business "There's a little bit of a cultural change that you go through when you're used to having to formally get to an office," she adds. And the direct interaction with colleagues is changed. "But the people who felt they really were going to miss that interaction find that they have phone calls and electronic mail," Dychala says. "They've come away with other ways to communicate with their peers." That includes communication with their administrative support, which does everything from assisting on proposal preparation to phone coverage, which includes the GEG sales force Ever-evolving computers—personal from the East to the West Coast. Of course, Air Products has business and laptops—telephones, facsimile machines (faxes), software, and modems goals behind the program. It points to sevhave enabled employees to do their work eral business forces that are driving the anywhere, at any time they need or concept in GEG. There are cost savings— choose to, increasing their productivity less office space and administrative supand helping their companies reduce costs. port are required when people work out It is nothing new for people to work of their homes. Salespeople can locate from home or from distant locations. Com- closer to clients, spend more time with panies have had alternative work arrange- them, and, with the help of the new techment programs for many years. And cer- nology, readily access business data from any location. It also affords flexibility for tain professions require mobility. But with improved communication and employees to make work more compatiinformation technologies, some businesses, ble with their personal lives. Hie company also mentions that in a including chemical companies, have the opportunity to put the employees of various few areas of the country, state environbusiness groups into virtual orifices, not just mental regulations will reduce flexibility in commuting. Those who work from home individual employees. For instance, in March, Air Products & will be productive without burning fuel Chemicals launched a virtual office pilot and time to get to work. Other employees have worked from program within its gas and engineering group (GEG). It was con- home in alternative work arrangements centrated on the GEG sales force, for several years, including chemical engibut three engineers in the group neers, accountants, marketing personnel, also participated. To date, 50 field and information specialists, "hi the [virtual sales staffers have joined the pro- office] program, we're trying to formalize gram, which represents about 25% and structure the process," says Dychala. of the U.S. sales force in the group; This includes setting up a safe and ergothree are managers. Participants nomically correct office and training proset up offices—using the Air Prod- grams about the equipment and its use. In ucts' virtual office kit—in their the past, employees did much of the leghomes and went through training work to set up their virtual offices. for operating virtual offices. They The challenges for Air Products' emalso noted the strengths and weak- ployees in virtual offices did not come nesses of the program as they from the technology involved in the proworked from home. gram, but from other issues. "I would nev"We haven't seen a lot of prob- er want to go back" to a traditional office, lems with the group that we're pi- says Barbara Allen, an account manager in loting," says Lisa Dychala, a manag- GEG. As part of the pilot group, she has er in Ail* Products' merchant con- been based in her Lawrenceville, Ga., tract administration department, home since March. "My biggest fear was which is part of the company's in- missing [interaction with my colleagues], dustrial gas segment. Since March, but I haven't missed it." Hie only negative as part of the virtual office project, tiling about her home office, she adds, is Dychala has been the administra- having to do her own filing. "Other than that, I do pretty well at separating work tive support supervisor for GEG. from my other life." Rick Myers, another account manager There are many tools of the trade in GEG, based in Memphis, was probably for the virtual office.
VIRTUAL OFFICE PROGRAMS GROW
Flexibility and productivity gains have propelled the chemical industry to embrace alternative work modes George Peaff C&EN Northeast News Bureau
G
ot access to a telephone line? Then you have the makings for a virtual office. All you need to complete the package is a computer and Internet access, giving you the means to send and receive electronic mail. Most chemical companies have employees—sales, customer service, and management personnel—who work from their homes, hotel rooms, cars, trains, airplanes, or remote sites on a full- or part-time basis. And while production workers and laboratory technicians still have to "go to the factory" to perform some of their work, even they have taken advantage of the information technology that has created the "virtual office."
