Telecommuting: A Changing Factor in Our Society
In the past ten years, telecommuting has become more popular, and has had a significant impact on our society. Telecommuting creates new working patterns, changes our society at large, and leads in a new technology direction. In this article, we will exam these impacts by exploring the leading factors of telecommuting, benefits of telecommuting, problems raised by telecommuting, and a forecast of the future trends of telecommuting.
Telecommuting is when "employees perform some or all of their work at home instead of going to the office each day." (Business Data Communications and Networking, 17) This is only a broad view definition. To focus exclusively on telecommuting, as narrowly defined, is to overlook the sweeping nature of technology-supported changes that are affecting virtually every employer and every worker. These changes are leading to a work style that may be broadly referred to as distributed work: work that is done in a location different from that of the supervisor, subordinate, or fellow team member. Distributed work includes mobile work (work done while traveling), computer-supported cooperative work, field work, off-shore information processing, teleconferencing, and numerous other arrangements as well as home-based and canter-based telecommuting.
There are two factors that distinguish telecommuting from other forms of remote work: remote supervision and a reduction in commuting. Under these criteria, overtime work that is done at home in the evening by an insurance company executive, for example, would generally not be considered telecommuting because it does not involve a reduction in travel. In contrast, an employee of a software publisher who answers telephone requests for technical assistance from his or her home, instead of answering the questions while present at a centrally located help-line location, is certainly engaged in telecommuting. Likewise, a person doing transcription for a medical clinic and submitting the completed work via a modem and telephone line is a telecommuter.
Telecommuting is one of the products of today's technology advancement.
Some of the telecommuting needs consist of technologies and applications.
Technologies and applications that are required in telecommuting
can be divided into two categories: technologies which workers
have come to rely upon in their day-to-day working environment
(e.g., telephones, computers with modems, peripherals, software),
and technologies which facilitate information access and communications
connect in a telecommuting situation (e.g. Internet, ISDN, video
teleconferencing, remote access server, digital PBX features,
and wireless communications).
LEADING FACTORS FOR TELECOMMUTING
Telecommuting is becoming a growing interest in the business community. Its costs and benefits are the reasons why so many in the business world are turning and have turned to telecommuting as an alternative work process. Telecommuting facilitates the communication between the worker and the main office while allowing the worker to adjust his or her own environment and decrease interruptions. There are many factors that contribute to a change to telecommuting. These are the cluster, the power worker, the mobile worker, the after-hours worker, and the home worker. Each situation has certain demands that require telecommuting and feed off its benefits.
The first example, the cluster teleworker may run or manage many offices in different parts of the country or all offices in a particular region. It is called a cluster because a company can enable its employees to work in "clusters" in remote offices away from headquarters. These teleworkers need access to information from all of the offices that they manage. Also, employees from one office to another need to share and exchange information. These employees also need to have contact with headquarters. Telecommuting allows all involved employees to interact with one another and share information from region to region. The company itself is able to connect offices in a cost-effective way. Facilities can be run from anywhere, and large downtown offices for each region become unnecessary. The cluster teleworkers can manage their offices more efficiently by using telecommuting.
The power teleworker needs access to a large amount of data and many databases. Most power teleworkers run analyses and simulations of different models. They need to be able to solve problems as a team. An example of this would be a scientific team. Telecommuting lets the power teleworker act within a project without having to move to another region while achieving a peaceful environment at the command of the worker. It also allows the company to use experts from many areas instead of having to relocate them all to one area. Thus, it saves the company office costs. A downside is that these experts have to work on important projects together with lots of distance between them allowing for communication delays, which could cause research time to be slowed down. Companies can tap into the various expertise of workers from different regions to effectively complete important projects.
The mobile worker could also benefit from telecommuting. Similar to the cluster teleworker, the mobile teleworker could be responsible for offices in many regions or many states. Especially in a sales situation, an employee may need to travel to keep good customer relations. The mobile teleworker needs to have connections to specific information. Also, traveling from state to state means that the employee has to have contact with his or her home office. For the company, the mobile contact with headquarters could result in timely information and an increase in sales. The company will also experience cost savings due to no need for additional office space. However, the mobile employee may have problems receiving decent transmission to headquarters, as well as the company having security concerns. The mobile teleworker can make the most of his or her travel time due to telecommuting.
