Telecommuting/work from home/ saving space, money and energy
A new for Romanian employers and employees but at the same time old subject: TELECOMMUTING. I know that I already wrote about this subject as a part of flextime, but I found more interesting things about it, especially a lot more advantages then disadvantages and I’ll let you decide if it’s a good idea or not.
http://www.ahbbo.com/telecomalternative.html
http://www.gilgordon.com/telecommutesafe/telebenefits.html
http://psychology.suite101.com/article.cfm/work_from_home_disadvantages
Advantages:
- Reduces number of people “job hopping”; decreasing training requirements.
- Improves Health by reducing stress related to compromises made between Family and Work.
- Improves Productivity: Time saved can be used to improve productivity. Much time is spent on unnecessary activities by people who commute back and forth to work in the conventional manner. With telecommuting, one no longer needs to be always preparing for the commute and for being “presentable”.
- Allows closer proximity to and involvement with family. Working in the home offers people a greater opportunity to share quality time with family members, to promote family values and develop stronger family ties and unity.
- Allows selection of a remote work site that is mutually acceptable to all family members and allows spouse an opportunity to pursue his/her career.
- Allows employee freedom to choose an environment that is more suitable from a social and economic standpoint and to live in an area with people of common interests.
- Conserving Energy. The three major areas where energy can be conserved are:
- Vehicle-related materials and resources;
- Highway-related materials and resources; and
- Office-related materials and resources.
- Preserves Our Environment by reducing land use requirements for highway expansion and by reducing slow-moving automobile emissions.
- Promotes Safety by reducing highway use by people rushing to get to work.
- Retention of Valued Personnel. The availability of telecommuting as an option means that the employer may well retain valued personnel under circumstances
when the employee may otherwise be forced to resign due to
changing life circumstances. Obvious examples include
pregnancy and relocation to accompany a transferred spouse. - Attract Quality Recruits. If the business has a telecommuting policy, this will be
attractive to many prospective employees, allowing the
employer to better attract more quality recruits. - Reduce Absenteeism. The flexibility inherent in working from home translates to
reduced absenteeism. No longer does the working parent
have to take a “sick” day to care for a sick child. - Broadens Labor Pool. Telecommuting allows the employer to recruit from a
broader labor pool than would otherwise be the case if the
employee had to travel to the employer’s office each day.
Geographical boundaries become less significant for one
thing, but special needs personnel, such as those with
physical disabilities who prefer not to work in a traditional
office environment, or with chronic illnesses, can still
participate in the workforce. This allows the employer
to recruit from the broadest talent pool possible.
Disadvantages:
1. Isolation. One of the reasons you will be more productive working
from home is that you will have fewer interruptions.
That, of course, is a double edged sword. You may
find yourself missing those drop in visits and gatherings
at the water cooler that you think of now as
interruptions.
- Overcoming isolation: schedule regular business lunches, walks, or tennis games. Some people who work from home need more social contact than others; figure out how often you need to see coworkers, and build it into your routine. Schedule one or two days a week in-office.
2. Out of the Loop. You will also be out of the loop with what is going on at
the office. This makes it difficult to participate in the
office politics that can be so crucial to the wellbeing
of your career.
3. Propensity to Overwork. The fact that you are living and working in the same
space makes it less easy to turn work off at the end of the
day. Say what you like about your evening commute,
it at least signals the end of the workday. You may find
yourself working at 10:00 at night just because you can.
This can quickly lead to a lack of balance between
your personal and business lives, the very thing you
were perhaps hoping to redress by making the move to
working from home.
4. Invisibility Factor. You should be alert to the fact that not being in the office
could lead to something of an “out of sight, out of mind”
situation. You need to be certain that your work is
visible, even if you are not.
5. Lack of supervision. Some people who telecommute are disciplined enough to work on their own without management spurring them on. Others need the structure of the boss or coworkers around, or they get tempted by the tv, chores around the house, or the sofa (nap time!).
- Overcoming lack of supervision: Set daily and weekly goals, and be accountable to a colleague or your boss for them. Be brutally honest about what you have and have not achieved – you’ll quickly find yourself working productively. If you can’t work from home successfully, consider going back to the office or keeping a meticulous journal of your minutes and hours worked – and insist you only get paid for those (no doubt a rare occurrence in the work from home world!).
6. Friends & family. When they know you’re working from home, they’re more likely to call or drop in. Kids may feel free to wander in and out of your work space, or have roaring fights when you’re on the phone with clients.
- Overcoming friends & family. Screen your calls and don’t answer personal ones during your work day. Be firm with your kids or partner: you are working and unless their hair is on fire, you’re not to be interrupted. Meet your friends for lunch or walks only during your scheduled break times (if you make exceptions, make sure you’re not permanently disrupted by changes in your routine).

