phones. The latter internet phones would make it possible for people to have employment as Home-Based call center operators - the Jet Blue model. Also, make it more possible for small local medical clinics to have medical screenings reviewed by specialist medical staff at large distant hospitals; using Telemedicine to save lives and travel.

For all of the above reasons, I give the Broadband Stimulus program implementation 4 out of 10, of which 3 points are for the intent as passed by Congress and 1 point because the NTIA is included in the process.

Dagwood, of Blondie Cartoon Fame, Suffers too Invasive a Manager while Telecommuting.

Here's the Comic strip that I'm discussing: http://www.blondie.com/dailies/index.asp?month=6&year=2009&comic=2009-6-28

Micromanaging is too common amongst managers who have a virtual team, but the style & methods used to micromanage have changed.

Management styles have evolved from no tech: line of sight, counting heads and the 'walk-about, hit them over the head with today's paper' styles --> to high tech: eMail, IM, texting and Twitter. Both no tech and high tech styles can and do have a seriously detrimental affect on productivity. Staff spend excessive time reacting to disruptive & distracting nags or "how's the RFP/Press release/report/draft coming along" prods for updates .... every 90 (or probably fewer) minutes.

Managers, expecting to survive in the reality of the "Work Anywhere", "Work Wherever your Client Needs you to Work", "Work Whenever your Client Needs you to Work" environment, must grasp the Results Oriented Management Methodologies of NOW.

To provide you with a better understanding of today's management style, check out:  www.e-work.com/ewvideo.html.

Defense takes 15 years to establish need for secure Telework.

The DoD took almost 20 years to identify the need for a pilot "... for [a] test of telework offices for classified work" to enable secure Telework -- Duh!

The Telework Centers were established back in the 1990s. At that time, as I was briefed, the only Center with a secure connection was from the Manassas Center, located in the Loral (now Lockheed Martin) Federal Systems campus. There was a Navy Dept secure cube, identified pysically because it had a "lid" (top) on it.

The sad chronology of the DoD's lame efforts to protect the US by having in place a tested, resilient and distributed work continuity ability is littered with multiple missed mile stone opportunities:

• Mid 1990s: 17 'Federal Interagency Telework Centers' opened in the Greater Washington, DC Region; thanks to legislation sponsored by Congressman Frank Wolf. Two of these were located in National Guard Learning Centers (being 8 of them in the region) at their Armories and one on the campus of a high level DoD contractor. The locations of the latter 3 did lend themselves, even back then, perfectly to being set up as a pilot for classified & secure telework. Missed opportunity #1.
• 2001: The Pentagon is attacked, with a commercial aircraft used as a missile, by Al-Queada. Continuity of Operation Plans (COOPs) become the order of the day. Now .... finally, for fiscal 2010, the Defense Bill has "tucked" into it such a pilot; however, only for +/-2 locations. How many DoD, NSA, CIA, NIMA etc offices, Military Bases and government contractors are there in the region whose facilities have the required physical and information network security? Missed opportunities (~#s 2 thru 23) too innumerable to count, but not a situation that can't be remedied. It only needs the will, determination and authority to make it happen.

The late 2000s bring new drivers that will make telework need to become Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) both for DoD and the rest of us. There is no escape from:

• ... the Baby Boomers Retirement Boom will cause both a labour and a knowledge shortage. Boomers need to be retained on the payroll; at the very least as part-timers. Boomers expect more flexibility in their lives, which means not spending 2+ hours/day strapped into a 4-wheeled tin box breathing carcinogens, but working from a location (a secure telework center will do!) much closer to home. 1,000s of potential missed opportunities here.
• ... Executive Order 13423 (issued 1.2007) compliance, with its "emphasis on Green Operations and Environmental Stewardship within the Federal Government....", has to include reducing the Federal Carbon Footprint by reducing commute miles driven by Federal employees.

As I said above, it only needs the will, determination and authority to make it happen, which when combined with existing technology, already secure locations and the desire of the employees to telework means that there is no need for another bloody pilot -- just get it done!

WSJ Small Business June 2nd article Misses 1/2 the Opportunity

WSJ Small Business article, by Raymund Flandez on June 2nd, provides a good summary of the Home-Based Business legal issues related to producing and selling a product from home, but misses the opportunity for Work@Home using only a phone and computer and how Government can help.