DECEMBER 16, 1996 C&EN 19
business the first GEG employee to establish a virtu al office in his home, in 1993. And there was a lot of trial and error. "Starting out, the worst time was when the kids came home from school," says Myers. "I used to lock my office door. But my one son came home one day and knocked on the door because he had an important story to tell. So what I finally did was give them 10 minutes every afternoon when they came home from school. We'd sit at the kitchen table, have a snack, and talk. "It made a big difference solving that is sue. You need a place to work, an area to close off. That's the real key. When I'm in my office with the door shut, I'm at work." Working from home or from a remote location raises many questions that must be addressed to ensure the employee's and company's success in use of virtual offices, according to Gil Gordon Associ ates. The Monmouth Junction, N.J.-based consulting firm specializes in telecom muting and alternative offices. A question often asked by those consid ering virtual offices is, "What are the secu rity or confidentiality concerns surround ing the virtual office?" Gordon Associates
lists four details to ponder. Employees al ready can walk out the door with diskettes and files, so the virtual office doesn't present a new and different security risk. And there are many hardware and soft ware solutions for maintaining remoteaccess security, though none are com pletely infallible. If the right people are se lected for virtual offices, training should include their responsibility to keep private or confidential information secure. And some applications—including contractual, legal, andfinancial—possiblyshould not be done remotely, no matter how many preventive steps are taken. Is there a difference between the vir tual office and telecommuting? The new communication and computing technolo gy has created remote work—work done in a place partially or completely away from a traditional office. Remote work consists of four types: a self-employed, home-based business; telecommuting; af ter-hours work at home; and virtual office, which can be anywhere. Telecommuters are typically salaried employees who normally work in the tra ditional office, but may spend one to
Air Products' virtual office kit • Laptop and docking station or port replication • Tape backup unit • Output device that faxes, prints, copies, and scans • Two phone lines and speakerphone • Cellular phone and pager • Ability to store and forward voice mail and faxes • Office software package and re mote link to network three days a week at home or off-site. Virtual offices are ideal for other employ ees, typically field sales representatives, because these employees traditionally spend little time at the traditional office and would be compatible to be equipped with portable technology. Gordon Asso ciates estimates that at least 6 million to 8 million U.S. workers telecommute. Some companies are not embracing the virtual office beyond their sales staff. Although Elf Atochem's sales personnel
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keep virtual offices, the Philadelphiabased company does not allow telecommuting for the rest of its employees, says a company spokesman. Other companies seem to be further ahead in the virtual office world. Dow Chemical has about 400 U.S. and Canadian employees who work from virtual offices. Most are part of the field sales force, but several work in the human resources and workforce planning departments. The company has formalized its virtual office program in two handbooks. They cover the general principles behind establishing and existing in a virtual office environment and a guide for managers to hold meetings involving staff members who work from virtual offices. Dow's general handbook, in addition to covering setting up a virtual office, also addresses management of virtual employee teams, good communications between all involved, and quality performance. For instance, communications in the sales staff involves salespeople, managers, support staff, and customers. But in a virtual office environment, communications take place via phone calls, voice mail, e-mail, faxes,
paging, conference calls, video conferenc- ucts' Dychala. "That's an initiative that will ing, "social" meetings—usually involving a be started in the next 18 months to two years. Right now, we're looking at the ofmeal—and traditional meetings. Some unique problems encountered fices that we lease." Working with the corby Dow's personnel in virtual offices also porate real estate department, when leases have been addressed as six "redflags."A are due to expire, the GEG sales force emloss of enthusiasm can occur because of ployees in those offices will be asked to being isolated and away from the group. work from home. But not all employees are suited to Because machines can work 24 hours, seven days a week, doesn't mean people can the virtual office environment. "There or should. Phone calls to "just check in," will always be a population of employees especially in the early morning hours or who prefer either the office environlate in the day—by both salespeople and ment, or [whose] home environment is their managers—are not a healthy sign. just not conducive to work," says DychaSome people find it difficult to make the la. Virtual offices are "not going to work transition from the traditional office envi- for 100% of the population." ronment. Being totally dependent on techLab and production workers may nevnology "can sometimes prove paralyzing." er be able to leave their labs or factories And people can gain weight because the behind, but they certainly have been inirefrigerator can be nearby. tiated into the world of laptops, voice Whereas sales organizations seem the mail, pagers, and e-mail. best suited for the virtual office environMuch of chemical production occurs ment, there are some other areas within on a 24-hour, seven-day-a-week basis. companies that could be converted to vir- And now—with the computers and new tual offices. "With some modification to communications capability available—all the existing program, [the virtual office] is facets of the chemical enterprise can something we can offer to our customer move forward on a worldwide, 24-hour, service center organization," says Air Prod- seven-day-a-week basis.-4
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