Teleworkers, Turn Off the Auto-Reply Messages

There's an interesting conversation on GovLoop about whether it's appropriate to leave an out-of-office message in your email when you're teleworking. Apparently, some workers are leaving auto-reply messages that they're out of the office when they're teleworking. But telework should still mean business as usual, right?

This could be one reason why telework is such a tough sell for some federal managers. Yesterday, I wrote about how the Office of Personnel Management's Results-Only Work Environment pilot program, which allowed some 400 employees to decide where and when they want to work, was scrapped, not because the technology was not up to par, but because of culture. Employees' goals were not set clearly enough, and communication between employees and managers also was not clear.

Do you or your co-workers leave out-of-office messages when teleworking? Do these and/or other cultural issues make telework a tough sell in your office?