Telecommuting is a powerful tool allowing colleagues to work with more focus and to maintain firmer control of their work-life balance. Now that this has become widely adopted at our university, we are in a position to chart its impact on the dynamics of the workplace, and to encourage and inspire teams to discuss what their needs are in terms of arrangements or infrastructure to truly get the best out of the combination of telecommuting and working on campus.

We are putting even more effort into deconnecting and raising awareness of its basic principles. Not only are we suggesting sustained attention to restricting email traffic outside regular working hours to an absolute minimum (and setting a good example ourselves), but we will also examine whether, where possible, we can keep internal deadlines for, say, promotion or for project applications clearer of vacation periods.