As stated in previous posts, distance workers are at a disadvantage when it comes to meetings, especially large ones. This past week my new division held its inaugural division-wide meeting. Because of the logistics over phone service in the location of the meeting, I was unable to attend. While I was not too upset over getting to miss a meeting, the event did provide me with another example of how organizations who employ distance workers must make concessions in order to include everyone in events.
Overall, my college has gone to great lengths to provide support on several fronts to make sure this work environment remains productive and enjoyable. However, I do think for an institution to make telecommuting a long-term employment method, considerable policy decisions must be made early to ensure a comparable experience for all employees.
When I consider the impact full-time distance working will have on faculty, the communication aspect becomes very important. Colleges will have to devise ways to get information to remote workers in very timely fashions. One method that comes to mind is platform such as WebEx (http://www.webex.com/) where colleges could hold large virtual meetings with presentations. WebEx offers service for $375 a month for five users, $75 for each additional user. There are other companies with different prices and services, but the benefit of web meetings over missed interactions can cost more. It is in my nature to find a low-cost mid-tech solution to problems such as this, and if the college’s Voice over IP system could do multiple site conference calls, one could use free Google Presentations as the delivery method instead of a WebEx-like service.
None of the above-mentioned issues is without a solution. It simply comes down to the institution committing to the idea of telecommuting and devoting time, money, and human resources into the planning and execution of the initiative.
Showing posts with label Technology. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Technology. Show all posts
Monday, November 19, 2007
Thursday, November 8, 2007
Internship Presentation
This Friday, the internship class will present to each other about their experiences. Because of the distance to the nearest ITV site, my professor has allowed me to send a narrated presentation. I have moved a non-narrated version to Google docs (located here).
This week has been very busy. I traveled to Florence Darlington Technical College in Florence, South Carolina to tour their Math Hub with nine others from HCC. The Math Hub is a lab-based learning environment we hope to simulate for our Quality Enhancement Plan. Along with learning about FDTC’s success in lab learning, I was very interested in learning about the differences between our two community college systems. In South Carolina, they are funded each year based on their fall enrollment, whereas our schools are funded based on fall and spring term. The FTE funds are distributed by the SC System Office to each of the 16 schools, and the colleges keep all proceeds from tuition.
Another interesting discussion I had with the VP of Academics was the notion of developmental education at the university level. I asked if the local four-year schools had remediation programs to which she replied, “Not ones they will tell you about.” While this policy is great for the community colleges, it can send some students into “provisional” purgatory while they try to get prepared for college work.
Back at the college, we are preparing for the SACS review with back-to-back meetings. I am able to multi-task other work items while the conversation is off of my areas, so it is working to my advantage.
This week has been very busy. I traveled to Florence Darlington Technical College in Florence, South Carolina to tour their Math Hub with nine others from HCC. The Math Hub is a lab-based learning environment we hope to simulate for our Quality Enhancement Plan. Along with learning about FDTC’s success in lab learning, I was very interested in learning about the differences between our two community college systems. In South Carolina, they are funded each year based on their fall enrollment, whereas our schools are funded based on fall and spring term. The FTE funds are distributed by the SC System Office to each of the 16 schools, and the colleges keep all proceeds from tuition.
Another interesting discussion I had with the VP of Academics was the notion of developmental education at the university level. I asked if the local four-year schools had remediation programs to which she replied, “Not ones they will tell you about.” While this policy is great for the community colleges, it can send some students into “provisional” purgatory while they try to get prepared for college work.
Back at the college, we are preparing for the SACS review with back-to-back meetings. I am able to multi-task other work items while the conversation is off of my areas, so it is working to my advantage.
Sunday, October 21, 2007
A New Boss
My department, which had been directly under the President, has now been folded into a new division of the College: the Division of Information Technology and Instructional Support Services. I am one of four “managers” reporting to an Executive Director responsible for Information Technology, Distance Learning, Library Services, and my department – Research.
To be honest, I was very concerned with how well my working situation would be accepted by someone I had never met. I was pleased to find her to be excited to be working with a telecommuter. For our first meeting we met over video conference, an experience some find to be uncomfortable especially with the bandwidth issues. She was interested to hear my opinions on the new department and my ideas on the community college. We will be meeting each week via video conference, similar to my departmental meetings, and will be working very closely on many projects including SACS.
For the next week, I will be preparing for my first quarterly review with the President. I am not sure if I will be meeting with my new boss from here on out, but for now I am just concerned with getting ready for next week. The President and I will be reviewing her opinion of my work, the “fit” of telecommuting for my position, and reviewing the current research projects. During this same visit back to the college, I will be meeting with our institutional contact from SACS. The representative will be on site to answer any questions and to look over our processes to offer advice.
To be honest, I was very concerned with how well my working situation would be accepted by someone I had never met. I was pleased to find her to be excited to be working with a telecommuter. For our first meeting we met over video conference, an experience some find to be uncomfortable especially with the bandwidth issues. She was interested to hear my opinions on the new department and my ideas on the community college. We will be meeting each week via video conference, similar to my departmental meetings, and will be working very closely on many projects including SACS.