Another example of a leading factor involves the after-hours worker. The after-hours worker commutes to and from the office during the week, but perhaps works at home over the weekend and at night. Telecommuting allows this type of worker to adjust his or her schedule around personal time and family needs. It also offers a personalized workspace for the employee. However, the employee would need to have the technical support at home to be able to take advantage of telecommuting. From the company's point of view, after-hours workers are appreciated. This is due to the fact that they use extra time and effort to finish projects and complete work from the office. Letting an employee work during his or her own time decreases the stress of the worker and reduces the possibility of employee burnout. In conclusion, telecommuting increases the productivity of the after-hours worker.
Finally, the home worker benefits the greatest from a telecommuting opportunity. The home worker saves time and money from not having to commute to and from work. In addition, the work environment can be personalized allowing for no interruptions. As a home employee, one must learn to make the most of his or her time. The company would save money on not having to provide office space. Telecommuting also gives an advantage to the company when recruiting new employees. Having the option to work at home may be attractive to many new employees. Thus, telecommuting would greatly benefit the home worker.
In essence, many types of workers gain from telecommuting. Companies
as a whole also can experience increased production from telecommuters.
These companies, however, need to consider factors such as security
and technical support. It is the company's responsibility to provide
the technical support for the teleworkers and ensure some type
of security. These concerns are present in any telecommuting situation.
For many reasons, telecommuting is becoming more prominent in
the changing business world.
Employee Benefits of Telecommuting
Employees, employers, and society are all benefiting from the emergence of telecommuting in today's economy. Telecommuting allows people to work anywhere they want to, and are no longer having to work only in the office. People who are disabled or have children are now able to work at home. Parents are able to spend more time with their children and families, since they no longer have to make the commute to and from work. Furthermore, people with disabilities are able to make themselves more comfortable and are able to move around better than if they were working in an office.
With telecommuting, employees are not having to travel as much as they used to since they can telecommute anywhere and anytime. Employees are less stressed more, relaxed and comfortable since they are no longer pressured to travel somewhere when they do not have the time to spare. In addition, employers are saving costs by not having to pay for employees' airplane tickets, hotel, and other travel expenses. Travel expenses are also major costs for a company.
Flexibility is a benefit for employees to telecommute. Employees are able to work the hours that suit them best since they have all the equipment needed at home. If an employee happens to get sick then they can work at home while they get better. According to Langhoff, "in fact, telecommuters work longer hours and more workdays than the average employee. Telecommuters on average take two less sick days per year than their office-based counterparts." (Langhoff, 4) In the meantime, the employee would not be contaminating everybody else at work.
Employees can be more productive when telecommuting at home. Productivity allows employees to focus more on their work since they are no longer having conversations with coworkers, listening to office politics, or dealing with any other common office distractions. Basically, employees are no longer wasting valuable time.
Finally, employees are being able to live wherever they want to with telecommuting. Employees are able to pick their desired location to live without having to worry about the commute to work. This will allow the employees to commit and motivate themselves to perform a better job. Furthermore, employees are no longer having to pay for gas or use their car as much if they telecommute.
Employer Benefits of Telecommuting
Employers are also benefiting from the explosion of telecommuting. First, companies using telecommuting are able to attract and retain a wider range of workers. Basically, employers are able to hire people with better skills and talent than others. Employers can even hire more people that are experts in certain areas without having to give them an office. They could just telecommute from wherever they live.
Telecommuting allows companies to reduce the amount of office space needed for employees. Companies are no longer having to purchase excess space for employees. They can assign telecommuters that come to work once in a while to share an office space with other telecommuters. Companies will be saving money on parking since many of their employees telecommute and do not attend the office everyday. Costs saving allows the employers to invest more money in having other employees telecommute.
Companies that have telecommuting can continue to operate if a disaster happens to strike. If a company's office happens to flood, then the company could continue to do business by telecommuting and would be able to continue to operate and make money. For example, according to Julie Langhoff, "organizations with telecommuting programs were able to get back to business within hours of the LA earthquake in January, 1994." (Langhoff, 4) It is very important for companies to be able to continue working and doing business no matter what happens, and telecommuting allows companies to continue running in any type of situation.
Societal Benefits of Telecommuting
Society also benefits from the evolution of telecommuting. Many people have to sit in rush-hour traffic for hours just so they can get to work. Traffic slows the commute down for many workers which causes valuable time to be wasted as well. Traffic causes the city to become very polluted, harming the air people breathe. The daily commute also causes people to spend less time with their families. If people can telecommute, then they could spend more quality time with their families, and society will be portrayed as having better family relations.
