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Telework
and Y2K - by Rick Tobin
The wave of
concern over the Year 2000 (Y2K) computer failures is just beginning to
rise. Should we be concerned? What has this got to do with
telework? In fact, Y2K may be the source of the crisis that finally
catapults telework into the minds and hearts of middle management.
The
Millennium Bug, as Y2K is often called, is not a bug at all, but more like a
termite that programmers threw into the walls when they built the computer
world. In order to save space and money, most computers were
programmed to not recognize the first two numbers for a century. This
saved storage space. Programmers in the 1950's and 1960's knew this
would cause a problem if not fixed by the year 2000. But it wasn't
fixed. Because of this, the year 2000 will now be read as the year
1900 by many computers that control databases. Why is this important?
Because our lives are tracked, directed and somewhat controlled by the
massive databases throughout the United States--everything from birth dates,
to social security numbers, to medical records and financial transactions.
If the databases are disrupted, what they operate is also disrupted.
To
further complicate matters, there are 50 billion microprocessor chips in
electronic components worldwide. Some analysts anticipate 1% of these
could be date sensitive and fail on January 1, 2000. But no one can
say with complete accuracy which chips will fail, how many, or where.
This further threatens to impact the mechanical technology we depend on in
microwave ovens, elevators, ships, power plants and millions of other sites
and tools around us. The disruptions could be tremendous from
all of these computer-related weaknesses, or they may be trivial.
There are several camps of thought, ranging from the hysterical to the
ignorant. But no matter how small or great the impact from the
calendar change, telework is poised as a critical tool to keep the world
working through the Y2K crisis.
How
can telework fit into the picture of Y2K planning? As you may have
already read, many government and business organizations have cancelled
vacations for their personnel just before, during, and just after December
31, 1999. In addition, many of these employers are requiring staff to
report to their work site--evening during New Year's Eve and New Year's Day.
If there are serious impacts from Y2K, employees will grin and bear this
inconvenience…even though it takes them away their families during a time
of potential disaster. However, if employees are manipulated to stand
watch for a "non-event", the repercussions to organizations could
be very costly. Employees who have been already stressed by downsizing
and merger mania may see this as one more good reason to jump ship.
What are the results? More bailouts of qualified personnel with
institutional knowledge further weaken the capacity of organizations to
complete their missions.
There was a
path forward that could have prevented this scenario. Management could
have implemented telework to create a diversified work place response.
In 1994 I
wrote a paper for the State of Israel called, "The Virtual Emergency
Operations Center and Telecommuting." In the paper I stressed the
need to expand the use of teleworkers so that the loss of a central
headquarters office would not totally collapse an organization's capacity to
continue operations, especially after disasters. In addition, telework
distributed the risk of loosing personnel during a catastrophic event.
Y2K planning could have been handled in this manner. If the phone
systems and electrical systems are down at a main headquarters facility
(even with back-up power) there is a good chance that the phones will not be
down where all of the employees are located. By forming a flexible
network of teleworkers, with various "command and control" contact
points, most organizations could maintain at least 80% of their capability
to respond to challenges in disaster. Forcing employees into central
offices for Y2K may turn out to be one of the costliest mistakes of
mismanagement of the 20th Century.
How would I
approach it? I would begin by defining the results an organization
wishes to achieve on January 1, 2000. Then, I would work with my Human
Resources Department to develop a strong team of teleworkers who could work
with a Wide Area Network, or through an Internet connection, to produce a
core team to work through the Y2K challenge, and any other type of disaster
that might strike. Getting the participants to agree to cooperate,
writing relevant procedures, performing necessary training, and then testing
by running practical drills would follow this. And I would do all of
this before November, in conjunction with the work already performed by the
teleworkers. The drills should be completely both during normal work
hours, and during off-hours, including late night and weekends. An
organization needs to know how many people it can actually depend on
responding. No organization will get, or should anticipate, 100%
response during a staff recall, so there needs to be depth in the response
organization staffing (teleworkers) to overcome shortages.
And why
will this expanding use of telework grow in the minds and hearts of middle
managers? Simple--Y2K does not end on January 1. There are dates
as far as 2010 that have lesser impacts that are still anticipated to cause
some interruptions. The paradigm will have to shift or there will be
continued losses and unforeseen legal actions before the computer world
errors settle in the dust. Middle managers will soon find that a
strong telework team is the way to cover themselves from the arrogance and
poor planning of their predecessors. And since the figures are
available for all the other morale and cost saving advantages, managers will
not have to boast about the emergency preparedness power they have developed
as a side benefit. It can be their little secret to advancement up the
ladder as those with less foresight are punished for their poor
performances.
Yes, Y2K
could be a serious boon for telework everywhere. It is unfortunate that a
crisis has to bring it to the forefront, but as they say in Texas,
"It's better than a sharp stick in the eye." Rick Tobin
Do you have an interesting story about
how telework helped you continue some of your work during an emergency? If you do,
and are willing share it, please let us know?
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