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U-Commute News Spring 2004 Put Your Best Foot Forward: 2nd Annual Walk In Challenge Transportation and Parking Fee Changes Proposed Bike it, you'll like it!: Bike to Work Day and all through June! Keeping young creative energy afoot: Poster contest Transportation Profile: Telework Flexible Work Arrangement Session for Managers and Supervisors |
Transportation Profile: Telework
PROFILE: Dr. Florence H. Sheehan, Research Professor
No pain, no gain. This wasn't Florence Sheehan's motto, but when it came to working from home, Dr. Sheehan, Research Professor Medicine, Division of Cardiology reveals that's actually why she has been teleworking one day a week for the past six years. In 1998, at the age of 49, Dr. Sheehan took up mountain climbing to prove to her new son-in-law that she could do it despite having been nearly sedentary. What does this have to do with her working from home? Part of her mountain climbing training regime includes climbing with a full backpack up the well known stairs on Lakeview Boulevard near the underpass of I-5. Due to the stair climbs, running, and other training, Dr. Sheehan began to suffer pain in her foot. Her acupuncturist advised her to soak her foot in warm water with Epsom salts after each workout to reduce the pain. Logistically she couldn't take care of her foot in the office, so she managed by going home to soak her foot. However, once she went home it didn't make any sense to commute back to work. "Staying at home was a better use of my time." For Dr. Sheehan working from home has also reduced the number of interruptions she experiences. Teleworking provides her the quietness and mental freshness she needs to finish her manuscripts and grant applications. She makes it simple by bringing home everything she needs for her projects on a disk the night before. She is set up at home with the UW Internet Connectivity Kit (UWICK) to access the Internet as well as a file transfer protocol (FTP) to send and receive files.
Dr. Sheehan understands the importance of maintaining continuity with her staff; she intentionally does not work two days in a row from home. Instead of taking a long weekend, she breaks up her week by selecting Wednesday as her regular telework day. She keeps her schedule flexible and comes in on days she would normally telework if an important meeting comes up. On the days she commutes to campus, Dr. Sheehan continues to reduce her impact on the campus transportation system by taking the bus. "I've lived in the Northeast, South, and Midwest and Seattle has the best bus system - it runs on schedule and goes everywhere I've needed to go." On the rare days she needs to drive, she uses her U-PASS to purchase discounted Individual Commuter Tickets. It's not just Dr. Sheehan who takes advantage of a flexible work arrangement - she has provided her staff the same flexibility in their schedules. One of her staff members works full-time from home. Another member maintains a project list so that he can work from home if health issues prevent him from coming into the office. "People have families and needs. It's not time effective for me to monitor my employees' time on task. My staff are all professional people. What's important is that they get their jobs done and done well, not whether they are sitting at their desks eight hours a day." In her office, job responsibilities are shared. "Whoever is not in the office lets the others know so that essential tasks still get done." What could possibly be a negative about working from home? "The kitchen," she says, "it is right around the corner! When I'm at work I bring a set amount of food for the day." Now free of foot pain, Dr. Sheehan has climbed 18,000 and 20,000 foot mountains with her husband of 31 years. "Often couples at our age grow apart; mountain climbing has brought us together after our children left home by giving us new fun goals to work toward." So what was once just a training program has grown into the way she now conducts her work business, efficiently completing her assignments from home. |
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 The U-COMMUTE News is published three times a year for staff and faculty. For additional information, visit our web site at www.washington.edu/upass/. Your suggestions and comments are welcome. Please contact the Transportation Office at upass@u.washington.edu, 206.543.0450 or Box 355212. |
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Based on the latest U-PASS survey, five percent of potential commute trips to campus are eliminated through teleworking. The UW Telework Policy recognizes this as an important option to address space concerns, decrease absenteeism and retain quality employees. Telework also can provide a virtual or mobile workforce in the event of an emergency. While working from home is at the discretion of the manager, there are approximately 19 percent of faculty and seven percent of staff regularly arrange to work from home or an alternative site.
Getting set up with the correct equipment was not much effort. She already had a personal computer and before teleworking she would bring home a laptop to do work on the weekends. While there is no money in her research budget to pay for high speed internet at home, this hasn't created a problem. What was a problem was the shoulder pain she used to experience from long hours of computer work. The only costs her research budget incurred were from an outside ergonomics expert who adjusted her keyboard tray to fit her correctly. She has also engaged this expert to adjust her computer at work and the work places of all of her staff.