The Home-Based businesses that Raymund cites can easily become a public pain in the b*t*. home-based businesses that manufacture something are subject to the inconsistent mix of local zoning and home owners' Association (HOA) Covenants + health & safety regs. On the other hand, Home-Based Businesses that only use a phone and a computer can usually be easily and quietly done, thus providing employment to stay-at-home parents and care givers, service-wounded Vets, retirees, those with disabilities and part or full-timers just wanting to earn a living. Real Estate Agents and Call Center Agents (as 100% used by Jet Blue) and telecommuters are typical examples.

However, even the latter type of purely "white collar" businesses can also become a nuisance - too many cars parked at one time (sales meetings, phone banks?), too much coming & going of cars and large #s of FedEx/UPS pick-ups & drop-offs (a vibrant eBay trader?) causing excessive traffic, danger to children playing close by & noise. Cumulatively, these will eventually annoy the neighbours, which will soon translate into visits by the HOA 'police' and if injury or near injury occurs, the real police.

Governments can help by passing Laws & Regulations that say that Telecommuters/Teleworkers working for an employer from home as a condition of employment can not be prevented by local Zoning Ordinances or Home Owner Association Covenants.

Telework Policies must allow for both Natural & Human Caused Disasters

[From the George Washington University "Statement On H1N1 Influenza" - the Q&A section.]

"Q: Are staff able to telecommute?

A: The University remains open and operating and continues its usual practice of handling requests to telecommute on an individual basis."

Here we go again - absolutely no leadership even when times are 'a changing. Hopeless, because this is NOT the time for "...usual practice...."

GWU should have issued an instruction that all staff [note, all means all, no exceptions] will telecommute or work from previously arranged alternative work locations. Staff will then be allowed to return to work at their usual offices after, and only after, local and National health authorities have said that it is safe to do so.

This kind of spineless leadership reminds me of the Telework Guide (dated 8.2006) provided by OPM to Federal Govt. Agencies. Note we are speaking about a Guide, which can be followed or ignored, not a set of regulations, to be complied with on pain of dismissal and/or prosection.

Specifically, as related to Security (p.13): "... All home networks connected to the Internet via a broadband connection should have some firewall device installed." Not should have, but WILL HAVE. Similarly, all information removed from or accessed outside of Govt. property WILL be encrypted. Likewise, all USB 'thumb drives' are forbidden on Govt property.

If encryption were standard operating procedure, the theft of thousands of personal information files of Veterans from a VA employee's home in the DC suburbs would never have been worthy of more than a line in the crime section of the local weekly freebie journal.

My November 2005 article is 100% on target for April 2009 now that there is a strong whiff of Swine [flu] in the air as a possible Pandemic. Read it, then do something about it! 2-page pdf

US declares public health emergency for swine flu

April 26, 2009 - 3:10pm

WASHINGTON (AP) - The U.S. declared a public health emergency Sunday to deal with the emerging new swine flu, much like the government does to prepare for approaching hurricanes.

At a White House news conference, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano sought to assure Americans that health officials are taking all appropriate steps to minimize the impact of the outbreak.

Napolitano called the emergency declaration standard operating procedure. One was declared recently for the inauguration and for flooding. She urged people to think of it as a "declaration of emergency preparedness."

I co-authored an article, for the Association of Contingency Planners' magazine, explaining how a Business Continuity Plan (BCP) without Telework both as its backbone and weaved into every aspect of the plan is utterly useless. It can be found in the "in the media" section of this site.

Open Letter to our 1st Chief Technology Officer - Aneesh Chopra

Aneesh Chopra is the 1st US quasi-cabinet level CTO as "Assistant to the President" and so will have unfiltered access to the President. I could wish for no better advocate for the adoption of Telework as a National Strategy to be vigorously used to promote and increase significantly the US's global competitiveness.

Aneesh, please adopt the big tent version of Telework - not just Telecommuting and flexible work schedules ..... pleeease! That big tent also includes Telemedicine, Distance Learning and eCommerce. All of which create employment, economic development while using technology ... still mostly US created ... to create these benefits efficiently and with a miniscule carbon footprint, and certainly with a reduced one.

