Working virtually: A benefit or a barrier?
Small Staff Week continues on Acronym... this post is from Laurie P. Cooke, CAE, CEO of the Healthcare Businesswomen's Association.
As a very small-staff organization, starting with just me in 2006, I started out in a spare office in Philadelphia offered to me by a generous board member. When I found my first employee - a perfect hire - who lived in North Carolina and considering that the organization's members were spread across the U.S., I decided to try out the growing trend of working virtually. When the second hire - again a perfect hire - lived in yet another state, I accepted that this business model was something to embrace.
We now have 10 perfect-hire employees from northern New Jersey to North Carolina and each employee is working from their home office. This has allowed me to hire the best person for the job regardless of their geographic location. Having five years of working as a virtual organization, we are now well placed to reflect on the benefits and barriers that an association faces.
We have found many benefits to this arrangement including significantly lower overhead costs for office space and equipment; employees have the ability to work from home and manage their work-life activities with more control over their time and choices on priorities; and our multiple locations gives us more access to our members and chapter leaders with ability to attend events and have deeper relationships with volunteers.
We have found many barriers including technology challenges when an employee has technical issues and has to resolve much of this themselves which as non-technology folks can be time consuming and frustrating; difficulty to manage work-life balance because your work becomes your life as your office is in your home; and the ability to bond as a team when you are not co-located so no chance to share small talk over the water cooler.
What have you found to be the case working virtually - is it a benefit or a barrier?
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Comments
Great post Laurie. I have often wondered how organizations fair in a virtual environment. The strengths and draw backs that you have highlighted give me something to chew on. Also we may need you to write a post on hiring the "perfect hire" as you are 10 for 10 now! Kudos.
Posted by: Mark Sedgley | May 26, 2011 11:24 AM
I have one staff member on our small staff who telecommutes one day a week.
The biggest challenge I have faced is resentment from other staff. There have been comments here and there about this person "not working" on the day of the telecommute, or this being his "day off" each week.
I have tried to impart that this person, who designs our bi-monthly magazine and is our webmaster, doesn't have to interact as much with other staff to do his job, and the other staff knows how he uses technology to access files here. Still, the resentments continue.
For whatever reason, either trust isn't there, or it's just plain jealousy. I have already offered up to others that if they can figure out a way to telecommute successfully, the option is open to them as well, but several others answer the phone and answer questions for members, so they have to be at the office.
Posted by: Ginny Sutton | May 26, 2011 2:45 PM
Our office has been mostly virtual for about eight months now, and it seems to be working really well. As a staff person, I've had no problems reaching colleagues when I need to, I find that I work more hours (often) than when I was in the office, and I'm a huge fan of our VOIP service which puts a phone on my home desk but allows me to set my phone to forward to whatever number I want. I'm no longer spending 10 hours a week on the road in DC traffic, and I am accessible to my young children (in daycare, of course) for appts, special events, etc. Working virtually has been an absolute blessing, and in my eyes, a *fantastic* employee benefit. And while we have told our members, many of them still don't realize that most of the time we are working out of our home offices.
Posted by: Kristi Donovan | May 27, 2011 8:19 AM