Keeping in Touch - Is there anybody out there?

Being a technical person at heart, telecommuting would seem to be right up my alley. The majority of my work in on a computer, but when someone needs to talk to me or when I need to keep my peers up-to-date on projects I am working on, it becomes challenging to have a virtual “pop-in”. I have also discovered another challenge to telecommuting, especially when you are the only one, is finding creative yet modest ways to remind your co-workers and administrators that you are in fact still being productive.

I have discovered two technologies that have helped my immensely in these areas: Wikis and video conferencing. I am currently working on a “Workforce Preparedness” project with our President and Director of Community Services, which aims to show the relationship between education and job placement. My involvement in the project is to create an application to collect information regarding employers, industries, and occupations and match those to our programs of study. Before I left my campus job, the President would ask about once every two weeks the status of the project. I would attempt to communicate the small but significant accomplishments towards completion, but I knew that she was not catching everything. Because telecommuting can amplify these communication breakdowns, I started a new page on my personal research Wiki: http://research.pbwiki.cn/WFD-Project to catalogue each milepost in the application development process. Using this site, the President or anyone involved in the project can see the day to day progress (recall the previous post on day scheduling) on the project including screen shots and the current “To Do” list.

To help keep my personal relationships with my coworkers, I have implemented the use of video conferencing using a very simple free video client and PC-based web cameras. For larger scale needs, the software allows up to eight sites to connect at one time, making it useful for future telecommuting projects. I use video conferencing for my weekly one-on-one staff meetings with Geri and have attended several SACS meetings remotely. The one major hurdle in using this technology is the resources needed to adequately send and receive video and audio. At my home, I have a 3Mb DSL connection; however, my college has a similar speed connection with 500+ pieces of equipment competing for bandwidth. The video sessions can be clean one day, and unusable the next. The college plans to upgrade to a 40Mb connection soon, which should resolve these issues. On a managerial note: I have noticed a difference in the meeting content with Geri when we use the video conferencing as opposed to telephone conversations. We both seem to be much more personable and attentive when the other can see us. This, to me, speaks to the personal connections that are needed to work successfully and professionally. I will have a video post demonstrating the application soon, but for now, here is a screenshot of this week's SACS meeting.