A new just-in-time guide for those who are (or could be) telecommuting due to health, weather or security obstacles.

Arm your telecommuters with the resource that will help them get to work and be productive FAST!

Serious weather or civil emergencies...a pandemic or other community health concern...an actual or threatened terrorist event...these are all increasingly realistic and probable reasons why a quick-start approach to telecommuting is a key business continuity strategy that every organization must know – and be ready to implement now!

Thoughtful planning and careful preparation for a telecommuting implementation is the ideal approach. But the reality is that many organizations and employees will not be prepared when the need to telecommute comes unexpectedly or sooner than was planned. For those organizations and circumstances, Emergency Telecommuting will provide telecommuters with the just-in-time information and critical action steps needed to maintain productivity when they cannot be in the office.

Since 9-11, there is broader acceptance of telecommuting and increased evidence that it has become a mainstream business strategy in non-emergency situations. With this increased awareness, combined with significant proliferation of low-cost technology tools allowing increased access from off-site locations, telecommuting is the likely response to business continuity needs in emergency situations.

In cases of inclement weather or extreme situations such as a hurricane, tornado, or earthquake, the road to work may be blocked – but work can still get done through emergency telecommuting. Terrorist incidents or alerts may preclude workers from accessing the workplace, but remote access allows the flow of work to continue. Health emergencies, such as a pandemic or even a particularly nasty flu season, could find healthy workers at home once schools have been closed.

Through emergency telecommuting, organizations can keep workers connected, teams productive, and customers satisfied in spite of obstacles to the business-as-usual ways of working.

We need only recall recent events such as 9-11 and Katrina, snowstorms and earthquakes, Anthrax and other terrorism scares, to realize that a proactive approach and at-hand plan of action could be needed any day by nearly every organization – and Emergency Telecommuting will go a long way toward meeting that need.