Lucy Gellman Photo
McDermott, with teleworkers Lindenman and Brown in the background.
Talent Developer Deb Lindenman came to work in New Haven Tuesday morning. Meanwhile, she also stayed home in Fairfield.
Lindeman presented her latest ideas for Yale University’s Office of Management. She interfaced with colleagues not in person, but through a computer monitor and video chat.
Lindenman is one of a growing number of Connecticut residents who telecommute one or more days a week. She presented her story Tuesday morning at a press conference kicking off Connecticut Telework Week, a collaboration among the state Department of Transportation’s CTrides program, Yale University and the Connecticut Society for Human Resource Management (CT SHRM).
The collaboration encourages managers to allow their employees to try teleworking — working from home with access to internet and phone — instead of coming into the office every day.
The press conference marked development of two new programs that support teleworking in Connecticut. First, CTrides is rolling out a series of tailored trainings and “telework assessments” to teach businesses and managers how to allow employees to telework and monitor productivity. In addition, a new Yale Sustainability Plan 2025 seeks to increase teleworking at Yale by 25 percent in the next three years as a way to reduce carbon emissions from travel and transportation.
The conference’s overwhelming argument: Some employees are more productive when working part of the time from home. Lindenman, who telecommutes each Wednesday and spends most Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays in back-to-back meetings and coaching sessions in New Haven, considers herself one of those people.
Lindenman.
“Having that break midweek — it’s like pressing the reset button for me,” she said via video chat. “I commute 50 miles a day, and so when I telework, I’m saving two, sometimes three hours every day of traffic, which is just win-win. I save so much money on gas, and when I’m not driving, it’s one less car on 95, which benefits the entire southern part of the state of Connecticut. It benefits my stress level. And I think from a productivity standpoint … I have that one day without any meetings where I’m just focused, able to work on projects that require that deep focus. The only distraction is my dog barking at the mailman at 11:30. Overall, I’m so much happier and more productive employee when I’m able to telecommute.”
“It’s truly a win-win for employers and employees,” she added, noting that she feels telecommuting leads to greater trust between managers and employees, and higher retention rates in busy, sometimes stressful workplaces.
She’s not alone in that search for fewer hours on the road and more time spent thinking about the work itself.
Currently, Connecticut commuters average enough miles per year to drive around the earth. That’s 24,901 miles spent navigating the state’s highways, surface roads, and traffic jams.
If business managers allow employees to work from home more often, argued CT rides Project Manager Russell McDermott and Yale University WorkLife and Chilcare Programs Manager Susan Abramson, they may start seeing better results and happier employees.
Brianne Mullen of the Yale Office of Sustainability.
“It’s not for every job, and it’s not for every person,” said Abramson. “But we do encourage managers to consider remote options whenever available, whether on a regular basis or episodically. Having the technology in place does allow employees to work effectively..”
“When we talk about teleworking, we’re talking about the benefits that go along with it,” said McDermott. “Things like business continuity, recruitment and retention, work-life balance. Take it from someone who thinks that driving from Hartford to New Haven can be a chore sometimes — when you think about work-life balance, a lot of people are now asking: how can I spend more time more wisely … instead of spending 30 minutes in traffic. Redefining that balance, if you will.”
“It’s easier than you think,” he added.
Brown, speaking.
That’s the case for Donnel Brown, senior utilities customer service representative for Connecticut Water, who also joined the conference via remote connection. Tasked with the duty of monitoring five statewide offices — including a corporate office 60 miles away — she has found that working from her home in Killingly is sometimes the easiest way to get things done. Currently, she teleworks about three days per week.
“Today was a great day with the freezing rain to work from home,” she said. Btu more generally, “It’s good work-life balance. We serve 300,000 people across the state, ad our business is very fluid — so teleworking helps us keep operations without spilling a drop.”
“It saves me a couple of hours round trip in driving, and it’s also good for the environment” she added. “We’re very happy our senior leadership has supported teleworking.”
