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716-286-8181

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js@niagara.edu

Telecommuting is becoming the “mainstay of corporate America,” according to a recent MSNBC story.  Telecommuters are 25% more productive than people who work in an office, meaning your company is more profitable.

Come discover the keys to making telecommuting a success for you and your organization.  For those new to telecommuting and those already working from home. Includes 100 page guide to telecommuting.

Online; Julie Coates, lead instructor;  $145

Course Outline

Unit 1
Introduction to Telecommuting

• The office as the factory of the Industrial Age of the last century
• The advantages of telecommuting for businesses and work organizations
• The advantages of telecommuting for workers
• Why telecommuting is growing

Unit 2
Planning to Telecommute

• Discussing telecommuting within your work organization
• Redesigning your job description for telecommuting
• Developing a plan for transitioning to telecommuting
• Space, equipment and computer requirements

Unit 3
Working from home

• Work flow, time, overwork, cabin fever
• Are some people ‘not right’ for telecommuting?
• Time off, vacation, working 9-5 issuesCommunicating via distance with work colleagues

Unit 4
Issues in Telecommuting

• Face-to-face meetings with work colleagues.
• Developing local professional contacts
• Creating social contacts in your community
• Rebuilding Community: community issues related to telecommuting

About online learning

Online learning is a fun, enjoyable and very productive way to learn. Millions of people are learning online each year. You will engage with the instructor and other participants. You will get to know your instructor and other participants. You may make friends.  It’s easy. It’s fun. 

How the Course Works

It is easy to participate in your online course. After you register, you will be given a web address to go to get into your online classroom.  You will have a password and use your email address and password to gain access.

Once inside the online classroom, here’s what you can expect.

Participate when you want

Participants can participate as little or as much as you want.

You can participate any time of day or evening. The online classroom is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

There are no live real-time requirements or meetings. You decide when you participate.

For the best learning, participants should log into the course on 2-3 different days of the week.

What you will do

For each Unit, you will:

• Read the print readings (about 20 pages a week)
   
• Have the option of accessing the online readings
   
• Listen to the audio presentation for the Unit and view the slides
   
• Have the option of taking a self-quiz to see how much you have learned
   
• Engage in written online discussion with your instructor and other participants

For best learning, you should make one or more comments at 2-3 different times each week.
The content (readings, audio lectures, slides) and self quizzes are accessible for the entire course, so you can work ahead, or go back and review again, at your convenience.

Discussion

The Discussion for each Unit lasts one week.

All comments are made in writing and can be made at any time of the day or night.
Your instructor will log into the Discussion area at least once a day and answer questions, make comments, and respond to comments by you and the other participants.

We encourage you to make 2-3 comments each week to maximize your learning and enjoyment of the course.

It’s easy. It’s fun.

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About Your Instructor

Julie Coates has been working from home for over ten years.  She is a speaker, consultant, and Vice President for Information Services at the Learning Resources Network (LERN).  The organization is one of the first in the world to convert to a virtual organization, and now has staff and consultants in 8 states and 3 countries.  More than half of the staff telecommute.

Ms. Coates has taught online classes for more than five years. She is author of the pioneering book, Generational Learning Styles, and co-author of Nine Shift: Work, life and education in the 21st Century.

Having been on the senior management team to convert her organization from an office based organization to a virtual organization, she has trained staff in telecommuting, has addressed social and organizational issues in telecommuting, and is one of the foremost experts on telecommuting.

Course Objectives

-To provide organizations with background information on the growth of telecommuting, the data on productivity and profitability gains of telecommuters, and the reasons why companies and organizations benefit from telecommuting.

-To provide those interested in telecommuting with the knowledge necessary to transition from an office work situation to working from home, including preparation, job description analysis, physical space planning,

-To address the most commonly asked questions about telecommuting, including socializing and social contact, overwork, cabin fever, reporting, and communicating with others.

-To provide expert experience and perspective to those already telecommuting and to discuss advanced issues in telecommuting

-To have those currently working from home share their experiences with those interested in telecommuting.

Course Outcomes

At the end of the course, you will:

-Possess the information necessary to discuss the advantages of telecommuting in your organization, including trend data, information on productivity and profitability, and the reasons why businesses benefit from telecommuting.

-Know the key steps in how to prepare to work from home and plan for a transition to working from home.

-Get answers to the most advanced questions about telecommuting.

-Have addressed and discussed the most commonly asked problems and issues related to telecommuting. 

-Have the knowledge necessary to successfully telecommute.