Many employees are clamoring for the chance to telecommute, and many managers recognize the option as a way to retain valuable employees. But it’s not an arrangement that should be jumped into without extensive planning.

The keys to a successful work-from-home program: Make sure employees can handle life away from the IT department and enable them to share documents with co-workers.

Here’s a list of things companies should have ready before letting employees work from home:

• Communication tools – Instant Messaging (IM), either through the corporate network or a commercial client like Google Talk, can help remote workers stay connected. Some companies also use the video cameras built into many computers for teleconferencing.
• Basic training – Before sending anyone home to work, managers need to make sure IT’s given the employees all the training they need to work away from the help desk. Otherwise, technical difficulties could get in the way of productivity.
• Hardware and software – Some companies shell out for everything employees are going to use. Others take a less expensive approach and require workers to use at least some of their own equipment. To do that, survey employees to find out what they have and what IT will need to provide.
• Electronic forms – If employees work from home full time, you’ll need a way to distribute corporate forms electronically. Programs like Microsoft InfoPath and Adobe Acrobat let users edit PDF documents. Also, you’ll need a way for employees to sign forms electronically.

Tags: communication, sharing, telecommuting, work from home