Gil Gordon is known around the world as one of the foremost telecommuting experts. Since establishing his consulting practice in 1982, he has specialized in helping private- and public-sector firms establish successful telecommuting programs. Mr. Gordon generously allowed telecooler.com to interview him about his personal relationship to telework and his thoughts about the past and future of telecommuting.
       
telecooler.com:
What was your first telecommuting job?

 

Gil Gordon: I guess my first was when I left the corporate world in 1982 and my office was, and still is, at home. That was my first experience living and working under the same roof.
       
How do you define your position today?
Self employed… working with employers setting up or extending various types of telework or virtual office programs.
       
How long have you been consulting for the industry?

Twenty-four years and two days. I just happened to look at a calendar yesterday and noticed it was near that anniversary.       
So, what is the content of your daily work?
       
The consulting work is a mix of work either here or on-site with clients who want to get started with telework or expand their current programs; helping them understand the business rationale for it, the human resources planning, the technological aspects… I also do a lot of writing and training, a lot of public speaking.
       
Why do you think telework has become such a passion for you?
I believed then, and I believe now, that it is just fundamentally wasteful and ineffective and, in some cases, down right stupid to continue to require people to go to an office, where everybody can be at the same place at the same time, when we have so many alternatives to doing that. It just doesn’t make sense to me, to stay with the industrial and agricultural model of “same time — same place” at a point when our economy and technology and employee values don’t mesh with that anymore.        

 

Can you say more about that?
Well, there are really two sides. From the employee side it is all about quality of life, including quality of work life. From the employer side it is, quite honestly, the ability to get a much bigger return from the salary dollar than is possible when you require everyone to be in the office. Those two things together are the cornerstones.