I Scream, You Scream for Telework?

(Federal Triangle, D.C.) -- A 2006 report by the Office of Management and Budget says that nearly 94 percent of the Federal Employees eligible for various telework programs offered throughout the federal government do not participate in those programs. This, despite strong support for teleworking from Congress, numerous Federal Agencies, and Federal employee unions.

One local group is taking a decidedly "cool" approach to promoting the idea of more feds getting out of their office, and into teleworking.

Under a blue striped umbrella covering her ice cream cart, Erin Lundberg with the Telework Exchange chats up one of the federal workers who have lined up on a hot, late-summer lunchtime at the corner of 12th and Pennsylvania Avenue, Northwest.

Here, in the heart of the Federal Triangle and in front of the Environmental Protection Agency, the Telework Exchange has launched its latest one-day push to promote teleworking.

"It's rather sad to observe," executive Director Steve O'Keefe noted while handing out leaflets promoting teleworking, "that the average American spends more time commuting each day than they spend each year on vacation." He believes that when it comes to federal workers, it is because they aren't aware of federal telework programs available to them.

But Sophia, a 33-year veteran of federal service who now works for the Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights, paints a different picture. After getting her ice cream from the Telework Exchange cart, she said that she has asked for permission to telework and got lots of support from her immediate supervisor. But her request was denied by higher-level managers, who determined that they wanted her at her desk for meetings and other office-related activities.

Overcoming the federal manager's reticence to allow staff to telework is one goal of the Telework Exchange's O'Keefe.

"We need to get more managers teleworking," he explains, adding that the more managers telework themselves, the more they tend to recognize that teleworking is part of a major cultural shift in how Americans work.

The Telework Exchange hopes to convince more feds, and their bosses, that teleworking is the "cool" way to work smarter.

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On the Web:
Telework Exchange - homepage

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