ADVISA

Several societal trends may make telecommuting the next great employee productivity boost. As highlighted in this NPR article, increased fuel costs, demands for improved work-life balance and technology advancements all support more people doing their work from their home.

Where is the employee productivity boost in this? For the employee themself it comes from eliminating the time and cost of transporting yourself from your residence to your place of work. On any given day this probably adds at least an hour of discretionary time for most people. It is certainly something I value in my own “work from home environment.

The employers’ side of the equation includes reduced expenses for facilities to make room for the employee. If nothing else, when done right, telecommuting provides greater work satisfaction and this will improve staff motivation.

Of course telecommuting won’t work in all situations and for all people. It takes a certain type of person to manage the independence inherent in telecommuting and personality assessments can help you determine if you or your people have that capability. If you’re looking for hierarchy and structure you won’t find it working from home. While the NPR article also mentions a need for personal interaction, I think this “need” will be increasingly fulfilled by interactive technology as time goes on and in fact it may be easier to connect with people via a network than face-to-face in a workplace.

Anybody who has every scrambled for a meeting room at the last minute can relate to that!