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Telework Demonstration Project


Interim Report

 

Introduction

In 1997, the Commuter Connections Telework Resource Center initiated a year-long Telework Demonstration Project with eight organizations in the Washington metropolitan region to develop local telework case studies. This project is part of a regional alternative commute program adopted by the National Capital Region Transportation Planning Board (TPB) to help improve the region's air quality by reducing single-occupant vehicle commuting.


For the purposes of this project, telework is defined as "the use of information technology to reduce work-related travel" and includes working from home, a telework center, or satellite office. Under the scope of the project, the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments (COG) provided professional consulting services to help selected sites start or expand a structured telework programs in exchange for using the sites as local case study examples. The selected sites included public, private, and non-profit organizations in the District of Columbia, suburban Maryland, and Northern Virginia. The size of the participating sites ranged from 75 to nearly 10,000 employees.

More than 100 teleworkers participated in this project. Most of the teleworkers lived in the Washington metropolitan region; however, several either lived in other parts of the country at the outset of the project or moved to other parts of the country, while continuing to work for their employer, during the course of this project. One site's teleworkers work at home on a full-time basis. Another site's employees have been teleworking for up to four years.

To document the effects of this project, COG conducted pre- and post-implementation surveys with the sites' teleworkers and their managers (telemanagers), co-workers, and clients. The sites also submitted detailed monthly cost/benefit worksheets. And, COG conducted five facilitated discussion groups with the sites' telework coordinators to document their progress in implementing their programs and allow for the exchange of information between sites.

This document provides excerpts from the initial project report and includes a description of how the project was implemented, a description of each of the participating sites, post-implementation survey results for two of the eight sites, and pre-implementation survey results for the other six sites. Post-survey implementation results for these six sites will be available in late-1998 or early-1999.

Project Background and Implementation

In January 1997, the Telework Resource Center conducted six focus groups with key decision makers from public, private, and non-profit organizations in the Washington metropolitan region. The purpose of the focus groups was to determine employer awareness of and interest in telework, identify telework barriers and solutions, and determine the best methods for promoting telework in the region.

One of the main findings was that employers expressed a strong need for reliable, objective information on the effects of telework on organizations similar to their own. Participants also viewed COG as a logical source for developing and conveying this type of information to employers. These findings were the basis for the Telework Demonstration Project initiated in 1997.

Under the terms of the project, COG provided professional consulting services to help selected organizations start or expand a telework program in exchange for being able to use the sites as local case study examples. Selected sites were responsible for designating a telework coordinator to oversee the project, participating in periodic focus groups, and distributing and collecting surveys; forming an internal telework team to develop and implement the program; and providing COG with financial information to assess each site's program.

The project was broken down into two phases, a Development Phase and an Implementation Phase. The Development Phase included an initial assessment of the sites by the telework consultants and submission of site-specific budgets for the completion of all project tasks. After each site's budget was approved by COG, then the consultants were given a written notice to proceed. The consultants then worked with the sites to develop or modify written telework policies and agreements, select teleworkers, and train teleworkers and telemanagers.

The Implementation Phase reflected the period when employees actually began teleworking. The telework consultants conducted focus groups with teleworkers and managers 30 to 45 days after initial implementation to identify and resolve any problems encountered. COG's objective was for each site to have a minimum six-month implementation period.

Concurrent with the Development and Implementation Phases, COG conducted a pre- and post-implementation surveys and held a series of facilitated discussion group session with the sites' telework coordinators. The pre- and post-implementation surveys were designed to provide detailed information on teleworkers' characteristics and attitudes of teleworkers, telemanagers, and co-workers before and after teleworking. Pre-implementation surveys were completed by new teleworkers before they began teleworking, usually at the beginning of the each site's training session. Telemanagers and co-workers were also surveyed during the same time frame. COG's measurement and analysis consultant prepared pre-implementation survey reports for each site, and a comprehensive pre-implementation survey report using combined data from six of the eight sites.

Post-implementation surveys were completed six months after each site's program began. A comprehensive post-implementation survey report based upon data from six of the eight sites will be available in late-1998 or early-1999. Cost-benefit reports, based upon monthly worksheets submitted by telework coordinators, will also be available later in 1998 or in early-1999.

