In today’s corporate landscape, traditional office space is steadily becoming a thing of the past. Empty chairs and vacant cubicles provide the backdrop for much of today’s corporate floor space. Nothing more than little signs reading “Telecommuting Today” or “Virtual Office Day” hang from cubicle walls. Today’s workforce consists of employees who work from home, from their cars or from virtually anywhere. Advanced technologies and progressive HR strategies make these alternative offices possible.

Imagine it’s 7 am on a Monday morning. Inside the dining room of his regional office, Jason Dorlarque, HP Engineer, is enjoying his morning bagel and Chai Latte while scribbling down voice mail messages and replying to dozens of email messages. In front of him is a Laptop — equipped with a network connection—connected to his high speed Cable Internet service which gives him network connectivity that’s always on and available with speeds that rival that of his companies intranet. The contents of his briefcase are spread on the table. As he sifts through a stack of paperwork and responds to incoming email, he periodically pick

With the many driving forces behind the corporate shift to the virtual workforce, it makes sense that we begin to embrace the benefits and prepare for the new level of inherent responsibility that will come with working “outside the box”. Where do you want to work today?

For example, as with most other companies that embrace the virtual-office concept, Boeing stipulates that only salaried employees can work in virtual offices because of the lack of a structured time schedule and the potential for working more than eight hours a day. Those employees who want to telecommute must first express how the decision will benefit the company, the department and themselves. Only those who can convince a hiring manager that they meet all three criteria move on to the next stage. Potential telecommuters then must define how they’ll be accountable and responsible in the new working model. Finally, once performance standards and guidelines have been created, Boeing presents two disclaimers to those moving to telecommute. If their performance falls below certain predetermined standards, management will review the situation to determine whether it’s working. And if the position changes significantly and it no longer makes sense to telecommute, management will have to reevaluate.

This challenge requires HR to become an active business partner. That means working with other departments, such as real estate, finance and information technology. It means creating the tools to make a virtual office work. In some cases, that may require HR to completely rewrite a benefits package to include a $500 or $1,000-a-month pay for those working at home. That way, the company saves money on real estate and relocation costs, while the employee receives an incentive that can be used to furnish a home office.

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