CIO.com’s Telecommuting Resource Guide

Telecommuting used to be an obscure option in enterprise career benefits, trotted out only when an existing employee was so precious or skilled that the company would do anything to keep him—including let her work from home.

The situation is very different today, in part because so many teams have team members in wide-ranging geographies. If you’re not sitting next to someone in the same office, does it really matter whether the coworker is across the street, across town or across the country? So telecommuting (at least part-time) is fast becoming part of the usual way of doing business. As a result, it affects IT decisions, from VPNs to teleconferencing hardware choices.

CIO.com has covered this subject in some depth, from selling the idea to managers, to the technology infrastructure and company culture necessary to make telecommuting work. Here’s a collection of our recent articles.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Telecommuting

Telecommuting Improves Productivity, Lowers Costs, New Survey Finds

The results of a new CompTIA survey on telecommuting find that companies that allow their employees to work from home could save tens of thousands of dollars.

Getting Clueful: Seven Things the CIO Should Know About Telecommuting

IT workers who telecommute share advice for their bosses about the process, technology and attitudes necessary for staff to be productive when they work from home.

The Dirty Little Secrets of Telecommuting

In 2007, higher-ups and bigwigs in Corporate America still believed that telecommuting was not a good activity for their workers’ long-term career plans. Put another way, if you’re outta sight and outta mind, you may be outta job, according to a Trends@Work survey.

Telecommuting: Six Questions to Ask Before You Say Yes

High gas prices and other factors are contributing to a rise in telecommuting, but proceed with caution: Telework can change office dynamics in ways you hadn’t anticipated.

Extreme Commuting More Popular than Relocation Among Executives

Long commutes may suck, but they sure beat moving for a new job, according to a Korn/Ferry survey.

Flextime and Telecommuting

Flexible work arrangements actually boost the bottom line, according to one study from HR consultancy Watson Wyatt Worldwide. Companies following theses findings can expect a whopping 47 percent jump in shareholder returns, they say.

Flexible Workplace: Lots of Talk, Little Action

Who’s afraid of the flexible workplace? Too many enterprises: Employers are missing opportunities to harness the business value associated with workplace flexibility for employees, says expert Karol Rose.

Six (More) Ways to Recruit Women

In this sidebar, several IT women offer suggestions on small and large ways to attract them to work for your company—with flextime high on the list.

Work-Life Balance Is Out of Sync

It’s time to rebalance your life.

Telecommuting Case Studies: How’d They Do It?

How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Telecommuting

CareGroup CIO John Halamka takes an in-depth look at the policies and technologies necessary for supporting flexible work arrangements.

Everyone Works at Home at Chorus, Part One

How a small software company is saving money, reducing employee stress and improving productivity and customer satisfaction by closing its offices and going virtual. The first of three parts.

Everyone Works at Home at Chorus, Part Two

In this story, the second of three parts, a small software company establishes work-at-home policies and figures out how to provide remote tech support.

Everyone Works at Home at Chorus, Part Three

In this story, the third of three parts, managers and staff at a small software company adjust to telecommuting and share their keys to success.

Adventures in “Extreme Telecommuting”

Fast, cheap Internet access in Greece can be harder to find than the lost city of Atlantis.

Establishing Telecommuting Policies and Technology

Memo to Execs re: Telecommuting—Handle with Extreme Care!

Thomas Wailgum advises companies to be extremely cautious if they decide to take away some of their flexible work arrangements.

Telecommuters Need to Develop Special Skills

Successful telework requires more than a laptop and a fast Internet connection. Experienced IT professionals—who work from home at least part time—explain the lessons they learned the hard way.

Out of Pocket: Financial Questions for Telecommuters and Managers

Who pays for the printer paper, toner cartridges and ISP service?

Locking Down the Remote User

Companies are still grappling with the issue of securing their users in the field. One response is simply to restrict access. But a combination of smart-card technology and public key infrastructure may provide a more productive alternative.

The Two Most Dreaded Words in Telecommuting

When Thomas Wailgum moved his home office, he discovered the downside of “remote IT infrastructure” setup.

How to Work from the Beach

Learn about the tools you need for “extreme telecommuting.”

Struggling to Support Remote Workers? It’s Only Going to Get Worse

Your IT department will soon need to support more remote workers than ever before. Both technology changes(such as video adoption) and cultural issues (such as user expectation) will require that your company embrace telecommuting.

Running an Effective Teleconference or Virtual Meeting

Virtual teams are becoming commonplace, but the old rules for running a meeting don’t necessarily apply. Managers need to learn new skills to keep people engaged and to use the time (and technology) effectively. These tips will make your next remote meeting a success.

Management: Remote (Worker) Control

The idea of letting your star programmer do her magic from home one day a week may not strike you as particularly radical. But it’s a step that is leading to a corporatewide shift in thinking about and managing workers.

What Your Remote Workers Are Really Doing

Do we have a little problem with trust?

Server-Based Computing Increases Security for Remote Users, Lowers Costs

CIOs face a double-edged sword when it comes to remote access. The good: Workers enjoy the benefits of telecommuting from their homes and staying connected while on the road. The bad: Security can be compromised as data and applications live on lightly protected remote machines, help desks can get swamped and new applications or updates can require IT staffs to download applications to hundreds or thousands of individual PCs.

Convincing the Business That Telecommuting’s a Good Idea

How to Negotiate a Flexible Work Schedule

To get your boss to agree to such an arrangement, your proposal should spell out exactly how the arrangement will work, the value it will bring to your employer and how your performance will be measured.

Survey: More Government Workers Can Telecommute

U.S. government employees have a telecommuting gap: Nearly all of them could work from home at least part-time, but only about 20 percent do.

Telecommuting Gets a Bad Rap

Most U.S. workers (70 percent) still commute to work every day, while just 2 percent telecommute full-time, according to the 2006 National Technology Readiness survey. The U.S. share of telecommuters would grow to 25 percent if it were practiced by everyone who had the option to telecommute and had the kind of job amenable to telecommuting, and this would save $3.9 billion per year in fuel costs, the survey says.

CIO Confidential: Telecommuting Is Not the Solution to Bad Traffic

One CIO explains his own backlash against teleworking, citing a corrosive effect on productivity, team spirit and sense of corporate culture.

Survey: Even With $4 Gas, Demand for Telework Unmet

Even as gas prices hit historic highs in the U.S., most workers can’t telecommute, according to a new survey released by advocacy group Telework Exchange.

What Happened to That Whole Hoteling Concept?

Office hoteling was going to change the world—or, at least, reduce real-estate costs and offer those workers who traveled a lot a shared place to sit when they were back in the office. So what happened?

Gas Prices Alter Work Environment

Carpooling and teleworking increase in face of rising commuting costs, survey finds.