Back in 2003, a New York Times article described telecommuting as an explosive workplace trend that was the wave of the “future” and offered tips for a successful working from home experience. Among the most important suggestions: find time for interaction with other people, create a schedule that mirrors a workweek, and ensure that your technology is up-to-par for remote collaboration.
Six years later, with growing concerns about the environment and tightening budgets, telecommuting shows no signs of slowing. In fact, a 2008 study showed that 33% of employers are now offering telework options. It also stands to reason that employers who are not currently offering such telework programs will begin to do so in the coming year. The gains are just too great. A powerful example: if the 79 percent of U.S. government employees eligible to telework full time actually did, they would save $13.9 billion in commuting costs and spare the environment 21.5 billion pounds of pollutants?
So, do the tips from the 2003 New York Times article still ring true? Any other advice that modern-day telecommuters or employers with work-from-home initiatives must hear? One point from the article that resonates even more today is that the relationship between a remote employee and the home office must be a “fast broadband” one. That is, slow technology will only get in the way of the productivity and collaboration that telecommuting is designed to foster in the first place. Since 2003, web conferencing has become a high-speed way of connecting people across distances and it will only grow in popularity as employers realize what can be accomplished with just a computer, good internet connection and a webcam.
Even though technology has improved by leaps and bounds and telecommuting has increased dramatically since 2003, one major thing has not: when technology enables us to work from anywhere, at anytime, we are in danger of always working. So, embrace your flexible work schedule. Schedule an online meeting and then take the dog for a walk. Become more productive by achieving true-work balance. After all, isn’t that what telecommuting is all about?
Posted under Green Business, Travel Reduction, Web Conferencing
This post was written by Christine Olivas on April 14, 2009
Excellent post Christine. Another complication when it comes to estimating the number of people that telework is a matter of definition. Recent estimates vary by an order of magnitude (10x)depedning on what you consider telework. Just posted a Consumer Electronics Association summary that shows the numnber range from 4 to 44 million depending on how you look at the issue.
Oops, for got the link. It’s at http://undress4success.com/research/people-telecommute/