Posted on Dec 17, 2013
What's your thoughts on military "telecommuting?"
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Alright folks, how many of our awesome RallyPointers out there have actually 'teleworked,' 'telecommuted,' or worked remotely; whatever we choose to call it, who out there has actually done it? So, what are your thoughts on the practice... are you for it, or against it, and why? If you're experienced with the telecommuting... what are the pros and cons? ...and how might it be made better, more reasonable, or more efficient? The goal here is to have an open and informative discussion, raise awareness, improve practices & performance, and hopefully learn a thing-or-two in the process... just one rule, as always: respect for all members, of all ranks, all branches, statuses, ages, etc. That said, this should be a great conversation; I really look forward to hearing your thoughts and lessons learned, now grab those keyboards, and... see you all in the discussion threads!
Military Career
Civilian Career
Motivation
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Edited >1 y ago
Posted >1 y ago
Responses: 30
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I have a few times by design due to weather or having zero connectivity at work at my battalion job. My wireless is faster by far even through VPN than at the battalion headquarters. However, I do not enjoy it as I feel out of place not being at my desk with the setup, phone, and files right there next to the scanner. I have my own scanner at home, but it is a pain as I have to scan into my personal computer and then email to myself in order for me to have that file on my work computer.
I also have "telecommuted" just because I am a DTS reviewer/approver for my battalion. In addition if I am on pass, leave, etc. I periodically check my email and DTS to ensure that nothing extremely important was emailed to me with no follow-through or last minute DTS. It is sad, but true that many people just send out emails with no follow-through and only send it to one person. Even after receiving an out of office expect the task to be completed within two hours.
During my stint at a brigade headquarters I did a lot of after hours work via my black berry. I had that everywhere on leave or not just in case units sent SIRs directly to me and not our EOC email address. I did not like doing emails through black berry as it is less professional looking but the CG understood that after hours SIRs come through and the need to push the information up and out is more important than formatting. In addition we made calls to ensure that we fully supported the units that needed assistance.
In all matters though I prefer to be in the office over telecommuting.
I also have "telecommuted" just because I am a DTS reviewer/approver for my battalion. In addition if I am on pass, leave, etc. I periodically check my email and DTS to ensure that nothing extremely important was emailed to me with no follow-through or last minute DTS. It is sad, but true that many people just send out emails with no follow-through and only send it to one person. Even after receiving an out of office expect the task to be completed within two hours.
During my stint at a brigade headquarters I did a lot of after hours work via my black berry. I had that everywhere on leave or not just in case units sent SIRs directly to me and not our EOC email address. I did not like doing emails through black berry as it is less professional looking but the CG understood that after hours SIRs come through and the need to push the information up and out is more important than formatting. In addition we made calls to ensure that we fully supported the units that needed assistance.
In all matters though I prefer to be in the office over telecommuting.
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I don't know about for a regular duty day, but I could easily see it for some of the downrange stuff.
2nd tour in OIF involved approximately 4-6 hours computer based work (reports and the like) in a mandatory 13 hour day. This job could have been done remotely from my home base (Germany) without worrying about all the extra expenses of sending a troop downrange.
Oh yeah, and I was only 1 of some 300+ working for MNC-I. I'm sure many of them needed to be on site, but my job duties certainly didn't demand it.
Bottom line...I think this could be a viable option in certain conditions.
2nd tour in OIF involved approximately 4-6 hours computer based work (reports and the like) in a mandatory 13 hour day. This job could have been done remotely from my home base (Germany) without worrying about all the extra expenses of sending a troop downrange.
Oh yeah, and I was only 1 of some 300+ working for MNC-I. I'm sure many of them needed to be on site, but my job duties certainly didn't demand it.
Bottom line...I think this could be a viable option in certain conditions.
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I have telecommuted for the Healthcare industry for the last decade or so. So I speak from experience when I say that it is incredibly hard to build a team in a "virtual" environment.
I suppose for civilian contractors this wouldn't be a problem, but if there's any chance of people deploying together, they'd darn sure better learn to work together shoulder to shoulder in garrison, rather than trying to figure it out in a theater of war.
I suppose for civilian contractors this wouldn't be a problem, but if there's any chance of people deploying together, they'd darn sure better learn to work together shoulder to shoulder in garrison, rather than trying to figure it out in a theater of war.
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I don't see it happening but if possiible, why not. I don't know what else you would call some of our current drone programs anyway. Flying them from CONUS with the help of satellites. I think in some respects we are already there. Still a little hard to envision controlling a large combatant ship remotely.
