How do you know teleworkers work?

Dear Unseeing:
Oh my! How many times have I heard this one? First, I'll give you my usual response: just how do you know your employees are working now? They may be sitting in front of their computers or in meetings, but how certain are you about what they REALLY are doing?

Ever hear of a concept called "management by results?" It's been around for a while now. Perhaps that's what you should "get on board with" first before you adopt any kind of work options -- telework, compressed workweeks, or flextime. You should measure and evaluate employees' job performance on agreed upon tasks by the deliveries or outcome -- quantity, quality, time, cost, details, methods or steps required to complete a task.

Try measurement by results for a while before you investigate implementing telework. It will make the transition easier and guarantee success.

And by the way, you have a fellow CEO by the name of Tim Jensen who is featured on the new 12-minute "Telework Works" video who had the same skepticism you have about telework. Click here to view his story.
HOV