Then snowstorms hit the Midwest and East Coast, closing schools and businesses, and people turned to -- you guessed it -- telecommuting to stay productive and safe. When the snow melts, will the backlash against teleworking continue?

The higher an organization rates itself as having a flexible culture, the lower the organization's voluntary turnover rate.

Are there employees at Yahoo whose work is best completed at a physical office on a traditional nine-to-five schedule? I'm sure there are. Is this the best work structure for all 14,000 of their employees? Certainly not.

Organizations can address this in several ways. Right now, they need to encourage their employees that are too ill to work or who are contagious and ill, to stay at home in bed and recover.

One of the major barriers to implementing telework in federal agencies is the assumption by managers that the physical presence of employees equals strong performance

How about we spend less time driving? Lets all spend time doing something that is more important. Getting off the road is good for the environment, good for our wallets, and may keep us out of the emergency room and the body shop.

Being able to work out of the office doesn't just boost productivity, it's an added attraction for the modern employee who thinks better on his feet, and on the go.