The manager/teleworker meeting

Once employees have considered their organisation’s telework policy and guidelines and satisfied the preliminary eligibility criteria, managers and employees should discuss the proposed telework arrangement.

The issues that will be raised in the course of this meeting will vary considerably, depending on the nature of the overall telework initiative, the organisation’s approach to the concept and the attitudes of both the teleworker and the manager.

However, this meeting is an opportunity to discuss many of the aspects of the intending teleworker’s arrangements and work tasks. It gives both managers and teleworkers the chance to clarify any issues from their perspectives. As such, it is the first step in developing mutual trust and understanding—which is important for the success of the telework arrangement.

It is sound practice to schedule these meetings and standardise the topics that are to be discussed—particularly once an organisation's telework initiative is well established. This ensures that all required points are covered and that the perception of favouritism is avoided.

The issues to be considered and discussed include:

• The reasons the employee would like to telework;
• Whether the teleworker has the support of those he or she lives with—if the office is to be in the home;
• Whether adequate space, furniture and technology is (or will be) available in the intended off-site office;
• Whether the off-site work place will satisfy occupational health and safety requirements;
• Whether the employee has sufficient technical and job knowledge to work away from his or her colleagues;
• Other specific issues that may arise from the teleworker’s self-assessment questionnaire;
• How the telework arrangement will affect other workers;
• Whether past job performance has been satisfactory;
• What the manager thinks about the proposed telework arrangement and how he or she will judge its success;
• Whether work flow or communication will cause issues and how these will be overcome;
• What other changes to existing management processes might be necessary;
• How the teleworker and the manager will work together to solve issues, handle work and communication requirements and increase trust and understanding.

(Note: this is not an exhaustive list. Feel free to include other issues that your organisation considers important.)

In some organisations, the manager has the authority to approve or decline telework based on this meeting. In others, the manager needs to prepare a recommendation and pass the employee’s request on to a human resources manager or the organisation’s telework coordinator (if such a person has been appointed).