For the last few years, there is an increase of trend working from home or known as telecommuting jobs. Telecommuting job can be describe as a job role that can be performed via the internet or the phone and therefore not necessarily to be presence in the office environment. Business culture has evolve and so does the working culture. Work now refers to what people do rather than to where people go.
The increase of telecommuting job has been influence by technology where more broadband connections and virtual private network enable people to log in to office computers just about anywhere and everywhere. There are also services that allow online collaboration with colleagues, from instant messaging to document editing to video conferencing. Many free or inexpensive tools and applications also available that can make the telecommuting job more efficient. For example, with Google docs, people can collaborate on documents, spread-sheets and presentations with other colleagues. Use Google Talk or Yahoo Instant Messager to chat with colleagues and even can host a video conference with Google Hangouts. Whilst Dropbox allow people to store up to 2 gigabytes of files for free for easy retrieval on any device that connect to the Internet. Rescue Time allow people to stay on-task and keep track of the time spent on projects which monitors how people spent their time on computer and alerts people if they linger on sites which deemed distracting. Another factor of telecommuting job was driven by concerns about traffic congestion and pollution in densely populated areas.
As for employer, telecommuting job is seen as a tool to attract and retain top personnel in fields with short labor supplies. On the other hand, employees see this as an ideal means to remain in the workforce and continue to be employed and thereby maintaining all the tangible benefits of being part of an established company, while enjoying all the advantages of being based at home. Good communicators and have impeccable time-management skills is seen as a criteria for people who choose to work from home. They are proactive, self-starting and self-discipline.
However, the options of telecommuting job have its potential pitfalls and below are some of the advantages and disadvantages of working online from home.
Telecommuting job as a means to reduce the expense of maintaining office space and cost of office space shrinks when the telecommuters share workspaces or give up desks altogether. It is also seen to reduce operating costs i.e. office space, energy costs – heating, security, electricity; parking spaces, coffee.
Telecommuters can afford to take time out for a short break at various points throughout the day. These breaks will help keep them fresh and alert and help with motivation when working.
Another advantage of telecommuting job is telecommuters have time for personal things and this cab benefit of uses less leave time for personal business.
Telecommuting job also offer flexibility to work at whatever hours that they want. They can start early or work later. The flexibility to determine their own work hours to some extent is the most important aspect. Telecommuter can also determine their environment, lighting, temperature, setting, mood which basically work in the framework that suits the person best and make them the happiest and most productive. This kind of working environment removed them from the stresses and distractions of the workplace such as unnecessary interruptions and unimportant meetings and working independently in their own preferred environment at their own pace provide employees with more autonomy and control over their work lives via schedule flexibility and an invisibility from managers and co-workers. Their at-home situation also allows them to avoid office politics.
Telecommuting job is a great way for parents to stay in work and those with caring duties can also benefit from being able to stop work when a need arise and pick up later on. For many people, the physical proximity to family liable and the convenience of being at home are tremendously comforting. For parents, it can be especially pacifying to know that they are very near to their children and be available should they be needed for any reason. This is also applies in the case of elderly care.
By performing telecommuting job, people can avoid rush hour and hence eliminates or reduce commute time. Reduced commute time as well as lessen traffic-related stress which is extremely counterproductive and can lead to disgruntled workers who are already exhausted and worn before they have even begun their day. It can decrease traffic congestion on strained highways and reduce automobile-related air pollution – although the impact may be negligible. By working at home, telecommuters discourage community crime because telecommuters have more flexible schedules and gain time by not commuting to work but they can spend more time building community ties.
It is known that different people have different peaks and troughs of alertness governed by circadian rhythms. Some of people comfortable with different working time and can get most of their staff when they are most alert. For example some people has their utmost alert in the morning whilst others have their utmost alert later in the late morning or in the evening. Telecommuting job can offer this benefit.
By working at home, many hidden cost associated with going to work also can be saved. These include costs of commuting, car wear and tear, fuel, road taxes, parking as well as indirect costs such as expensive professional wardrobes and the dry-cleaning since few people see them, they have no need to dress up, and thus they save money on dry cleaning and dress cloth. Another indirect cost is cost save on older children’s care arrangements.