I've set out below what Aneesh is now positioned to make a reality ..... Go man, Go!!

The Internet must be linked to Main Street to jump start Green and Efficient Government & Business by leveraging Technology to exploit Telework:

1. eCommuting: 450,000 jobs
   
   • Increases Productivity – partly from fewer office disruptions and partly from being able to work during traditional commute times,
   • Repatriates Personal Information Offshore Call Center jobs to Work@Home jobs
   • Improves Continuity of Operations & creates Organizational Resiliency,
   • Reduces Unscheduled Absences; usually by 60%+
   • Reduces Real Estate Costs – Flexible Officing
   • Retains Employees who have knowledge memory assets, which drastically reduce recruiting needs, while providing employment to retirees, both part & full time,
   • Provides access to a Larger Employee Labor Pool – Regional, National, Service-Wounded Military, their Spouses, Retirees, and the Physically Challenged.
2. Telemedicine: 350,000++ jobs
   
   • Because of the expected accelerated demographic aging of the population, the use of technology-aided remote monitoring of medical conditions & vital signs (blood glucose, BP, oxygenation levels, medication use, mobility etc.) will escalate as never before. Technology, especially wireless high speed connectivity will make such an extension of remote health monitoring possible.
3. eCommerce: 175,000 jobs
   
   • To satisfy the objective to have both more efficient Government & Industry, the use of technology will be exploited for Government services, such as licensing (vehicles, businesses, professions etc.), HOA filings, building permits, social service applications, real estate, Court & other Governmental proceeding recordations, RFPs, etc.
4. Distance Learning: 475,000 jobs
   
   • Because the Global economy will be in a state of constant work force flux in terms of what skills the working population of all ages will need, constant “Re-Skilling” will become the imperative. To continue to be employable, people will need to be able to learn new skills and earn new Certifications. Technology, especially Web 2.0 and high speed connectivity, will make such training possible -- on demand from anywhere at any time.

All of the above will be significantly enabled by the true availability of Broadband to rural and more remote Towns, Counties and Tribal areas, which would fundamentally make possible such a Telework (called eWork by some) initiative. Broadband & economic development are inseparable, as demonstrated in the economic development case study of Cedar Falls Vs. Waterloo, Iowa by Doris Kelley in 2003. [ The compelling case study is on this site ]

Broadband Stimulus does NOT need FCC Gap Analysis Map

Broadband Stimulus does NOT need an FCC Broadband Gap Analysis Map, because the private sector will have gone a long way to having obligated: 1) the $7.2B for BBand Infrastructure improvements, and 2) the $59B for digitizing Medical Data by the time the map is ready (target date: 2.2010). Oh, and then the $s need to be spent by the end of 2010. Fat chance .... so, forget the map!

The best way to get BBand out there quickly and without having to dig any trenches/holes is with the wireless technology of WiMAX (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WiMAX). An excellent case study of the deployment of wireless in underserved areas is that of AllCoNet in NW Maryland: www.allconet.org.

Wireless would especially help the medical industry, because it can be used to monitor vital signs both within medical facilities and from the homes of patients. These benefits were highlighted at CTIA Wireless 2009, as reported by CNET News on April 7th: news.cnet.com/8301-1035_3-10213540-94.html. The ability to monitor patients, who are not in medical facilities, is becoming more important by the day as the baby boomer generation's "White Tsunami" ages into the 60s!

Also, on this site, there is an excellent paper (8-page .pdf) by the Information Technology & Innovation Foundation, which explains the benefits of Broadband for Consumers & Business, Society, Health Care, Education & Research. Worth a read.

Save your Job -- Telework!

Today, on the radio, both CBS's Headline news and DC's WTOPnews.com are carrying pieces saying that now might not be the time to telecommute/telework because doing so might threaten your job security. What a load of .....!

The "not to telework" argument being that while the economy is so shakey and employers are trying to squeeze costs out of their operations, you need as much face time at the office as possible so you can prove that you are still needed and are not the one to be let go.

The "to telework" argument is that, if an employer is looking to save serious $s, it should lay off those who use office space when they come to the office, whereas telecommuters don't use office space so not as many $s can be saved by laying them off!! If you lay off an employee who uses dedicated office space, significant office space can be saved. This is especially true when a lease is up for renewal .... the renter is now in the negotiation driving seat.

