Martha Johnson, the new administrator of the General Services Administration (GSA) has become a passionate endorser for Workshifting since her appointment to the post in February of this year. She has given numerous speeches in which she has touted the advantages of remote working environments.

 Earlier this week she backed teleworking during a speech at GSA's Interagency Resources Management Conference in Cambridge, Md:

"Why are you not teleworking? Are you in love with the 1980s for some reason?"

And at a keynote for FOSE in March she talked about the role teleworking played in keeping government agencies operating during the storms that rocked the Northeast this winter. She said that nearly 60 percent of GSA employees worked remotely during the blizzard.

"I am personally passionate about this notion that 'work is what you do, not where you do it.' I believe we are moving away from the industrial model where you watch workers do work. That is waste in the system. There's no need to have a system where people watch people. There's a fundamental shift in culture that everyone needs to understand, and that is something that is core to this for me."

This shift in culture that she references is just as big of a barrier for private companies as it is for the federal government. While many companies have embraced Workshifting, there are still plenty out there that have yet to accept this idea that (as Johnson so eloquently puts it) "work is what you do, not where you do it."

I still regularly come across people - from clients, friends or family - who have a hard time grasping that I don't work in the MindFire office. Many people automatically assume I don't work as hard as my office counterparts or that I have the luxury of sleeping until noon (not true). Others think that my remote working environment will come in incredibly handy once my husband and I have kids. After all, I'll just be able to watch the kids since I'm not in the office all day, right?

So the question becomes - how do you help facilitate that shift in culture? A solid "business case" for teleworking is certainly an important part. In addition to productivity and efficiency, Johnson believes there are also security and environmental benefits that should be touted.

But in order for the established cultural beliefs to take hold, change needs to take place on a more personal scale, as well. I think the sheet logistics of Workshifting are daunting enough for some to simply dismiss the idea. I believe that the more people work with Workshifters and are exposed to the benefits (and perhaps downfalls) of this type of working arrangements, the more accepted into the mainstream teleworking will become.

As such, an increased acceptance of teleworking in the federal government will likely also ultimately help increase the acceptance in the private sector.


What do you guys think?


Photo Credit: Cayusa