There was an interesting article
in today's NYT about the mediocre success of telecommuting. In theory,
the idea of working from home is appealing to employees, who can toil
away from the comfort of their homes without the hassle of commuting,
while employers get to save money by using less space and other costs.
The only problem is that only a small number of people actually work
from home even in the age of broadband access, cell phones, laptops and
VOIP. Why? Simply put, humans need contact with other humans. If you've
ever worked from home by yourself, this makes a lot of sense. I mean,
the first little while, it's cool to work in your sweats. But it's not
very long - unless before you're really disciplined - that you start
browsing gossip sites, checking your personal e-mail, and seeing if
there's anything interesting in the fridge. At least, that was my
experience but I'm a weak, weak person. That said, I wouldn't mind
working at home on Mondays or Fridays because there's a lot to be said
about not having to join all the other rats scrambling to work to start
the week, or fleeing from work on a Friday afternoon.
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Mark Evansthe blog - examines the world of telecom and technology from a distinctly Canadian perspective.the person - lives in Toronto, CA with his wife and three children, and works as director of community with PlanetEye Inc. 
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The Mystery of Telecommuting
by
Mark Evans
on Mon 26 Dec 2005 09:51 PM EST | Permanent Link
Comments
Re: The Mystery of Telecommuting
by
Anonymous
on Tue 27 Dec 2005 01:04 AM EST | Permanent Link
From an employee's perspective, your observation may be correct, but from an employer's perspective, the main reason telecommuting never took off is that the majority of jobs are supervised. Managers and supervisors see telecommuting as a waste because the cost risk of loosing control over productivity (for example, some of the things you named). Also, the majority of jobs are so low-paid anyway, employers don't see the point of implementing telecommuting. And anytime you see the word "outsourced" in a sentence? Replace it with "telecommuting". Most credit card and financial company's 1-800 numbers are routed to third party firms who employee individuals working out of their homes or to companies overseas.
Re: The Mystery of Telecommuting
by
Mathew
on Tue 27 Dec 2005 10:12 AM EST | Profile | Permanent Link
I agree, Mark -- face-to-face contact is definitely necessary. There are things you just can't do with email, or even instant messaging, and it's true that bosses get antsy after they haven't seen you for awhile. That's why I find a mix is the best -- a few days in the office, a day or two working from home.
Re: The Mystery of Telecommuting
by
Stuart MacDonald
on Tue 27 Dec 2005 11:03 AM EST | Profile | Permanent Link
I've done both the home and away working thing. When I was writing the business plan to bring Expedia to Canada back in the day, I did it alone, in the house. In fact, I was up to 3 employees before I actually got office space (cost containment and the fact that it worked for everybody). We used IM constantly, and got together at Lettieri in Yorkville a couple of times a week for a facemail catch-up and human contact. Fact is, the line between work and not-work is so hazy these days that "place" and "time" are essentially irrelevant, I think. Most work means agreeing on an outcome, and working towards getting that done on the agreed to timeline -- who cares where or when you do it. For knowledge workers anyway, hours-of-feet-under-a-desk is a silly performance indicator.
- Stuart Re: The Mystery of Telecommuting
by
Tyler
on Tue 27 Dec 2005 12:22 PM EST | Profile | Permanent Link
Flu pandemic might push things along...
Re: The Mystery of Telecommuting
by
Anonymous
on Tue 27 Dec 2005 12:34 PM EST | Permanent Link
Agreed. The work-from-home thing is cool, but sometimes you just need to be there. And ... well, you can't sell from home in your PJs.
I wonder if new technology like IPTV, which could make interactive face-to-face communication over broadband easier and cheaper might help. Patrick Hynes Trackbacks
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