issues were going to be respected); andEnvironment, Health & Safety (to make certain that the home environment was both safe and healthy for teleworking).In order to simplify this initial set-up process, AT&T developed a website "portal" to act as a guide for potential participants in how to set themselves up as a teleworker (Overcoming Specific Barriers). For example, some of this information included how to procure a computer and telephone lines, as well as sample telework policies and agreements. The standard teleworking agreement served as a written commitment (Obtaining a Commitment).AT&T's website portal succeeded in not only simplifying a somewhat complicated process, but it also helped to empower employees at the local level to take up the corporate challenge to try teleworking.Initial barriers to the employee telework initiative did arise, and these were mostly associated with the overall cost and effort that needed to be invested by AT&T's initial policy development team. AT&T managed to overcome these barriers primarily because the team participants were supportive of the concept, and so they were determined to work towards building consensus so that the initiative could go forward.Over the years, AT&T employed a number of tools to promote its Employee Telework Initiative. In addditon to internal and external communication packages based on survey results, it also participated in the annual "Telework America Day" (a public-private effort to encourage the adoption and growth of telework arrangements through a nationwide campaign of public awareness and education) (Norm Appeals).Every year on this day, AT&T used such communication tools as email, all-employee publications, and information booths to educate employees about the benefits of teleworking, such as increased productivity, increased job satisfaction, and decreased commuting time (Building Motivation Over Time).As the Employee Telework Initiative evolved, AT&T focused upon removing barriers to telework such as improving telecommunications technology available to teleworkers. Furthermore, as employees and their local managers became more comfortable with the idea of teleworking, the insistence on formal work schedules began to decrease, and teleworkers gained much more flexibility regarding when they could work in the office and when they could work remotely (Overcoming Specific Barriers).Financing the ProgramGiven the highly localized nature of the initiative (local managers were encouraged to assist employees interested in teleworking, no single corporate-wide budget existed for telework. (It was suggested that it probably cost approximately $500 US to set up one employee for teleworking from home, not including a laptop computer and desk). However, there were some specific costs of the program because each year, AT&T conducted its employee telework survey and AT&T also produced several communication packages on its teleworking initiative for employees and other interested parties.Measuring AchievementsA few years prior to the development of its formal telework initiative around 1992, AT&T conducted a few, localized telework pilot projects in three regional offices. The lessons learned from these self-contained, pilot projects helped to inform the design of a corporate, cross-functional team and consequently, the formal telework initiative which it developed.Beginning in 1994, AT&T conducted annual telephone surveys (randomly sampled with a good representation of company employees). From the collected survey results, AT&T compared