from the Chicago Tribune

   KEEPING IN TOUCH AND ON TRACK
   By Kathleen Furore
   Special to the Tribune
   June 28, 1998

   One look at Kathy Tortorice's work week should quell any doubt that
   telecommuting is changing the face of the American workplace.

   The board-certified pharmacotherapy specialist and mother of three
   works three days from her home in Oak Park and two days at Loyola
   University Medical Center in Maywood for The Transplant Pharmacy, a
   company that provides pharmacy services to solid organ transplant
   patients in hospitals around the country.

   Though she doesn't dispense medications, Tortorice contacts transplant
   patients to discuss their drug regimens, checks for potentially
   problematic drug interactions, conducts clinical research, and writes
   articles for a transplant recipient newsletter. Her days are spent
   counseling transplant patients preparing to leave the hospital about
   the medications they will be taking. "I like the flexibility," says
   Tortorice, who started the job in late February. "I can be with the
   kids. It lets me do the work at night when they're in bed. It's not a
   traditional 9-to-5 job and I like that."

   Tortorice is in good--and growing--company. According to a survey
   released in April by the Kensington Technology Group, a San Mateo,
   Calif.-based company that's a leader in the design and sales of
   computer accessories, about 8.2 million people telecommute on a
   regular basis. The study identified telecommuters as "those who work
   from home more than three days a month or from the road more than
   seven days a month."

   A 1997 survey by the New York-based research firm Find/SVP put the
   number of home-based telecommuters at more than 11 million.

   And experts say those numbers will escalate: The number of
   telecommuters is likely to reach 18 million by the year 2005, predicts
   Charlie Grantham, CEO of the Institute for the Study of Distributed
   Work, an organization in Walnut Creek, Calif., that offers consulting
   services for Fortune 500 companies considering alternative work
   arrangements.

   But what price are telecommuters paying for the privilege of working
   at least part time from home? Are they putting in longer hours than
   their in-office peers, and passing up promotions in the process?

   Though there are no hard numbers on how many hours telecommuters work
   or how many have been promoted, industry experts--as well as employees
   and managers involved in telecommuting arrangements--agree
   productivity typically increases in alternative work situations.

   In a survey of 500 human resources and information technology managers
   that Washington, D.C.-based Telecommute America released last fall,
   more than half of the respondents said telecommuting has increased
   worker productivity. And workers who are more productive are usually
   more promotable, too.

   "Telecommuting is really a good opportunity because it creates more
   options," says Beverly Addante, president of Evanston-based
   Telecommuting Works, a consulting firm that offers a range of telework
   services to private companies and public agencies including Kraft
   Foods, Sprint, Baxter Healthcare Corp. and the Illinois Department of
   Transportation.

   "People can do more work so their productivity increases and they're
   actually in a better position to shine."

   Alice Campbell, director of the Work/Life Initiative at Baxter
   Healthcare in Deerfield, concurs. "I think it's a myth that people who
   telecommute can't or don't get promoted," says Campbell, whose
   division at Baxter is dedicated to supporting and facilitating
   telecommuting and other alternative work arrangements that meet
   employees' needs for balance and flexibility while continuing to meet
   the company's business goals.

   "Typically, telecommuters only work from home one or two days a week,
   so it's not like they're never there. And considering some
   (non-telecommuters') travel schedules, it may be that telecommuters
   are in the office more than non-telecommuters. Clearly, people get
   promoted who work from home--it could be a manager (being promoted) to
   director or a vice president who continues to progress."

   Campbell, in fact, manages telecommuter Donna Namath, a consultant in
   Baxter's Work/Life Initiative who works from her Kenosha, Wis., home
   one day each week. And both parties are happy with the set-up. "As her
   manager, it doesn't bother me at all. It's great," Campbell reports.
   "She's so productive on those days (at home), and it's better on her
   psyche."

   And Namath agrees. "It's working wonderfully," she says. "I have fewer
   interruptions when I'm working at home and I control when I'm going to
   be interrupted. I'm at least as accessible as I am when I'm in the
   office and, in many cases, more accessible because there are no
   meetings. My voice mail tells my customers when I'm telecommuting,
   what my work hours are, when I'm taking a lunch break and that I'll be
   checking my voice mail every hour. And it gives my home number that
   they can call if there's an emergency. But I get to choose when I call
   (the office and clients).

   "When I'm working from home I can work longer hours (than I would in
   the office), and sometimes I do. But that's my choice. And some days I
   may choose to bring my son to band practice, or I might schedule a
   late lunch so I can attend a teacher conference, which I couldn't do
   if I worked (all week) in Deerfield."

   And Namath is living proof that telecommuters can climb the career
   ladder.

   "I was a program administrator and now I'm a program consultant, so I
   was promoted within the telecommuting arrangement," Namath says.

   Tortorice, too, says telecommuting isn't likely to stunt her career
   growth. "With this company it won't hurt," the doctor of pharmacy
   says, noting that The Transplant Pharmacy, which is based in Menlo
   Park, Calif., employs pharmacists in Illinois, New York, Tennessee,
   California, Florida and the District of Columbia. "We're spread across
   the United States, so none of us are together. But we met in
   Washington, D.C., recently for training and we have a conference call
   twice a month with everyone, including the clinical coordinator we
   report to."

   Staying connected the way Namath and Tortorice do with their managers,
   clients and peers is a key component of successful, career-enhancing
   telecommuting. "If you want to be promotable, you have to be in
   people's faces. Using voice mail, e-mail, keeping in touch with the
   support team you work with--all those things can help overcome an
   out-of-sight, out-of-mind mentality," stresses Jane Anderson, director
   of the Midwest Institute for Telecommuting Education, a company in
   Minneapolis that offers telecommuting implementation training and
   assistance to managers and telecommuters.

   Anderson says that the key traits of successful telecommuters include
   self-discipline, being able to establish goals and follow through, and
   knowing the inner-workings of your organization. Additionally, a
   telecommuting candidate should be able to demonstrate an ability to
   take initiative and solve problems, and have a documented record of
   good performance.

   So important are such connections that Addante of Telecommuting Works
   builds an entire module about communication for telecommuters and
   their managers into the training programs she conducts. "You have to
   take time to address the issue of visibility and how you're going to
   work out a communication system both parties are comfortable with. If
   people aren't trained in those areas, it can create problems," says
   Addante, who offers five tips for staying in touch:

   1) Set up your telecommuting communication system with your manager
   before you begin telecommuting.

   2) Design a way to stay in touch with members of your team. Set up a
   telephone call or e-mail that colleagues can anticipate on your
   telecommuting days.

   3) If another telecommuter in your organization lives nearby, have
   lunch every so often.

   4) Continue to participate in all the regular office social functions,
   both formal and informal.

   5) Pay attention to the quality of your communication with managers,
   colleagues and customers. Meaningful communication develops trust.

   Perhaps Baxter's Namath sums up the issue of telecommuting, promotions
   and productivity best. "Where the work gets done isn't as important as
   that it gets done. But you need to be smart from a career standpoint.
   Make sure you have exposure to those who can help and that you're
   providing the kind of performance and completing the objectives you
   need to so you're in the pool of candidates (being considered for
   promotions)."