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Telecommuting 1313 Responses
Last post: 2 months, 2 weeks ago | Thread started: Jun 19, 08, 11:24 a.m.
- dskz
I am working at a good friends company and he cannot find any local graphic designers. Without really thinking about it I told him that he should telecommute and he laughed in my face and told me that nobody good does it. Has anyone worked off-site here? Would you hire someone offsite and work with that person through the web? It should be easy... right? I thought this was going to be the era of worldwide collaboration?
I think he should do it.
- Jun 19, 08, 11:24 a.m. – Permalink
- harlequino
I primarily telecommute, as does many people I know.
- Dog-earJun 19, 08, 11:29 a.m. – Permalink
- adev
depends on the type of work done...telecommunicating can be a huge PITA if you constantly need large files that would be on a local server if you were in the office. But I did most of my work for 5+ years out of the office at my previous place. Depends on the work, and how the office is set up.. if they have the bandwidth and routers set up, its generlly not a problem
- Dog-earJun 19, 08, 11:53 a.m. – Permalink
- dskz
from wikipedia:
Potential drawbacks* Telecommuting has come to be viewed by some as more a "complement rather than a substitute for work in the workplace".[17] Thus, some workers may find their work load increased to the point where they are under more stress than before. Distractions at home can have a similar effect, especially among workers who leave the office to be better able to care for small children and the infirm.
* Fellow employees in the employer's office sometimes resent home telecommuters.[citation needed]
* Even when a company successfully implements telecommuting practices, increasing productivity and decreasing stress, they face an increased risk of confidential data loss and risks to data integrity resulting from the increased geographical diversity of their network and the loss of direct corporate control over the telecommuter's physical work environment. For instance, a major breach of privacy by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs resulted from a laptop being stolen from a worker who took his work home. The result was described as "potentially the largest loss of Social Security numbers to date."[18]
* Initially, managers may view the teleworker as experiencing a drop in productivity during the first few months. This drop occurs as "the employee, his peers, and the manager adjust to the new work regimen".[19] The drop could also be accountable to inadequate office setup. Managers need to be patient and let the teleworker adapt. It can be claimed that as much as "70 minutes of each day in a regular office are wasted by interruptions, yakking around the photocopier, and other distractions".[20] Eventually, productivity of the teleworker will climb.
* Management needs to recognise the communication barriers that telecommuters experience. The feeling of alienation can be very difficult for the teleworker. The job should be clearly defined as well as its objectives. Performance measures should be thorough and apparent.
* Managers need to be aware that although overhead decreases, the cost of technology becomes greater. Information Technology (IT) managers experience greater demands because of user requirements for remote access through laptops, personal digital assistants, and home computers. Use of non-standard software can create problems. Setting up security and virtual private networks increase the demands for IT.
* Traditional line managers are accustomed to managing by observation and not necessarily by results. This causes a serious obstacle in organizations attempting to adopt telecommuting. Liability and workers' compensation can become serious issues as well. Companies considering telecommuting should be sure to check on local legal issues, union issues, and zoning laws. Telecommuting should incorporate training and development that includes evaluation, simulation programs, team meetings, written materials, and forums. Information sharing should be considered synchronous in a virtual office and building processes to handle conflicts should be developed. Operational and administrative support should be redesigned to support the virtual office environment. Facilities need to be coordinated properly in order to support the virtual office and technical support should be coordinated properly. The conclusion for managers working within telecommuting organizations is that new approaches to "evaluating, educating, organizing, and informing workers"[21] should be adopted.
- Dog-earJun 19, 08, 3:52 p.m. – Permalink
- dskz
from wikipedia:
Potential Benefits
Telecommuting has given many employees a new look, such as this woman relaxing in a park while she works using a laptop and wifi.
Telecommuting has given many employees a new look, such as this woman relaxing in a park while she works using a laptop and wifi.Telecommuting, options increase the employability of proximal or circumstantially marginalized groups, such as mothers and fathers with small children, the disabled and people living in remote areas. It can also reduce an individual's carbon footprint, through minimizing daily commuting. The set up also offers possibilities for increased service and international reach, since telecommuters in different time zones can ensure that a company is virtually open for business around the clock. Telework has also enabled offshore outsourcing. Telecommuting provides employee flexibility, eases the working parent's burden, increases employee productivity, and reduces absenteeism. Virtual offices allow employers to keep valuable employees, allow employers to hire employees otherwise not available, and have facilitated productive re-engineering of order-management and customer service processes.
[edit] Environmental benefits
Telecommuting gained more ground in the United States in 1996 after "the Clean Air Act amendments were adopted with the expectation of reducing carbon dioxide and ground-level ozone levels by 25 percent".[4] The act required companies with over 100 employees to encourage car pools, public transportation, shortened workweeks, and telecommuting. In 2004, an appropriations bill was enacted by Congress to encourage telecommuting for certain Federal agencies. The bill threatened to withhold money from agencies that failed to provide telecommuting options to all eligible employees.
