Picture your day beginning like this: turn off your alarm clock, roll out of bed, sit down in front of your home computer, and start working.
If your day started like this, you might be teleworking. Dalhousie Human Resources recently introduced a new teleworking policy that provides guidelines for those areas interested in – and able to – support telework options, where employees can work from a location other than a physical office space on campus.
Cathie Smith-Gillis has spent the last decade experiencing the advantages of working from home. She and two of her colleagues in the Faculty of Health Professions each take one alternating day per week to work from home. This process works well for them, as it ensures proper coverage for any in-office situations, provides a solution for their workspace availability concerns, and allows them dedicated time to tackle their to-do lists.
“Some of my work is project-driven,” says Ms. Smith-Gillis. “I use my work-at-home day [Wednesday] to dedicate uninterrupted focused time to those projects: dealing with the followup from Monday/Tuesday and preparing for the rest of the week.”
Debbie O’Neill found working from home to be very rewarding in her role with Human Resources. “It was a new concept for me, but it was very doable for my position,” she explains. “I started preparing agendas for the days I was working from home and sharing them with my supervisor, so we could both manage expectations.”
Teleworking is an interesting concept that is often discussed as a workplace practice to support environmental concerns, but its benefits extend well beyond that. There are Dal employees who have been teleworking for years, but until now there weren’t any formal guidelines for departments who were interested in pursuing this option.
Katherine Sheehan, assistant vice-president, Human Resources, values the many benefits teleworking affords employers and employees. “Progressive workplaces recognize that we can all benefit from thinking outside the box about how work is done,” she says.
The new policy contains guidelines for adjusting a work schedule to accommodate time working away from the office, to better assist employees and supervisors who are considering a telework option. Ms. Sheehan remarks, “It’s now easier to find out more about teleworking at Dalhousie, as we have placed the information in one location for departments to reference.”
Teleworking does have many advantages, but there are also potential concerns that employees need to consider before signing up: isolation, self-discipline, and flexibility with your projects. “It depends on what you’re doing [in your job],” says Ms. O’Neill. “I have to be in the office for my current project, so I’m not able to work from home right now.”
“Working from home is not a new concept, but we want to make sure people understand the benefits and the pitfalls,” says Ms. Sheehan. “Workplace interaction is an important part of our jobs. You have to work harder to keep your connections [to your colleagues], and make sure you stay connected to your team. Fortunately, technology is providing us with more options to keep connected when we are away from the office.”
Ms. Smith-Gillis acknowledges that teleworking isn’t for everybody, but believes that it is a key advantage for Dalhousie. “It’s a great recruitment and retention tool,” she says. “It offers a healthier work-life balance for me: when my kids were younger, it was great to be there when they got home at the end of their school day.”
Find Out More
Interested in finding out more about teleworking options in your area? Visit the HR website (http://humanresources.dal.ca/Policies/Telework_Policy.php) to read the policy and some helpful tips, or visit the HR blog (https://blogs.dal.ca/hr/2011/11/08/information-sessions-to-support-areas-interested-in-a-telework-option/) to read about upcoming information sessions.
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