Summary of the Benefits of Telecommuting
Telecommuting offers a wide variety of benefits to employees,
employers, and society. Telecommuting allows people to finally
enjoy their work and life more by working on their time. People
are able to be less stressed and save more money since they can
now work at home. Employers are now able to increase accessibility
for all employees, reduce facility costs, retain key personnel,
and purchase new technology. Finally, society can conserve energy
and save the environment from further pollution damage, due to
less traffic congestion on the highways.
Although telecommuting has many benefits, when an employee brings his or her job home certain areas of concern arise for the employee, the employees family, and the employer. These areas of concern include the new workload, isolation from peers, family responsibilities, management of the employee, and security of the telecommuting network. All of these problems can be dealt with if the employee, the family, and the employer understand the importance of telecommuting and are willing to work together to solve these issues before, after, and while they arise in the course of doing business from home.
The employee workload issue covers a broad spectrum of possibilities, but the two possibilities of most concern are procrastination and becoming a workaholic. At the office most employees have a normal routine that they follow when they get to work or even as they prepare for and commute to work. The routine might include getting dressed, stopping off for coffee and a bagel, dealing with traffic, getting to the office and catching up on the latest news, attending a meeting and then getting down to the work at hand. This routine may not be feasible for a telecommuter any longer. Instead of getting up and getting ready to start the day the telecommuter might watch television for three hours, eat breakfast, work a bit, and then take a break.
For a person who tends to procrastinate, telecommuting might not be the ideal career move since the freedom to do whatever he or she wants is left up to themselves. However, there is hope for procrastinators. The key for people who tend to procrastinate resides in keeping a schedule and following it. In order to keep this schedule, a reward system might have to be used which may include an extra break upon completion of a project, taking a coffee break, taking an exercise break, or spending time with family for a little while. The key in this type of system is to make sure that the breaks are earned, not just given because the employee thinks they deserve one. If the employee normally dresses in a suit and tie for the office, then putting on a suit and tie at home might spurn a stronger work ethic by making the telecommuter feel more as if they are at the office. Calling the office every morning to catch up on the news might also increase the desire to work. There are numerous ways to overcome procrastination in the telecommuter, but a far more dangerous problem is the workaholic.
What happens when someone is really into their work, never seems to find enough time in the day to finish everything, and then decides telecommuting might be the answer to their problems? What happens is that the day never ends and the employee overworks him or herself. Instead of going home after a long day at the office and calling it quits, telecommuters may tend to work around the clock, for they have new found access to their important work papers. This access is their modem and computer. The problems with working too much includes some of the same problems with telecommuting in general: isolation, family problems, and burnout. In order to combat the issue of overworking the telecommuter, his or her family, or the employer must recognize the fact that overworking is a problem. Setting up regular office hours is one of the best ways to avoid overwork. Since the telecommuter decided to telecommute, this might seem contradictory to the whole process, but office hours are a general concept that could mean Monday's hours are different then Tuesday's hours as long as the schedule remains fairly consistent and work is topped when the work day is complete. Another key to overwork is letting your clients, peers, and management know what the business hours are so that they do not call during times when the telecommuter has decided not to work. In letting associates know when the telecommuter is available for questions and so forth then the temptation to start working again at 10:00 p.m. will not arise because there will be no phone calls. However, the telecommuter also must realize that it is important for him or her to be available during some period of normal business hours so associates can contact them. As with procrastination, dressing for work when the telecommuter begins work and changing clothes when the workday ends will help in setting a workable schedule. The key to remember when telecommuting is that the telecommuter will be ultimately responsible for managing his or her time, and if it does not seem to be working out then they should move back into the office.
Overwork can cause isolation from family and friends, but in general telecommuting isolates the telecommuter from the everyday social interactions with the people in the office. For the new telecommuter the isolation may be too much to handle, but in many cases, the isolation problem can be overcome. Following the same principle of having a daily routine and doing certain things every day, the break from the norm must be dealt with. The telecommuter may benefit from an early morning call into the office to find out what has transpired since his or her last contact. This contact should not be limited to discussions of work, and should include catching up on the social aspect of the office environment. As with any social interaction, the interaction must be limited to a certain amount of time, or the benefits of telecommuting will not be as great. In addition to keeping in contact with the office, the telecommuter may want to join an outside organization such as a church group, tennis team, community project group, or any possible club or organization that will stimulate the social interaction needs of the individual. Isolation can be dealt with by making an effort to keep in contact and make new contacts, but for some people these new contacts may not replace the everyday office interaction.