The Reality of how Telework/Telecommuting benefits the Real Estate bottom line:

• Office space for the average worker costs $10,000 per year. (GSA)
• Telework can cut corporate real estate costs from 25 to 90%. (PC World)
• IBM reduced US real estate costs by 40-60%. (Telecommuting Review)
• AT&T's telework program has helped the company slash its annual real estate costs by $30 million. (networkworld)

Now ..... don't be afraid to "ask for it at work".

States Not Spending Free Federal Money

In the last decade, States did not spend 19% of the funds given to them by the Federal Highways Authority (FHWA), which targeted for the reduction of bad air quality - i.e., to cut "Criteria" pollutants: CO2, Ozone, Particulate Matter (soot, to you and I!), and other gases that can become too much of a good thing. The funding is known as the Congestion Mitigation & Air Quality (CMAQ) improvement program to help States meet EPA air quality (AQ) standards.

The handouts are based on population #s living in areas that are designated as being "out of Conformity" [with EPA AQ standards]. When funds are allocated to be spent on a project, the $s are termed as being 'Obligated'. The total Unobligated funds in the last decade were almost $2.2 billion -- ie, not spent. Currently, States have 4 years to spend the funds (to Sept 30, 2012) or they lapse -- classical use it or lose it. Historically, 19% of unused potential program $s lost.

In the last decade, VA obligated 66.3% of CMAQ funds, MD 71%, TX 72%, PA 72.9%, NJ 80.4%, NY 87.9%, CA 91.4%, GA 94.6% and the winner is CT 98.1%. And ... the biggest loser, Alaska @ only 46.3% obligated.

This is a shameful waste of opportunity. Governors & County Chairmen, especially when their budgets are under so much deficit stress, must be woken up to how much unobligated $s are lying around in CMAQ lock boxes. These $s can then be used to take a sufficient # of vehicles off the road so they can avoid having to spend $s, that they don't have, for new transport infrastructure or maintenance of existing.

Unobligated CMAQ $s should be aggregated, transferred to Commerce to be spent on a National Telework!America campaign. Note that nobody associated with any Transport Agency will be allowed anywhere near the campaign, because it is anti-intuitive for them to seriously and convincingly be expected to ever truly want to reduce Vehicle Trips (VT) by 20%; the result of telecommuting 1 day/wk. Transport agencies only exist to build and maintain transport infrastructure; not to implement programs that cause infrastructure construction to be cancelled or postponed. Let's get the foxes out of the chicken coop!

Presenteeism Passes Illness to Co-Workers & Clients

A Survey by tax & business info provider CCH said 56 percent of employers now report that "presenteeism" -- when sick employees show up for work -- is a problem, because sick people reporting for work not only have a lower rate of productivity, but they pass their illness around to other workers and customers.

The Washington Post on March 1st, in Lily Garcia's "Jobs Chat" column, had several letters asking what to do both when they feel sick & what to do about their co-workers who come to work sick.

The "Rest of the Story" is to mandate home-based Telework when staff feel sick. Employers, for a plethora of proved solid reasons, have to get over it and embrace telework. Today, the 3 main reasons are:

• To make their organizational structure resilient by having the capability to work from locations other than their traditional offices in case either a man-made or natural disruptive event happens - ie., the DC region is expecting up to 11" of snow tonight.
• To help with recruiting & retention. Even though the labour market has slackened in some industries, getting staff with the special skills & clearances needed, especially for Govt. jobs and contracts, continues to be difficult.
• To help reduce the Carbon Footprints of both our staff and so that of the employer. The need for Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainability are now expected by stakeholders and by investors.

$7.2billion Set Aside for Broadband Infrastructure Expansion Vulnerable to being Wasted.

The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) has been assigned $2.5B of the $7.2B to oversee and allocate, because the main push will be to bring high speed to rural areas. Initially, you'd consider this assignment logical, especially since the USDA lead the Rural Electrification Act of 1936. Unfortunately, the USDA's track record is not good.

