Beating the drum, Part 1

Despite phenomenal growth, telework continues to suffer a messaging problem. Ask people up and down organizational ladders what telework means to them, and you'll get a dozen different answers. For some, it's all about improving work/life balance, or employee management. For others, it's about cutting expenses, lessening traffic congestion, improving the environment, or heightening national security. A few even see it as a means to revolutionize society. To further complicate things, many don't recognize the term telework, and instead identify with an alias like remote work, mobile work, virtual work, etc.

So it's not surprising three groups, two of which I'm involved with, devoted to advancing telework take three unique approaches, see different problems, solutions and opportunities. While the International Telework Association and Council (ITAC) will celebrate its tenth anniversary in February, the Telework Consortium and Telework Coalition are each less than a year old. This week we'll focus on ITAC's doings, and next, we'll look at the upstarts.

For the past year or so, the nonprofit association ITAC found itself in a bind: Just as telework boomed, capturing mainstream attention, interest in the group waned. Companies discovered they could launch telework programs without ITAC's expertise, and if they did seek help, they found ITAC didn't have much cutting edge material to offer. Executive directors came and went; mired in politics, the board of directors (on which I serve) and executive committee debated the group's mission and future. As funds dried up and the board failed to reach agreement, many felt certain ITAC was doomed to disappear or be subsumed by a larger association. Sadly, some long standing and popular advocates resigned their posts, while others cracked that Nero fiddled while Rome burned, and stuck around to watch.

Amazingly enough, it looks like ITAC has survived its crisis and is launching a comeback. After recent months of introspection, board members seem to feel ITAC is back on track. A new management company supports the association, including its Web site, and new executive director helps focus the group's energies.

"We've come through incredible change," ITAC President Tim Kane says. "Now we're ready to show our value proposition."

Part of ITAC's troubles stemmed from being too focused on the Washington metro area. "We found ourselves competing with several organizations that should be complimentary to us," such as the Washington Council of Governments, General Services Administration, and Telework Coalition. "Now, we'll concentrate on the Fortune 500 and Global 2000 companies," Kane says.

But that doesn't mean ITAC doesn't still hold clout with the Fed. It recently secured sponsorship from the Office of Personnel Management and the GSA for its upcoming annual conference in New York.

At the conference, ITAC will officially unveil its new image. A new tagline: "Advancing work from anywhere" shows a more modern attitude. Keynote speaker will be Mike Bell, Gartner analyst and author of a study on the "agile workplace." Kane says both moves show "we're looking at a population of remote and mobile workers, not just the work at home crowd."

In conjunction with the conference, a new Web site will also go live, geared to making it much easier for members to share knowledge, says ITAC vice president Nancy DeLay. Free Webinars will be offered monthly come this fall, focusing on niche areas such as training and call centers.

Even though ITAC's nonprofit status denies it from recommending consultant members, Kane says an upcoming Web-based Buyer's Guide will offer member details including services they provide.

"Also, we'll continue to support our annual research, which is a huge part of value add for the organization. We're looking where we can partner with other organizations, and for ways to make our research more important and market focused," DeLay says. ITAC's next research report will be released in February 2003 to coincide with the group's tenth anniversary.

Last, ITAC will no longer cater to individual teleworkers. "Considering our grass roots, that was a tough decision for us," Kane adds.

Next week, how the Telework Consortium and Telework Coalition each see the telework world.

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