More federal employees may be working from home this year — at least in some areas of the country (I’m thinking about anywhere up and down the Atlantic Seaboard). Thanks to a busier than normal hurricane season, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Office of Personnel Management Director John Berry issued a memorandum to chief human capital officers reminding folks about the telework policies created to help federal workers during natural disasters.

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Tags: , BPM for Government, BPM in the Cloud, Business Process Management, Government 2.0, mobile BPM, Telework

The Federal government is sending mixed messages when it comes to telework. BPM software, accessed via mobile devices and delivered through the cloud, can unify both the federal strategy for and the tactical execution of enabling an increasingly remote and mobile workforce.

The Obama Administration is aggressively pushing to move applications and information to the cloud – and to ensure that federal employees can use mobile devices and related technology to create more open, responsive, adaptable interactions with each other, and with citizens. On the other hand, there’s still a fundamental disconnect in the way the government sees telework, confining it to official telework centers that receive low marks from federal employees – and continued budget cuts.

BPM software presents a new, more cost-effective way to enable federal telework.

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Tags: , BPM for Government, Business Process Management, Cloud Computing, Government 2.0, mobile BPM, Telework

BPM software provides a solution to recent drastic changes in the federal government’s approach to telework. Mobile BPM in particular helps fulfill the vision for telework, despite the budget cuts levied at telework centers.

Earlier this year, the General Services Administration announced it will cut funding to over a dozen regional telework centers. The remaining telework centers will operate under a private sector model. This move seems to be at odds with the 2010 Telework Enhancement Act, which expands telework opportunities for federal employees. While the legislation encourages federal agencies to create telework opportunities for employees, it did not provide funding for telework centers.

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Tags: , BPM for Government, Business Process Management, Cloud Computing, Government 2.0, mobile BPM, Telework

With President Obama’s signing of the 2010 Telework Enhancement Act this past December, agencies must begin the real work of examining their business processes to determine how telework implementation may get rolling across their operation.

Agencies will have 180 days (that is, early June) to establish a policy on working outside the office, to identify eligible employees and to inform them of the option. In addition, agencies will have to name an telework program manager, and create policies and plans for continuity of operations during natural disasters or other emergencies.

As reported in a previous blog, business process management can be used in two phases of telework – both planning and day-to-day work. BPM improves productivity by providing visibility across organizations and finding opportunities to improve operations. By incorporating business process management is equally critical for teleworkers. No matter where they may be – at home, in the office or on the road – access to systems, processes and business forms are fundamental to worker productivity. In the BPM arena, new efforts are underway to combine mobility technology with cloud computing innovations to produce enterprise solutions that will improve collaboration regardless of where the user may be.

The government is not just making a perfunctory nod in the direction of telework. It is happening now, because it provides potential improvements in performance and transparency. Equally important, telework is coming to be an expectation on the part of younger prospective federal workers. The initiative is becoming an incentive for the next generation of public servants.

 With that much federal focus, agencies are best served to begin understanding their processes and systems immediately. June is not that far away.

Tags: , BPM in the Cloud, BPM software, Business Process Management and Government, mobile BPM, Telework

With a telework law ever closer to reality in the federal government, the need for reliable (and mobile) business process management has never been more critical – both in planning and in day-to-day work.

Even in a lame duck session of Congress, the need for federal telework legislation could not be disputed. After having been approved by the Senate in September, the Telework Enhancement Act (HR 1722) was passed by the House of Representative this month by a margin of 254-152, according to an article in The Federal Times. Observers are urging President Obama to quickly sign the bill into law.

Many supporters of telework point to both cost reductions and improved productivity as key benefits. Creating a telework component in day-to-day employee personnel policy will require a hard look at current business processes to ensure both of those benefits are met. That’s where BPM software comes in.

It’s generally accepted that BPM improves productivity, by providing visibility across organizations and finding opportunities to improve operations. In the planning phase for compliance with telework regulation, BPM will be essential in determining whether bottlenecks might develop, and how to address potential problems arising from a dispersed workforce.

Once the plans have been set, BPM will become critical for the teleworking employees. It’s important for employees to be part of the process of doing business, whether at the office, home office or in transit. A completely mobile BPM solution will help make telework a completely transparent way for federal agencies to do business.

The months to come will involve a lot of upfront work to ensure a smooth transition process when telework almost inevitably becomes law. Agencies with experience in BPM now will have a leg up in compliance later. Let the planning begin!

Tags: , BPM in the Cloud, BPM software, Business Process Management, Business Process Management and Government, Cloud Computing, Government 2.0, mobile BPM, software-as-a-service, Telework