USDA's own Inspector General (IG) found that more than 25% of its loans reviewed were "either not used as intended, not used at all, or did not provide the expected return of service." Also. $45M went to wire luxury Houston subdivisions, $430K went to an ISP, but used for pilot lessons for its President & treasurer; of the 68 projects funded, 21 are nearly complete and ~50% have not begun.

All funds should be administered by the NTIA (National Telecommunications and Information Administration), the Tech-policy making arm of the White House, which has expertise administering large grants and is better suited to deal with wireless, fiber and cable services. As we are quickly coming to see, the Obama White House staff does not suffer fools and takes no prisoners.

The Leader of the Free World Works from Home

On NBC's Today Show today (2/2), President Obama explained how grateful he is to have a home office, even if it is the Peoples', and how it helps him manage his time better between his home life and his work life. He said, "The best deal — of — of this whole thing is it turns out I've got this nice home office. And — at the end of the day, yeah, I can come home, even if I've got more work to do, I can have dinner with them. I can help them with their homework. I can tuck them in. If I've got to go back to the office, I can. But — I'm seeing them now more than any time in the last two years. And — and that's been great for the whole family".

Now, go out and have a home life and a home office so you also can more easily get the job done as needed and still be daddy or mummy! This is one Federal worker that we (both Federal & Private sector workers) should all copy.

He wasn't on the 'Yesterday' Show, because working from home is the 'Today' way of working.

We have a new President - so what now for Telework?

President Obama, with the help (let's hope) of Congress, is planning to spend $825B to revive/save our economy. So, how can Telework bring more jobs, help save the planet, make us more competitive globally, while providing better health care?

Back in the 1930s, the United States undertook a National program to bring electricity to rural and remote areas/communities. We now need to make affordable highspeed Internet connection available throughout the U.S. In addition to rural, more remote and tribal areas, the cities must be included; otherwise, the financial, educational and economic blight of these urban areas will never end.

Telework activities -- ones using telecommunications to work from anywhere -- include:

• Telecommuting - using telecommunications to move work to people and to avoid using transport to move people to work.
• Telemedicine - using telecommunications to bring health care to people. This will help to make it possible for the healthcare industry to keep up with the exploding need for healthcare as the population ages dramatically -- those Baby Boomers are exploding in the shape of a "silver tsunami"!
• Distance Learning - using telecommunications to bring on-demand education to people. To remain employable and competitive in an ever changing global economy, skills need to be constantly upgraded. The Internet Campus will make this 'ReSkilling' possible, but it needs to be available to people wherever they are. Thus the need for ubiquitous highspeed and online education options.
• eCommerce - using telecommunications to facilitate business processes. Some States are embracing eCommerce; in Virginia, for instance, you can renew your licence without having to go anywhere near your DMV office. In fact, DMVs now charge you an additional fee for renewing in person! Virginia has been especially progressive when it comes to using the Internet to carry out State business. Besides the Government, employers have set up Intranets (internal internets) to deal with basic HR & payroll issues, health benefits and wellness, transit benefits and FAQs.

My next posts will expand on all of the above bullets.

The arrival and Inauguration of President-elect Barack Obama and his family means there will be new traffic restrictions - what you can do:

Don't leave home at all, but work from it; otherwise known as Telecommuting or Teleworking. But whatever you call it, do it! Many of us already do without calling it such. Who doesn't, in the evening or early in the morning or over the weekend, check their email or complete projects to meet a deadline or make work-related calls from home?

Go on, admit it -- you have! Now, do it more often, much more often. It's good practice for when the paralyzing 1st 1/4" of snow or 1st glaze of ice arrives. Additionally, we should all have already been set up with the capability to work away from our traditional offices in case of a man-made or natural disaster.

To add to our traffic woes during the Inauguration, too many of the Metro parking lots will be closed to cars and reserved for tour buses. Imagine the wonderful affect they will have on our air quality -- 1,000s of buses running their engines for 12+/- hours to keep one person (the driver) warm. I hope that the Counties make some kind of effort to enforce their Idling regs -- often, no more than 10 minutes (as in VA and 3 minutes in Fairfax); not 720 minutes!!

Why not park buses in the Pentagon lots and set up 'warming shelters' with heat, TVs to view the event & portajohns; conditional on engines being turned off.

Thoughts please??

 

The WTOP's news item that nicely sets out some of the road closings.