Since the telecommuter is now at home most of the day, family concerns and issues will often arise. Some of these concerns include child care, house work, what to do with time saved from commuting, and other shared responsibilities. One of the key points that all telecommuters should know is that telecommuting is not a substitute for child care. Very young children need constant supervision, and this supervision will not enable a telecommuter to fulfill his or her agreement to work out of the home. If there are children in the household who are school-aged, then there are more possibilities for the telecommuter, but even school-aged children need attention at some point. The new telecommuter needs to work out a plan for child care before hand and not assume that since he or she is at home that they can take care of the children. Some families may see the fact that one of their partners is at home all the time as an excuse for that partner to do more household chores and take on increased duties, and, in some cases, an extra job may not affect the productivity level. The key to remember is that it is not fair for either partner to demand that more responsibility be taken since one of them is working at home, because he or she has obligations to the people who employ them to take care of business. The time saved from commuting should be discussed between family members so that a comfortable situation that everyone agrees on can be established.
Thus far, the problems with telecommuting have revolved around the telecommuter, but the management of telecommuters is also an area where problems can arise. One of the overwhelming fears of telecommuters is that they will be passed up for promotions and career moves because they are not around the office. Managers who deal with telecommuters and employees at the home office must treat their employees as if they all worked in the same building. Performance evaluations must be set up in a way that measure success in a structured and accountable format. The evaluations cannot be based on what the managers see because the managers do not see the telecommuters while they work. It is also helpful if the managers telecommute at least once or twice a month so that they have an idea of the problems that arise with telecommuters and can better prepare themselves to deal with the problems as they arise. Organizing meetings with all employees to discuss concerns about telecommuting and how it will affect each individual will also help the manager better manage his or her telecommuters and home office workers. Another concern that should be addressed by management is the feeling that employees who work out of the home office will be assigned more work or responsibilities because they are in plain view. The fear here is not so much that they will get more projects or business problems to work on, but that they will be responsible for more mundane and routine tasks. It is the manager's responsibility to make sure that these issues are discussed and resolved before beginning a telecommuting program. In addition to the above mentioned areas, it will be important for top management to receive counsel from various departments throughout the organization about the effects and legal status of employees who telecommute. These departments or resources include legal counsel, labor relations, training, MIS departments, public relations, research, telecommunications, emergency preparedness, and the CEO or his or her staff. The management of telecommuters can not be accomplished in the same way as the management of people who are at the office every day.
With the introduction of telecommuting into a business environment, security becomes a major factor in a telecommuting program, in addition to management and personal issues. In order for a telecommuter to be successful, he or she must be able to gain access to the company network, and if they can gain access, then people who are not authorized to access the network can get inside the company. In order to protect important information from intrusion, a company must take security measures. The security measure taken must provide adequate security to the system, be easily manageable, and be seamless to the endures.
Security measures can be taken in a number of ways that include restricted addresses, firewall protection, caller ID, and callback. Each of these methods has their own advantages and disadvantages. For instance, restricted addresses only verify that equipment is authorized to access the network and does not guarantee that the user is authorized to use the network. Firewall protection is based on the idea that each packet of information sent is authorized to enter the network, but deciding which packets can enter the network and writing the code to determine which packets can enter is very difficult along with making sure that every type of packet is covered. Caller ID is very effective because the location of the link is known and can be accepted or rejected depending on the number called from, but this service limits the use of mobile commuters and commuters who live in areas that do not contain Caller ID. Callback uses technology to automatically callback the user once a series of passwords is entered, but some users would be restricted if they are not at a permanent location. In any case selected, to implement passwords will be the primary source for access to the network, and as with methods of connection, there are numerous password protocols that can be used depending on the needs of the company. As the telecommuting process is implemented, more advanced security systems can be purchased from third party vendors that will suit almost any security need. The key to security is to know that it is an issue and to find the right people to develop a security plan that works for the company and the people telecommuting.
As more advanced technology develops, more information jobs will be created, and the number of telecommuters will also increase.
Regardless of benefits and problems raised by telecommuting, the number of telecommuters tend to be increasing, and in a very fast rate. The Federal Department of Transportation projects as many as 15 million telecommuters in 2002 -- about 10.5 percent of the workforce or 17.5 percent of information workers. This is a gain of 650 percent over the next 10 years. (Congressional Office of Technology Assessment) Telecommuting is also growing in many areas of Europe, Canada, and the Pacific Rim countries.
As the number of telecommuting work increases, more people will work at home. The life style will also shift, and new technologies will be needed to help keep up with the number of telecommuting jobs.
Less formal offices will be used, and more home offices will be set up. The basic components of a home office can be set up for as little as $2,200. (Sixen, 60) It is clear that the days of everyone going to the office five days a week are rapidly disappearing.