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I wish I could. Even just for a half day, or one day a week.
My work computer is so slow, I could get so much more done from my personal computer than sitting there waiting for the computer to load.
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If you can pull it off, why not. I don't think I will be seeing someone piloting a drone on an attack run from their home in the Near Future but that is almost within our grasp now.
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SPC (Join to see)
Don't see why UAV operators can't telecommute. Then again, if the cat jumps on the keyboard, and the drone fires rounds at the wrong target, it may be a problem.
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<p>For information and general situational awareness, below are just a few links with government telecommuting-related information, first an article highlighting the top agencies for telework, along with the GSA page and federal government telework page with links to policy, guidance, etc. </p><div class="pta-link-card"><div class="pta-link-card-picture"><img src="http://i.huffpost.com/gen/374946/thumbs/s-GOVERNMENT-WORK-TELECOMMUTE-small.jpg"></div><div class="pta-link-card-content"><div class="pta-link-card-title"><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/10/12/government-agencies-telecommute_n_1007403.html" target="_blank">Top 13 Government Agencies For Telecommuting</a></div><div class="pta-link-card-description">The battle between the public and private sectors to attract top talent often boils down to workplace intangibles such as work/life balance. And few efforts to improve that balance have attracted more...</div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="pta-box-hide"><i class="icon-remove"></i></div></div><div class="pta-link-card"><div class="pta-link-card-picture"><img src="http://www.gsa.gov/resources/images/GSAlogo.gif"></div><div class="pta-link-card-content"><div class="pta-link-card-title"><a href="http://www.gsa.gov/portal/content/105192?utm_source=OCM" target="_blank">Telework</a></div><div class="pta-link-card-description">Telework encourages employee productivity and work/life balance, and it reduces green house gas emissions by cutting down on commuter traffic.</div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="pta-box-hide"><i class="icon-remove"></i></div></div><div class="pta-link-card"><div class="pta-link-card-picture"><img src="http://www.telework.gov/images/spotlights/spotlight_2.jpg"></div><div class="pta-link-card-content"><div class="pta-link-card-title"><a href="http://www.telework.gov/" target="_blank">Telework.Gov</a></div><div class="pta-link-card-description">Welcome to telework.gov</div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="pta-box-hide"><i class="icon-remove"></i></div></div>
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Worked for so long commuting that now I own my own business so I don't have to.
I starts with bathroom, kitchen and office with coffee
Got to be a self starter for this to work.
By the way I am hiring
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Col (Join to see)
SFC Kempf, thanks for posting, I definitely know what you mean, I've had commutes over the years that can be best described as "ungodly." It must be nice to not have to deal with regular commuting any more! If your company is recruiting veterans and transitioning service members, I'm certain there are many here on RP who are looking or will be looking for work soon... so, please feel free provide a few more details if you like... thanks again for posting!
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<p>I have I use remote access to my computer at work to check my emails and fix issues that I currently have going.</p><p>I get ras access from my home built laptop to log in to my computer by hostname and ID and password into my work computer.</p><p>At the same time I also have Office communicator that shows every one when I log in and I'm able to communicate with other clients in the bank.</p><p><br></p><p>My opinion I think its rather good, only at home that can be a task to work specially for more than 5 mins </p><p>No one has any idea what is in a 4 years olds mind when dad is trying to work and the baby want all your attention. Much less the young lady who always wonder how it I'm in a computer 24 hours a day. </p>
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Col (Join to see)
SSG Pabon, thanks for posting; we've used something similar to the Office communicator that you mentioned. The USG at large uses Defense Connect Online (DCO) which has a chat feature called 'Jabber,' we've been able to use it to stay connected with geographically separated units worldwide, to get accountability, stay updated, etc. DCO also has conferencing capability and the ability to view documents and hold online meetings. My current agency has federal employees and military members that live far from the work site, and telework two and sometimes three days per week (depending on the telework agreement and div chiefs' ability to support). It's interesting to hear what the civilian workforce is doing in this area... thanks again for sharing!
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All, FYI/SA the official request to telecommute/telework for the Department of Defense (DoD) is DD Form 2946, DoD Telework Agreement, December 2011. If you haven't viewed this it is worth taking a look as this will very likely become a much more common part of our working environment in the future. I'll continue to post more information on the subject as it becomes available. Wishing you all the best! V/r B
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