Telecommuting

Telecommuting

What is telecommuting?

Telecommuting or telework refers to a particular type of work arrangement in which workers avail great flexibility in work location and hours. Telecommuting implies elimination of need to travel to and office or work place and presents the telecommuter with an opportunity to work from distant location notably from home utilizing the modern information technology infrastructure. Telecommuting is the subject of much attention in today's technology dependant world since a telecommuter can work almost everywhere. Telecommuting is used for a multitude of distance work practices. The major categories of employed teleworkers are: people working from home or the home-based telecommuters, satellite workers and mobile workers (Johnson, 2001). Usually, telecommuters perform their job functions by means of connecting with the central place of work using the major telecommunication and mobile media such as internet, telephone, fax, mobile devices etc.

Strengths or advantages of telecommuting

Telecommuting offers several benefits, not only for the telecommuter, but also for the organizations the telecommuters work for. Results of several research studies and surveys show how the practice has been proved to beneficial for the telecommuters. The first and foremost advantage of telecommuting is the fact that it offers more flexible work schedule. Teleworking enable employees to be more efficient. The organizations with telecommuting employees would create less stress, especially due to the lack of drive, and promote a better balance between private and professional life. It is interesting to note that many of the benefits of telecommuting are interrelated, most important amongst these is reduced travel time. Indeed, the time saved in travel and flexible hours allow the telecommuters to spend more time with their family or on personal activities. In addition, those teleworkers and those who supervise them say that telecommuting reduces stress and fatigue, so that productivity increases and quality of the work improves. The is also economic advantages of the telecommuting as the practice implies less transportation cost which helps in improving quality of life (Amigoni, 2010).

Many studies argue that teleworking gives the worker more time to spend with his or her family and it allows the telecommuter parent to be more available for the needs of his or her children. Especially, the women with newborn and young children may be greatly benefitted from the telecommuting as they have more time to look after and nurture their children, to prepare them for daycare or school in the morning and to welcome them back (even after returning to work). Another major advantage of telecommuting is the more amount information that is exchanged between the telecommuters and the organization. To stay in touch with the company and pursue the objectives assigned to him or her, the teleworker must communicate and exchange information on the evolution of his or her own work and that of other employees. The practice also encourages greater involvement, richer exchanges and a need to formalize the processes that fuel the company's resources in terms of knowledge, skills and expertise.

Limitation or disadvantages of telecommuting

Research indicates that the absence of colleagues tops the ...