Telecommuting is seen as a solution to traffic congestion caused by single-car commuting, and the resulting urban air pollution and petroleum use. Initial investments in the network infrastructure and hardware are balanced by an increased productivity and overall greater well-being of telecommuting staff (more quality family time, less travel-related stress), which makes the arrangement attractive to companies, especially those who face large operating costs related to the need for a central office. Although estimates vary on the number of workers telecommuting in the U.S., some studies anticipate that the number will rise over the next few years. Barriers to continued growth of telecommuting include distrust from employers and personal disconnectedness for employees.[5]
Research conducted by Kate Lister and Tom Harnish in 2008 shows that thirty-three million Americans hold jobs that could be performed at home. If they did, the U.S. could make major cuts in oil dependency. Based on their synthesis of data from EPA, DOT, and 7 other recent sources, they found that telework could reduce Gulf oil imports by 24 to 48%, reduce greenhouse gases by up to 67 million metric tons a year, and save as much as 7.5 billion gallons of gasoline each year. These new telecommuters would collectively avoid 154 billion miles of driving and save $25 billion in fuel purchases (even accounting for mileage for errands formerly accomplished driving to or from work). What's more, their research shows that by not commuting, these new teleworkers would enjoy the equivalent of an extra 5 workweeks of free time each year.[6]
[edit] Current trends
[edit] U.S. federal government
Recent events have pushed telework to the forefront as a critical measurement for the U.S. federal government. Telework relates to continuity of operations (COOP) and national pandemic preparedness planning, reducing dependence on foreign oil and the burden of rising gas prices, the Defense Base Closure and Realignment Commission (BRAC), and a focus on recruitment and retention.
During a keynote address at the September 12, 2007 Telework Exchange Town Hall Meeting, Lurita Doan, Administrator for the General Services Administration, announced an aggressive commitment goal to increase agency telework participation. Her challenge will enable 50 percent of eligible agency employees to telework one or more days per week by 2010. Currently 10 percent of eligible GSA employees telework, compared to 4.2 percent for the overall Federal workforce. Her goal is to increase participation to 20 percent by the end of 2008, 40 percent by the end of 2009, and finally 50 percent by 2010.[7]
A 2007 study [8][9] of National Science Foundation employees indicated that approximately one-third participated in telework regularly, characterized staff satisfaction with the program, and noted savings in employee time and greenhouse-gas emissions as a result of telework.
[edit] Distributed work
Telecommuters need not necessarily work from the home. A more recent extension of telecommuting is distributed work. Distributed work entails the conduct of organizational tasks in places that extends beyond the confines of traditional offices. It can refer to organizational arrangements that permit or require workers to perform work more effectively at any appropriate location, such as their homes and customers' sites - through the application of information and communication technology. An example is financial planners who meet clients during lunchtime with access to various financial planning tools and offerings on their mobile computers, or publishing executives who recommend and place orders for the latest book offerings to libraries and university professors, among others. Another example is the telework centers around Washington, D.C. in Maryland (6), Virginia (8), and D.C. and West Virginia (one each), which generally are relatively close to a majority of people who might otherwise drive or take public transit, and also feature the full complement of office equipment and a high-speed Internet connection for maximum productivity, and perhaps may feature support staff such as receptionists.[10]
These work arrangements are likely to become more popular with current trends towards greater customization of services and virtual organizing. Distributed work offers great potential for firms to reduce costs, enhance competitive advantage and agility, access a greater variety of scarce talents, and improve employee flexibility, effectiveness and productivity.[11][12][13][14] It has gained in popularity in the West, particularly in Europe. While increasing in importance, distributed work has not yet gained widespread acceptance in Asia.[15]
[edit] Virtual offices
Virtual offices are attractive to management because they reduce overheads, reduce office space needs, increase productivity, and reduce staff turnover. However, managers (whose roles are varied and not well defined) in telecommuting roles typically receive fewer promotions due to the lack of direct contact they need. From that aspect, telecommuting seems to work best for professionals such as engineers.
[edit] Coworking
Main article: Coworking
Coworking is a social gathering of a group of people, who are still working independently, but who share a common working area as well as the synergy that can happen from working with talented people in the same space. Typically, a coworking facility offers hotdesking and other services with common office infrastructure, as well as social areas such as a coffee shop.
[edit] Microjobs
Telecommuters who begin working from home part-time for one company may acquire self-employed status through agreement or necessity. From that position an employee may seek more work from other sources. Ultimately, the size of the job unit may reduce, so that many more people are working for small periods of time for multiple clients. These short-time-period jobs have been named microjobs.[16]
[edit] Telecommuting 2.0
Telecommuting 2.0 offers solutions to some of the problems that have kept telecommuting from being fully embraced by management and workers. Telecommuting 2.0 takes advantage of Remote Office Hosting Centers, which are distributed centers for leasing offices to individuals from multiple companies. The Remote Office Hosting Centers provide professional grade network access, phone system, security system, mail stop and optional services for additional costs. ROHCs are generally located in areas near where people live throughout population centers, so that workers do not have to commute more than a couple of miles. The telecommuter works in a real office but accesses the company network across the internet using a VPN just as in traditional telecommuting. Telecommuting 2.0 has the additional cost since the company will have to lease office space for the employee, but companies already pay for office space and network infrastructure in traditional office environments. The continuing increases in fuel costs are making telecommuting (either version 1.0 or 2.0) more and more attractive for companies and workers alike.
- Dog-earJun 19, 08, 3:52 p.m. – Permalink