For the next week, I will be preparing for my first quarterly review with the President. I am not sure if I will be meeting with my new boss from here on out, but for now I am just concerned with getting ready for next week. The President and I will be reviewing her opinion of my work, the “fit” of telecommuting for my position, and reviewing the current research projects. During this same visit back to the college, I will be meeting with our institutional contact from SACS. The representative will be on site to answer any questions and to look over our processes to offer advice.
Thursday, October 4, 2007
Getting The Wires Crossed
As I have posted about several times now, communication and collaboration are two of the biggest challenges to telecommuting. On a recent conference call, these two challenges became very clear.
In a discussion about an assessment process, we came to a point where I disagreed with a few members of the group. Once I expressed my thoughts, and the appropriate time of “group reflection” passed, the conversation continued as if I had said nothing. The observation I made was this: Telecommuters face an up-hill battle when it comes to winning boardroom confrontations, especially in work cultures or with peers not fully accepting of the situation. Where as in a face-to-face meeting you can stand your ground or use your physical posturing to influence the outcomes, the phone is just a little box that crackles to life every so often.
On a much larger scale, this scenario plays out to be very important to the impact telecommuting can have on higher education. If colleges distribute their workforce and only those who are on site weld the real power and influence, those who are forward thinking enough to successfully work remotely will have reduced influence on the institution. Even if the telecommuters can attend the meetings, they lose out because they do not have “boots on the ground” at the campus. As for faculty, this issue is extremely important because it dilutes their input on the operations of the college, a common complaint of faculty who are already on site.
A solution to the phone call show down is video conferencing. Unfortunately, my college does not have the bandwidth to support a two-hour video conference, but there are plans to change that. Currently, when the video conferencing fails to perform it only further taints the opinion of telecommuting to some on campus staff.
In a discussion about an assessment process, we came to a point where I disagreed with a few members of the group. Once I expressed my thoughts, and the appropriate time of “group reflection” passed, the conversation continued as if I had said nothing. The observation I made was this: Telecommuters face an up-hill battle when it comes to winning boardroom confrontations, especially in work cultures or with peers not fully accepting of the situation. Where as in a face-to-face meeting you can stand your ground or use your physical posturing to influence the outcomes, the phone is just a little box that crackles to life every so often.On a much larger scale, this scenario plays out to be very important to the impact telecommuting can have on higher education. If colleges distribute their workforce and only those who are on site weld the real power and influence, those who are forward thinking enough to successfully work remotely will have reduced influence on the institution. Even if the telecommuters can attend the meetings, they lose out because they do not have “boots on the ground” at the campus. As for faculty, this issue is extremely important because it dilutes their input on the operations of the college, a common complaint of faculty who are already on site.
A solution to the phone call show down is video conferencing. Unfortunately, my college does not have the bandwidth to support a two-hour video conference, but there are plans to change that. Currently, when the video conferencing fails to perform it only further taints the opinion of telecommuting to some on campus staff.
Friday, September 28, 2007
First Visit Back To Campus
I had to travel back to the college for a presentation of the Workforce Preparedness Inventory (WPI) to the Board of Trustees during their annual strategic planning retreat (Covered in the next post). The trip allowed me to not only talk to my peers face-to-face about how they felt about my work situation.
All of my peers commented their only negative comment would be the phone calls that are sometimes dropped due to bandwidth. Otherwise, most said they could not tell the difference from me working off-site. During my trip down, I reflected on the communication pattern discussed in my post Keeping in Touch - Is there anybody out there? where there are different levels of courteousness based on the communication medium.
What I have noticed are these levels, ranked from highest to lowest, of inter-personal communication and the corresponding attributes, benefits, and complications.
Face-to-Face
Attributes: Participants are in close physical proximity to one another. Offers the best opportunity for communication because they must survive the encounter (get out of the room) with each other’s ego intact.
Attributes: Much like a face-to-face meeting, but facilitated over the telephone.
Benefits: Location of the conversation can be in a neutral or more comfortable location for both participants.
Complications: Participants are less formal and congenial. Without body or environmental langue to assist in the conversation, some context or meaning may be lost. Because the reaction cannot be measured, there is also less attention to framing the conversation towards more positive “feeling” reactions. Participants are less personable.
Email/Memo Correspondence
Attributes: Written communication via email or physical means.
Benefits: Email- Instant delivery of message. Memo and Email- Clear communication of reason for communiqué. Reader can interpret the message and respond accordingly.
Complications: Communication is one sided. Sender does not have to have any concern for recipient’s response to reading the message. Messages can be ignored or not opened. Messages can be short and quickly written; therefore lacking in the proper format for concern over the contextual interpretation of the message.
Instant Messaging
Attributes: Quick, information specific conversations using a messaging client of some type.
Benefits: Quick communication from almost any location with a variety of devices.
Complications: Instant messaging has an anagram language not know to everyone. This format also is the most impersonal form due to the quick nature of the conversation, which may or may not be performed during other work or social events.
