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Flexible Work Arrangements

How to Setup Telework/Remote Work

If you are an ITU employee, just follow these quick and easy steps to ensure the arrangement is in compliance with Human Resources and the State of Virginia.

If you are not an ITU employee, please see Mason's Human Resources page for setup guidelines.

For further information on setting up telework and remote work, like how to get a VPN or equipment to work remotely, visit http://telework.gmu.edu.

How to Setup Flex Work

If you are an ITU employee just follow these quick and easy steps to ensure the arrangement is in compliance with Human Resources and the State of Virginia.

Flexible Work includes: Alternate Job Schedule, Compressed Schedule, Flextime and Job Sharing. For a better understanding of these options, head to the Flex Work Policy section of Mason's Human Resource's website.

The Benefits of Flexible Work Arrangements

Some environmental benefits of the flexible work arrangements mentioned above are reduction in traffic congestion, decrease in noxious auto emissions, and improvements in overall air quality due to fewer commuters on the road. View other facts and statistics about the benefits of flexible work arrangements.

Check out the other benefits, including a better work/life balance, that result from using flexible work arrangements. Also, see what other ITU managers and employees have to say about flexible work arrangements:

"Mason's flexible work policy has offered many great benefits to us. As a supervisor, one of the key values is that this program empowered me to retain our talents by offering them the flexibility in developing a work schedule that would satisfy the needs from our work while accomodating the scheduling restraints due to their unique life situations.

In addition, this policy enabled us to support the university's green initatives by reducing the time and natural resources that woudl otherwise be spent on the road, such as driving during peak traffic hours.

For a couple of our employees who have been on the program, I have observed an increase in their work productivity, and improved communications in a more timely manner." - Jingxiao Feng

"The quality of work life has greatly improved in my department. I'm able to recruit from a larger geographical area and retention within the unit is better. If you have good people and you want to keep them, then you have to do everything you can to improve quality of work life and make a job desirable." - Bob Peraino

"I would definitely promote this program to other managers. DoIT tries hard to accomodate staff; that is our culture. We know that our people can make more money elsewhere. If we can make work flexible for the employee, then the employee will be flexible for the university." - Lisa Andion

"Flexible work schedules are worthwhile and need to be done more. Anything that benefits the employee will benefit you (and the university). What I do for my employees, I will receive back in good productivity and improved retention. Flexible work schedules are a benefit to the employee because they impact their personal budget, and give them more free time to unwind." - Wayne Kirschner

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Best Practices

We interviewed ITU managers who have successfully implemented flexible work arrangements in their departments and asked them for their tips for success. Here is a list of their best practices:

• Start off slow. Try the arrangement for a short trial period and see how well it works. The manager and the employee both have the right to terminate the agreement at any time.


• Communication is key!
• Keep communication open and honest. Talk about how well the arrangement is working with the employee. Managers must be frank with employees if they feel the arrangement isn't working, or with employees who they don't feel are right for flexible work arrangements.
• Setup the proper lines of communication. This means exchanging cell phone numbers, using Instant Messenger (IM), using other email clients that are faster than Mason's (e.g. Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail), etc. to ensure your employee is reachable and they can reach you.
• Establish trust. Form a trusting relationship with your employee before they begin a flexible work arrangement.


• Setup monitoring techniques. Use tools and guidelines to monitor employee performance and daily activity.
• Require weekly Time and Progress Reports from employees (require them for all employees to show fair treatment).
• Use project plans that define a start date, end date, deadline and the person responsible.