Social interaction is also likely to be changed. According to a survey of telecommuters attitudes and behaviors, telecommuters who work out of their homes are more likely to have a family member nearby. Statistics show 87% telecommute from home although 47% have access to an office, and 62% say that there is another person nearby, who is not a co-worker.
It is more likely that these families have pets. Since telecommuters seem to have more time at home by themselves, they are likely to have companions (pets). The pets that telecommuters are more likely to have are cats. Statistics show that 47% of telecommuters have cats while 30% of cat owners are not telecommuters. (Chevron, 2)
More people tend to be their own boss. As discussed earlier, telecommuters are usually more productive and are under almost no supervision. They can use their office hours to perform other duties. Furthermore, today's Internet and e-mail provide huge opportunities. They can make profits by generating and selling information, writing programs, or trading activities by using their utilities they already have in their own office.
The future trend of telecommuting and its relating technology will be inevitable connecting to the root of telecommuting itself: cost and benefit. Why does a company want telecommuters? Companies want telecommuters because it decreases costs. It is beneficial for an employee to be a telecommuter. Future telecommuting technology will, therefore, tend to have higher speed data network access at a reasonable costs.
Telecommuters spend most of their time on the computer and rely heavily on the Internet. Therefore, data access rates are very important to telecommuters. Traditional Internet protocol, TCP/IP, can meet today's needs but may not meet the needs in a few years as more voice and images are used in communication. It is expected that Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) will be the new protocol standard, because of its ability of supporting voice and data connections over the same circuit simultaneously.
ISDN is a kind of phone service offered by most local telephone companies. It has many benefits, but most important, is the ability to carry one voice and two high-speed data or video communications channels over the existing copper wire in the home. This generally means there is no need to install new phone lines to give telecommuters the separate voice and data lines they often need. However, ISDN is not universally available in the U.S. and other countries; thus, telecommuters and their employer cannot always get access to it when needed. Also, there are one-time equipment costs for the special phones and for the devices needed to connect PC's to ISDN lines.
One other technology which is likely to gain popularity is videoconferencing.
Videoconferencing provides real-time transmission of video and
audio signals to enable people in two or more locations to have
a meeting. Videoconferencing is a mature technology that has been
developing over the past 20 years.. However, requirements for
telecommunication lines to support videoconferencing are often
driven by cost and the desired quality (full motion and resolution)
of the videoconference. Videoconferencing generally requires access
to an ISDN phone service, which is not available everywhere yet,
but is rapidly gaining acceptance.
Telecommuting is an alternative work process that is showing up
more often in today's working world. It allows employees to work
from almost anywhere while maintaining access to company information
and contact with the home office. This is made possible by constantly
changing technology that gives the employee the ability to tap
into his or her company's information resources from an outside
location. There are many situations that would lead a company
to turn toward telecommuting. Each situation involves a type of
teleworker that has his or her own reasons for using telecommuting.
All of these cases benefit from telecommuting in a different way.
However, telecommuting has drawbacks, too, that apply to all of
its various situations. Although it is up to the teleworker and
the company to determine whether the telecommuting benefits outweigh
its costs, once telecommuting is considered for a particular situation,
it is usually accepted. Nonetheless, with its advantages and disadvantages,
telecommuting is looking forward to a promising future in business
and society.
Ascend Communications, "Remote Access Network Security,"
1996, p. 1-8.
Chevron, Jaques and Margaret Primeau, "The Telecommuting
Innovation Opportunity," p. 2.
Congressional Office of Technology Assessment, " Saving Energy
in U.S. Transportation," July 15, 1994.
Evans, Anne, "Working at Home: A New Career Dimension,"
1995, pp.1-9.
Goldman, Eric, "Execs believe telecommuting benefits employers,"
pp.1-2.
Kelley, Bernie and Bruce Mcgraw, "Successful Management in
the Virtual Office," 1995.
Langhoff, June, "The Telecommuters World," pp.1-7.
Motorola, "Guide to Productive Telecommuting," 1997.
Schwartz Ellis, Caron, "Telecommuting quickly becoming benefit
for employer, employee," pp.1-4.
Sixel, Mike, "Do your homework; Telecommuting," PC-Computing,
December, 1994; Pg. 60.
Symantec, "'96 Summer Games Set Vigorous Telecommuting Trend
In Atlanta", September 5, 1996.
Wright, Phillip C. and Adrienne Oldford, "Telecommuting and
Employee Effectiveness," 1995, pp.1-9.
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