I've used this space to talk about a lot of issues related to telework, such as the personal benefits to the teleworker and the productivity increase it can provide to the employer. I have even talked about the sustainability and security benefits, but today I want to talk to you about how telework can be a hugely effective tool in the effort to create resilience in your organization during times of crisis. This is especially important as we head into Telework Week next month.
The notion of telework as a continuity tool has been recognized by the Federal government in the new Telework Enhancement Act of 2010 and in DHS and White House policies on continuity of operations. In case you are wondering, you will rarely see me use the acronym COOP, because I find that makes people think of big 3-ring binders of checklists and other plans almost no one has read and are not usually effective during a crisis. The best continuity plan is one that is seamless and second nature to the people implementing it. That doesn't mean you don't need a plan, just that resilience is an enterprise-wide responsibility and you can't leave it to a few continuity planners to have all the answers when the chips are down.
Before I get into how telework is part of this effort let's talk about the people for a minute. If you have ever been in a crisis situation (or even a fire drill), you realize that the first thing you need to deal with is getting to safety and protecting the safety of those around you. If the incident is larger than just your immediate office or location (such as a region-wide power outage or large storm), you will also be focused on ensuring the safety of your family and loved ones. This is called "incident management" and it's a key part of a crisis because it's both critical and immediate. No matter how well trained or equipped, people caught up in the incident are not very good at doing anything other than incident management. It's a hardwired human survival response to focus on the incident until all of the immediate issues are addressed. This is a good thing, but it doesn't help you address a major issue of resilience: how to keep operating (or quickly return to operation) when disaster strikes.
So how do you keep things working (or quickly return to operation) during a crisis? The answer is what is called "consequence management." If incident management is putting out the fire, consequence management is figuring out where you are going to work tomorrow and the following days, until the fire damage is repaired and you can return to normal operations. In some cases it may be who is going to do the work as well, depending on the size and scope of the crisis. When the room is on fire, you don't (and shouldn't) care where you are going to work tomorrow. Incident managers and consequence managers need to be different people (you don't want to be responsible for both). In addition, people who are caught up in the incident may need to focus on other issues such as family safety or recuperating from their injuries or stress.
So this has been a lot of talk about continuity theory, but how does telework fit in? Telework brings three major resilience benefits. One, teleworkers are often not involved in the incident (assuming its localized like a fire or flood), Two, people who are trained and equipped to telework can generally work from home or another location until you get back into normal operations, even if they are not teleworking during the incident. Finally, by having a significant teleworking cadre, all of your employees (even ones who do not telework) are used to working with people who are not in the same physical space as they are. This is a huge advantage during a crisis because productivity will be impacted by the event and the more seamless and normal you can make the temporary situation, the easier it will be for people to get their work done.
In the military, they spend much of their time doing drills and exercises to simulate how things may happen in battle. They cross train everyone because you never know whose job you will be called on to perform. They call this approach, Train as You Fight and it works well on the civilian side of the street as well. As always, I look forward to you thoughts, comments, and ideas. And I hope you will join me in pledging your organization or yourself for Telework Week, February 14-18, 2011.
If you want to continue the dialogue on telework, write to me at jsawislak@teleworkexchange.com or visit my blog at TeleworkExchange.com.