HP Announces Cutbacks in IT Staff Telecommuting

By Dennis D. McDonald

According to an article in The Mercury News, HP is cutting back on the practice of telecommuting among IT professionals.

I've worked both sides of this issue but have to give the nod to HP on this one, especially in these areas:

1. IT's interaction with business units
   
2. Team building
3. Training of younger staff

Don't get me wrong; there are many IT related tasks that  can be performed offsite. I frequently work out of my home office myself.

My feelings on this are influenced by having been part of the management of a consulting company with staff spread throughout the U.S. and by project management responsibilities that involved staff working out of multiple geographic locations.

I'd be the first to say that there are many IT related activities that can be telecommuted, especially those involving mature and disciplined workers who need extended periods of concentration on highly technical design, coding, or testing work.

Examples of interactions where I would prefer to see frequent face to face opportunities include:

• CIO meetings with IT department heads.
• IT staff meeting with business unit staff to discuss business requirements.
• Staff reviews.
• Brainstorming sessions (design, feedback, prototype review, etc.)
• Project selection and prioritizing.

The above are just a few examples. I understand that there is a difference between "regularly having face to face meetings" and "not telecommuting." I also understand that some organizations are so large that multiple sites are required for staff (the Mercury article about HP mentions 25 IT department locations).

But the importance of body language being what it is, I have to think positively of both horizontal and vertical communication within the hierarchy being best served by co-located staff. I also think that some staff work best when sited within the structured environment of an office.

What do you think about this? Please let me know my emailing me or by leaving a comment below!

Comments

[Daniel R. Sweet]

As one who is familiar with some of the happenings at HP, I've got to say that I'm not surprised.

There are two main factors at work here: space and culture.

Space-wise, HP/Compaq has always had all of their locations full. As of layoff time when Mark Herd came on board, they have been reducing the number of locations that they have and even those that remain are sometimes half-empty.

Hence, one of the the impetus (impeti?) for work-from-home program (ie. running out of space and don't want to get more) no longer exists.

Culture-wise, they stole Dell's CIO, and he's been charged with consolidation of IT. He doesn't come from the touchy-feely HP/Compaq background, so he has no problem making everyone report to an office every day.

It's probably also a way to weed out the "undedicated" employees since some will resign within a few months of this change.

Just my 2 cents...

Dan

[Rick]

I agree with your belief about the importance of face-to-face contact. Besides the somewhat regular and established types of interactions you mentioned, unplanned, informal, and sustained face-to-face interactions are also extremely valuable; maybe even more important than regular meetings. I think there is a spectrum of telecommuting. At one end, you have claims adjusters and customer service agents who can work almost anywhere with no face-to-face contact. At the other end, you have people who are encouraged to work at home on nights and weekends. I'm more interested in what Capital One calls the "Future of Work". It isn't a very descriptive term, but people spend varying amounts of time working on-site, off-site, and at different company sites. The breakdown varies tremendously with individual, job type, and the phase of whatever project they happen to be involved with. Look at Have Advice, Will Travel in the Marketplace section of the June 2, 2006 Wall Street Journal for another interesting perspective.