Two sites, Unisys Federal and Unisys Outsourcing, had existing teleworkers but did not have any new teleworkers entering the program at the time the pre-implementation surveys were conducted. A modified survey incorporating pre- and post-implementation survey questions was used for these two sites. The consultant prepared a report for each site based on survey results.

COG also used a consultant to conduct four focus groups with the sites' telework coordinators. The focus groups provided COG with information on how each site's program was progressing and they allowed the telework coordinators to share information with one another.

The budget for the Telework Demonstration Project was $428,250; actual expenses were $358,730. The budgeted cost of telework consulting services ranged from $14,400 to $70,300 per site. Actual costs averaged $32,000 per site. An additional $37,700 has been set aside for measurement and analysis work to be completed in Fiscal Year 1999.

None of the sites opted to use the telework centers; however, Southern Management Corporation utilized one of its own facilities to enable several of their teleworkers to work at a location closer to their homes. These employees needed specialized software that was available at the alternative work location, but would have been too expensive to acquire for use in their home offices.

Project funding was provided through the Telework Resource Center's Fiscal Year 1997 and 1998 budgets. Fifty-eight of the center's total annual funding comes from Federal sources with a 14% match provided by the District of Columbia and Virginia, and an additional 28% in state funds provided by Maryland.


Telework Demonstration Sites


Following is a description of each of the participating sites and their respective telework programs.

The Acacia Group (Acacia), located in Bethesda, Maryland, is a diversified financial services organization which provides financial planning advice for investment management, insurance, and banking. Thirty-five of Acacia's 250 employees participated in the project: 17 teleworkers, 11 managers, and seven co-workers.

BDM International, Inc. (BDM) located in McLean, Virginia, is a Fortune 1000 multinational information technology company that provides systems, services, and solutions to both public sector and commercial customers. BDM has 9,000 employees and operates in more than 110 locations worldwide. Seventy-nine BDM employees participated in the program: 27 teleworkers, 13 telemanagers, and 39 co-workers.

Most of BDM's teleworkers live in the Washington metropolitan region; however, three live in the western United States (Colorado, Utah, and Idaho). BDM's teleworkers include programmers, analysts, engineers, technical writers, human resource employees (administrative), and software code testers.

The Marasco Newton Group Limited (Marasco Newton), located in Arlington, Virginia, is a consulting firm with 260 employees in four locations, including 220 employees at it Arlington headquarters location. Marasco Newton provides management, information technology, and environmental systems consulting to the Federal Government. Twenty of Marasco Newton's 210 employees in Arlington participated in the program: five teleworkers, 10 telemanagers, and five co-workers. Marasco Newton's teleworkers include computer programmers, policy analysts, and writers.

 

The Maryland Department of Transportation (MDOT) conducted a successful telework program for headquarter's employees between October 1996 and March 1997. While MDOT was trying to expand its telework program, a bill introduced into the Maryland General Assembly mandated telework training at the agency. These initiatives coincided with the initiation of COG's Telework Demonstration Project; hence MDOT officials submitted an application to become a demonstration site. Sixty-seven MDOT employees are participating in the program: 24 teleworkers, 25 managers, and 18 co-workers.


Southern Management Corporation (SMC) owns and manages 64 residential apartment communities. SMC has 75 employees at their headquarters in Vienna, Virginia. SMC also has employees located at property locations and a satellite office in suburban Maryland. One of SMC's primary reasons for participating in the Telework Demonstration Project was to minimize the hardship on employees due to a relocation. Twenty-one SMC employees participated in the program: 10 teleworkers, five telemanagers, and 6 co-workers.

Unisys Corporation, Federal Systems Division (Unisys Federal) is a Federal information management and services contractor located in McLean, Virginia. Unisys Federal representatives estimated that 100 to 150 of their 700 employees telework on an ad hoc basis. The telework coordinator and team had hoped to select 40-50 additional teleworkers to participate in the Telework Demonstration Project; however, they were unable to get management approval to do so.


Unisys Outsourcing (Outsourcing), located in Reston, Virginia, provides technical, business process, and operations outsourcing services worldwide. Outsourcing has service centers located throughout the country with a total U.S. employee population of 900. Outsourcing implemented a company-wide telework program in January 1997--prior to the start of the Telework Demonstration Project--to reduce costs, attract and retain employees with high demand information technology skills, and increase employee productivity by reducing travel.