However, there are a few disadvantages which is identify in performing the telecommuting job. One of them is without an office to go to each day and the reminder of everyone else going to lunch or leaving for the day, it is easier to get lost in work and forget to make time for themselves. This is simply means that telecommuters may not able to switch “offâ€. Some people need that office environment to give them a kick into action. It is a matter of splitting the home life from the work life and having physical boundary between the two that is the problem. This is seen as a hinder to employees’ productivity. Telecommuters may find themselves working longer hours, further straining family relationship. Telecommuters may need the transition time between home and work to refocus themselves from home challenges to work challenges and vice versa. In other words, the daily tasks perform in the office may serve as a “warm-up†period in the morning and a “cool-down†in the evening. Thus by performing telecommuting job means by placing workers in the home and eliminating the commute to work, serves to blur distinctions between family life and work life and lead to difficulty to balance work demands with home demands and difficulty separating job-related activities from family roles and responsibilities. The temptation to engage in household matters also may appear since telecommuters are at home. Suddenly they may start feeling obliged to clean the home, do the shopping, the childcare, the cooking, the home finances and the socializing and at the same time a full requirements to meet the job expectation too. It is essential to draw the line between home and work so as to avoid both areas suffering.
Since there is no-one looking over their shoulder on enforcing strict hours, they may feel tempted to work endlessly. This pressure to work endlessly may be compounded by the fact that they feel that there are greater expectations made towards them as a home-worker or sometimes this pressure is by self-imposed pressures to prove their own abilities in this arrangement. Moreover the lack of physical separation between home and work may add to this pressure to work endlessly.
Those who work away from the office can feel isolated from colleague and as colleague may view them as an “outsider†who is not part of the company structure. This has negatively affected the social network in the workplace. Isolation caused by the separation of the telecommuters from social network in traditional work space. Ursula Huws referred to this isolation as a “trapped housewife syndromeâ€. While isolation can lead to social frustration that arises from a lack of interaction with work peers, it also can lead to feelings of professional isolation. Telecommuters may fear that when they are out of sight, they are out of mind for promotions and other rewards. Isolation may inhibits an individual’s ability to learn the corporate’s culture and may also serve to reduce the telecommuter’s influence within the company which mean the difficulty to transmitting organization culture, coordinating and organizing. They may miss the learning that occurs, informally and spontaneously of learning that cannot be scheduled, and is sometimes known as “in place career developmentâ€. Lack of workplace interaction and a feeling of isolation can lead to lack of communication and subsequently decline in team spirit and sense of attachment to the company. A lot of things or event happening in a company and telecommuters may find themselves removed from important developments such as staff changes, new business opportunity, changes in company direction and new competitive intelligence. The danger of being overlooked for promotions and career development opportunities is quite real when telecommuters are away from the office and other more visible employees are actively and aggressively vying for them. An open line of communication with management and regular visits to the office are critical in order to prove their dedication and commitment to their career and to prevent the out-of-sight-mind syndrome.
There is also issue arise in telecommuting job of difficulty to monitor on numbers of hours they are working. Employer having difficulty in supervising employees and how to handle expenses which may be used for personal purpose. Another issue would be the confidentiality of company information.
It is tricky to getting staff motivated to work from home. They might end up putting the hours in but it can be half-hearted and with random hours that make it difficult for colleague to get in touch with them.
A quick check on the news headlines can soon turn into hour without productivity. Although office distractions are avoided by working at home, different distractions may arise. Interruptions from children, work, neighbors, friends and family may be very disruptive and special efforts must be made to make them known that telecommuters are actually working and unavailable for interruption within work hours despite their physical presence at home.
Telecommuters must overcome the challenge of maintaining access to resources at work, as failure to do so could lead to performance losses. They may need to be more technically savvy than their office peers, since support services are not accessible on-site.
Some people realized that they did not have the right kind of personality of high level of independence, the ability to work alone at home. Working from home is not for everyone. It takes a lot of dedication, self-control and discipline to motivate their selves to persevere in working at home alone over the long run without succumbing to the distractions and losing drive and momentum. Often a partial arrangement where telecommuters report into the office once or twice a week is the optimal arrangement as it allows close interaction with colleagues and supervisors and ensures they remain in touch with company developments while still permitting the comfort and convenience of working from home.
Often with long commutes and anywhere from one to three hours a day spent getting to and from the workplace both physical and mental health are adversely impacted.
The flip-side to being able to manage their own time, is that some people find it really tough to be disciplined enough to manage their own work-load. Very quick starting at 9am can become starting work at 11am or even later. Having no pressure from manager can mean that they literally feel no pressure at all, apart from the decisions they make about the lunch that they have and the coffee that they drink. Managing their own time can therefore be dangerous if they do not have self-discipline.
In conclusion, like most things in life, one person’s advantage is another person’s disadvantage, working from home may be the amazing solution to some, but an absolute nightmare for others. Weighing up whether working from home is a decision worth taking, is up to individuals, but at least the option now exists, and is now a workable option for many.
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