Telecommuting and Work Essay

Submitted By ltparties
Words: 1567
Pages: 7

Telecommuting a Growing Trend
With today's technology, a telecommuter’s office is no longer restricted to the walls of their workplace. The traditional workplace has seen many changes in the past decade, among which telecommuting stands out as the most promising trend to grow. With that in mind, the most important factor for telecommuting to be successful is communication. Including, technologies such as computers with high-speed internet email, voicemail, fax, and video conferencing has made staying in contact with the office much easier to do. Working at home is a job opportunity that many workers would dream about being able to do. Certainly, without telecommuting where, would the workplace be today? Telecommuting is a rising practice for many companies, and predicted to become even more widespread in the next decade.
Nevertheless, over the past three decades telecommuting has become a shared practice in the workplace for many. However, the overall the acceptance of telecommuting is not showing the same growth with everyone. By considering telecommuting, or working from home, the employer will become familiar with the benefits of having flexibility in the workplace. For that reason, education on telework is essential before implementing it in the office.
Telecommuting is performing work duties or working from a workplace other than the central corporate office. This is where technology plays an important role. As a result, technology, among other things, has and will continue to shape the future of telecommuting. Technology provides the means by which telecommuters communicate with, and stay connected to the office, and it also provides the means by which telecommuters get their work done while at home(Handy, 1996). For many telecommuters, work is not just a place to go, but also an activity that to be done, anywhere and at any time.
Undoubtedly, telecommuting is an emerging trend in the workplace. It has been a great advantage for the family and many of my extended family members, giving the opportunity only to commute to the workplace once a week. In addition, the U.S. federal agencies are providing some family friendly policies that include alternative work schedules, part-time employment, job sharing, and telecommuting or telework. Not driving into the office daily is what attracts many that want to work from home.
Technology has changed the workplace a good deal in the past ten years and is advancing at a fast pace. As a result, conducting work from home one or more days a week has had a positive effect on many people, such as, being a more efficient worker, better concentration, less stress, and better family life. In addition, another great benefit of offering a choice to telecommute in the workplace is the broader talent pool. You will get job candidates that once lived too far are now available for that job. Many of the companies that made the “100 Best Companies to Work For” allows employees to work from home at least 20% of the time. The ability to telecommute has helped employees obtain balance between work and home responsibilities, which has resulted in them having more control of their family and home lives.
Meanwhile, the Eurescom project did a study on the influence telework has on one's quality of life. The three main factors used when studying teleworkers include control, flexibility, and concentration (Eurescom 2001). Control includes self-determination, autonomy, freedom, lack of personal initiative, and judgment. Flexibility includes complete flexibility, work hours flexibility, and flexibility in the workplace. Concentration involves easy concentrating, easily distracted, or noisy home office. The conclusion of the study revealed teleworkers are more productive, because of the flexible work schedules, and because of improved concentration at home and control over how the works performed.
A few of the companies that have successfully implemented flexible work