United Planning Organization (UPO) is a community action and human services non-profit organization located in the District of Columbia and has 280 employees. UPO hopes that teleworking will result in increased motivation and attendance, improved morale, and reduced costs. Additionally, UPO hopes that teleworking will reduce commute-related problems for employees due to a move to new office space within the District of Columbia during the course of the demonstration project. Twenty-two UPO employees participated in the project: eight teleworkers, four telemanagers, and 10 co-workers.

 

Pre-Implementation Survey Results for Six of the Eight Sites

Pre-implementations surveys were conducted at six of the eight sites (Acacia, BDM, Marasco Newton, MDOT, SMC, and UPO) prior to the beginning of the Implementation Phase when employees actually began teleworking. A total of 287 pre-implementation surveys were distributed to teleworkers, telemanagers, and co-workers at the six sites listed below and 244 were returned for an overall response rate of 85%. Survey respondents for each site are shown in the table below.

Telework Demonstration Project Survey Respondents

Site No. Teleworkers No. Telemanagers No. Co-workers Total
Acacia 17 11 7 35
BDM 27 13 39 79
Marasco Newton 5 10(1) 5 20
MDOT 24 25 18 67
SMC 10 5 6 21
UPO 8 4 10 22
Total 91 68 85 244

1. This is a matrixed organization and some employees have multiple managers; hence, the larger number of telemanagers than teleworkers.

The results of the pre-implementation surveys provide interesting insights on the teleworkers' characteristics. Following is a summary of the key findings:

Teleworkers anticipate working at home from one to five days per week. The three most frequently reported types of work they expect to do are: 1)   writing/typing/editing; 2)  reading; and 3)  word processing.

Teleworkers, telemanagers, and co-workers were also asked a series of attitudinal questions to measure the anticipated impact of teleworking on a productivity, morale, social/psychological issues, management issues, and co-worker issues. Respondents were asked to indicate their position on numerous statements about teleworking. Not all statements were presented to all respondents. Of thirty-three total statements, 12 were asked of teleworkers, telemanagers, and co-workers; eleven applied to teleworkers and telemanagers only; and two applied to teleworkers and co-workers only. Two questions were presented to teleworkers only, four to telemanagers only, and three to co-workers only. Generally, all three respondent groups reacted positively towards teleworking prior to participating in the project. Following is a summary of the key findings:

Teleworker Productivity

Morale and Motivation

Social/Psychological Issues

Supervisory Issues

Co-worker Issues

Short-Term Management Issues

Long-Term Management Issues

Survey Results for Unisys Federal and Unisys Outsourcing

Since neither of these sites had new teleworkers participate in the Telework Demonstration Project, respondents (teleworkers, telemanagers, and co-workers) completed one survey that incorporated pre-implementation and post-implementation survey questions. Key findings from each site's survey results are summarized below.

Unisys Federal

Fifteen surveys were completed by seven teleworkers, three telemanagers, and five co-workers. Following are key findings from these surveys:

Following are the results of attitudinal questions asked of teleworkers, telemanagers, and co-workers:

Productivity

Morale and Motivation

Social/Psychological Issues

Supervisory Issues

Co-worker Issues

Short-Term Management Issues

Long-Term Management Issues

Unisys Outsourcing

Following are key findings from the surveys completed by 22 teleworkers, 10 managers and, seven co-workers:

Productivity

Morale and Motivation

Social/Psychological Issues

Supervisory Issues

Co-worker Issues


Short-Term Management Issues

Long-Term Management Issues

Conclusions

COG's Telework Demonstration Project has proven to be an effective method for helping selected employers start or expand a structured telework program. This project adds to the growing volume of research documenting the positive effects of telework on reducing vehicle miles traveled, improving air quality by reducing single-occupant vehicle commuting, and employer benefits (e.g., increased ability to attract and retain employees, increased productivity, and reduced costs). Additionally, the project documents the effects of full-time teleworking and long-distance teleworking.

The case studies developed from this project will be useful to help other employers evaluate telework as a business strategy and the general approach for this project may serve as a guide for other metropolitan areas to use in developing regional telework programs.


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