Of course, none of this is backed up by any research; these are just my observations on the different forms of communication available in the workplace.
All of my peers commented their only negative comment would be the phone calls that are sometimes dropped due to bandwidth. Otherwise, most said they could not tell the difference from me working off-site. During my trip down, I reflected on the communication pattern discussed in my post Keeping in Touch - Is there anybody out there? where there are different levels of courteousness based on the communication medium.
What I have noticed are these levels, ranked from highest to lowest, of inter-personal communication and the corresponding attributes, benefits, and complications.
Face-to-Face
Attributes: Participants are in close physical proximity to one another. Offers the best opportunity for communication because they must survive the encounter (get out of the room) with each other’s ego intact.
Benefits: Participants are very aware of the other’s body language, mood, and attention.
Complications: The physical meeting has a separate layer of thinking where the individual is trying to maintain decorum appropriate for the conversation. This monitoring may alter the conversation in order to ease or expedite the end of the meeting (i.e. make it out of the room).
Phone ConversationAttributes: Much like a face-to-face meeting, but facilitated over the telephone.
Benefits: Location of the conversation can be in a neutral or more comfortable location for both participants.
Complications: Participants are less formal and congenial. Without body or environmental langue to assist in the conversation, some context or meaning may be lost. Because the reaction cannot be measured, there is also less attention to framing the conversation towards more positive “feeling” reactions. Participants are less personable.
Email/Memo Correspondence
Attributes: Written communication via email or physical means.
Benefits: Email- Instant delivery of message. Memo and Email- Clear communication of reason for communiqué. Reader can interpret the message and respond accordingly.
Complications: Communication is one sided. Sender does not have to have any concern for recipient’s response to reading the message. Messages can be ignored or not opened. Messages can be short and quickly written; therefore lacking in the proper format for concern over the contextual interpretation of the message.
Instant Messaging
Attributes: Quick, information specific conversations using a messaging client of some type.
Benefits: Quick communication from almost any location with a variety of devices.
Complications: Instant messaging has an anagram language not know to everyone. This format also is the most impersonal form due to the quick nature of the conversation, which may or may not be performed during other work or social events.
Of course, none of this is backed up by any research; these are just my observations on the different forms of communication available in the workplace.
Thursday, September 20, 2007
Creating a Distance Working Culture
I am not sure as to what my part was to making this happen, but this week my college sent out a new “Telecommuting Policy & Procedure.” Employees can petition for a review of their job and duties to see if they are suitable for off-campus work. One of the biggest influences on this situation is the speed and response issues of our curriculum course management system, Blackboard. This term is the first where the service is hosted off-site. This is great for providing high-speed communication to our off-campus students, but when our faculty are on campus, they cannot communicate with the server efficiently due to the college’s low bandwidth.
The impact of allowing faculty to work from home is wide-ranging. The institution would no longer have to buy a PC for them to use, provide electricity and facilities for their offices, and the administrators gain a little more trust from their subordinates because they are showing they trust and respect their staff as professionals. The policy is slightly different from my contract as it establishes protocols for checking email and voice mail, and times the worker should be available. Because of my equipment setup here, I am connected just as if I were on campus. I don’t foresee the college pushing out IP phones to people’s homes.
I do wonder about tech support issues though. If your computer breaks and you use it to do college work, who fixes it and upgrades the software. How will remote users get to their network files, and if they use the VPN like me, who will trouble shoot that? This is where we will begin to see the economic and HR issues begin.
While there have not be any takers, yet, I will be interested to see if there is any financial impact of telecommuting reflected in the budgeting decisions this fiscal year. I also wonder how this will affect the organizational structure of the departments if they are broken up with some working from home and other, either less tech-savvy or apathetic traditional workers staying back on campus. What will department chairs do to keep themselves in the loop while giving the faculty or staff member the freedom to work remotely? I also wonder what this might do to the endless strings of meetings we have grown accustomed to.
The impact of allowing faculty to work from home is wide-ranging. The institution would no longer have to buy a PC for them to use, provide electricity and facilities for their offices, and the administrators gain a little more trust from their subordinates because they are showing they trust and respect their staff as professionals. The policy is slightly different from my contract as it establishes protocols for checking email and voice mail, and times the worker should be available. Because of my equipment setup here, I am connected just as if I were on campus. I don’t foresee the college pushing out IP phones to people’s homes.
I do wonder about tech support issues though. If your computer breaks and you use it to do college work, who fixes it and upgrades the software. How will remote users get to their network files, and if they use the VPN like me, who will trouble shoot that? This is where we will begin to see the economic and HR issues begin.
While there have not be any takers, yet, I will be interested to see if there is any financial impact of telecommuting reflected in the budgeting decisions this fiscal year. I also wonder how this will affect the organizational structure of the departments if they are broken up with some working from home and other, either less tech-savvy or apathetic traditional workers staying back on campus. What will department chairs do to keep themselves in the loop while giving the faculty or staff member the freedom to work remotely? I also wonder what this might do to the endless strings of meetings we have grown accustomed to.
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
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.
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.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
