5/16/2000
A nuts-and-bolts guide to telecommuting and other telecomm-based alternative work arrangements
AT&T has put together this excellent nuts-and-bolts guide to help companies, managers and employees alike figure out whether "telework"—their term for a wide range of telecommunication-based alternative workplace arrangements— is right for them. Telework, according to the introduction, includes not just telecommuting, but such things as virtual/mobile offices, hoteling, satellite offices and telework centers. Click on Getting Started on the main page to run through the guide step-by-step or to jump directly to the company, manager or employee sections of the site. It's filled with practical information, including readiness assessment tools, tips for measuring productivity and general insight into what makes telework work. The Companies section provides guides to setting up and managing telework programs and includes samples of a telework policy and a teleworker agreement, among other helpful information. Although parts of this site—AT&T Services and, to some extent, the Article Library—are AT&T-centric, overall the guide is an excellent overview of the telework option from multiple perspectives, all of them useful to companies, managers and employees alike.