Kimberly T. Nelson spent 26 years working in the public sector, first with the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and then as CIO of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, before taking a position in January 2005 as director of eGovernment and Health and Human Services, U.S. Public Sector, at Microsoft Corp. Although she was prepared for major differences between government and corporate work environments, Nelson initially was shocked to find how few Microsoft employees physically worked at her official Microsoft office in Washington, D.C. "I realized very quickly that Microsoft is a company that really walks the talk in terms of supporting virtual workforces," she explains, noting that she has nine people on her team, and only three of them live in the Washington, D.C., area, with the others scattered around the country. Nelson recently spoke with The Teleworker about adjusting to a different work-style, what Federal agencies can learn from the Microsoft experience, and how having the choice to work from wherever she wants has benefited her own work and personal life.

Q: Was it difficult to adjust to the virtual work culture at Microsoft, and how well does it really work?

A: Well, it takes a different management style and it does take a while getting used to. But I was shocked at how quickly one adapts to that environment, if you go into it with an open mind. And yes, it does work. In fact, it is stunning how efficiently and effectively an organization can function when people work virtually.

Q: What are the key tools and strategies that Microsoft has put in place that make its virtual workforce initiative so successful?

A: Well, we have all the latest and greatest collaborative tools, of course, like instant messaging, which I always describe as my virtual hallway - instead of walking around and peeking into cubicles, I can see on my screen at any moment who’s online, who’s not, and if they’re out of the office. Just as important, though, is that Microsoft has a management culture that fully supports the virtual workforce. If there’s a meeting scheduled, people here don’t look down on the fact that somebody says, "Sorry, I can’t travel to Redmond. Let’s do a LiveMeeting instead." For everyone here, that’s perfectly acceptable and normal.

Q: How has that culture affected you as a worker?

A: For me, personally, I have two teenaged daughters, and it does improve the quality of life in terms of being able to meet the demands of two children and work. And it just gives you so much flexibility. We have several offices in the D.C. area, so sometimes I’ll go to the Reston, Virginia office instead of commuting into D.C., or sometimes I’ll stay home and work all day because all I have on my schedule is conference calls. Why get in the car and waste gas and pollute the air and waste time driving to an office to sit on the phone and do e-mail, when I can do all those things equally well from home? I stayed home all day today, for example, but I was online by 6:30 a.m. My girls were home early from school, and so even though I put in a full day of work, I still got to see them face-to-face and ask about how their tests went, that type of thing. That little personal connection counts for a lot as a parent, whether your kids are toddlers or teenagers.

Q: What is your best advice to your former Federal colleagues about how to go about encouraging and implementing some level of telework?

A: Approach it with an open mind. Recognize that the tools today are very different than they were a few years ago, so give them a try. Instant messaging and videoconferencing, for example, now can make a huge difference in terms of managing a workforce and being able to interact with people who are not right down the hall. And then implement a small pilot program and you might be surprised how much work actually gets done. The issue of whether or not people will actually do the work is probably the biggest concern for most managers, but I’ve found that by changing the paradigm, people are at least as productive and often more so. And that’s because they either become more efficient by working during hours or in a space where there are fewer interruptions or distractions or they find new and better ways to collaborate. So keep an open mind, try the new tools, which are very inexpensive, and you might be pleasantly surprised that not only is more work getting done but you are saving money as well.