The Hidden Lives of Telecommuters
Despite the fact that telecommuting has become a long-standing trend, it’s difficult to get a clear fix on it. While some of the studies on the subject reassure, others alarm. There’s an emerging consensus, however, that telework isn’t for everyone and that it requires good management to make it work.
About 26.1 million U.S. workers were engaged in telework during normal business hours for at least one day per month in 2005, up from 23.5 million in 2003, according to data from the International Telework Association & Council (2005, 2003). And other sources suggest telework is rising in other nations.
As the numbers grow, it’s important for employers to determine just how productive these arrangements are. The problem is that this is notoriously difficult to judge. Since the telework trend began, there have been what one author describes as “lurid examples of hype” in the area of productivity estimates, with claims that telecommuters are anywhere from 10% to 65% more productive than their office-bound counterparts (Westfall, 2004). But it’s been difficult if not impossible to substantiate any broad-based claims, given that telecommuters make up such a fast-changing group engaged in all kinds of different work.
Even findings from recent surveys of telecommuters seem to be at odds. A recent Insight Express/SonicWALL (2005) survey of over 900 remote and mobile workers found that 76% thought that working remotely boosts productivity and 61% thought their managers would agree. This is despite the fact that 21% took afternoon naps, 18% of men did some household chores, and 28% said they watched TV.
Meanwhile, a survey of 2,450 workers conducted by CareerBuilder.com (2005) suggests productivity may be low indeed for those who sometimes work at home. A full quarter confess to spending less than an hour on their office work when working from home, and just over half (52%) spend less than three hours. Just 14% say they put in a full eight-hour workday. Among the biggest distractions involve caring for children, making personal calls and surfing the Internet, and watching television or sleeping.
The problem with such surveys is that they may well include people who only occasionally work from home. The CareerBuilder.com press release, for instance, doesn’t specially mention the terms “teleworker” or “telecommuter.” (Full disclosure: I’ve been a full-time telecommuter for most of my working career.) The fact is that many people work from home only once in a while, and some work only a part of the day at home before going into the office (“Telework,” 2005). But if people only occasionally work outside the office, it’s quite possible they haven’t developed personal routines and the discipline to keep them on track, and it also seems likely that their supervisors may not have established effective guidelines if employees are working outside the office only occasionally.
But as telework becomes an ever more mainstream phenomenon, it’s important for managers as well as employees to give the subject greater consideration. Prof. Thomas Davenport (2005) of Babson College thinks companies should start with smaller-scale projects that are based on certain principles. Managers should, for example, worry less about hours and more about outputs. That is, true telecommuters should be judged by the quality and quantity of their work. “It all comes down to close performance management, establishing a series of milestone tasks that have to be completed by a certain time,” notes Rita Mace Watson, general manager of Telework Consortium ( Butler, 2006).
Barbara Gomolski (2006), who has been a full-time telecommuter herself, recommends that mentors help guide new employees who work from home. An experienced telecommuter will have a deep understanding of the many challenges facing mobile workers and will have worked out solutions of his or her own. Gomolski also recommends that telecommuting be viewed as “a privilege, not a right.” She argues that not all employees have the self-discipline or integrity to work productively from home. Rita Mace Watson makes a similar point, saying, “Just like some people don’t get promoted because a new position doesn’t fit their skill set, it’s the same for telework” (Butler, 2006).
Rosemary Haefner, Vice President of Human Resources at CareerBuilder.com (2005), recommends that telecommuters get dressed for work and try to stick to a daily routine. People should plan out their workday and pick a quiet place to work that’s out of the way, preferably one away from the temptations of televisions or refrigerators.
In some cases of full-time telecommuters, however, the real danger is that they’ll work too hard and burn out, never officially “going home for the day.” This can cause stress both on the worker and on his or her family. Prof. Davenport (2005) notes that leaders need to model the right work behaviors and create proper norms. “If a manager is observed sending e-mails at 3 a.m. and throughout vacation periods, employees will feel obligated to do the same.”
Managers should also be sure they use telecommuting for the right kinds of jobs. Jobs that require maintaining strong social ties and sharing complex knowledge may not be right for full-time telecommuting. If such knowledge sharing really is essential for workers who don’t have much face-to-face interaction, then employers had better invest in the right kind of virtual collaboration tools. Otherwise, the resources going to telecommuters could be time and money wasted.
For an article on the CareerBuilder.com survey, click here and here.
For more International Telework Association & Council information on the number of teleworkers, click here and here.
For more on the Insight Express and SonicWALL survey, click here.
Documents used in the preparation of this TrendWatcher include the following:
Butler , Kelley M. “Survey Results Report Productivity Lag Among Teleworkers.” Employee Benefit News, March 2006, p. 56.
CareerBuilder.com. “One-in-Four Workers Spend Less than One Hour on Office-Related Work When Working from Home, CareerBuilder.com’s Survey Finds.” November 30, 2005.
Davenport , Thomas and Paula Klein. “Rethinking the Mobile Workforce.” Optimize. ProQuest. August 2005.
Gomolski, Barbara. “Confessions of a Full-Time Telecommuter.” Computerworld, February 27, 2006.
International Telework Association & Council. “Annual Survey Shows Americans Are Working from Many Different Locations Outside Their Employer’s Office.” October 4, 2005.
International Telework Association & Council. “Home-Based Telework by U.S. Employees Grows Nearly 40% Since 2001.” September 4, 2003.
SonicWALL. “Survey Shows Employees Rate Productivity High, Security and Clothing Low When Working from Home.” March 1, 2005.
“Telework: When It Works and When It Doesn’t.” Managing Benefit Plans, July 2005, pp. 1, 12-15.
Westfall, Ralph D. “Does Telecommuting Really Increase Productivity?” Communications of the ACM, August 2004, pp. 93-96.
About 26.1 million U.S. workers were engaged in telework during normal business hours for at least one day per month in 2005, up from 23.5 million in 2003, according to data from the International Telework Association & Council (2005, 2003). And other sources suggest telework is rising in other nations.
As the numbers grow, it’s important for employers to determine just how productive these arrangements are. The problem is that this is notoriously difficult to judge. Since the telework trend began, there have been what one author describes as “lurid examples of hype” in the area of productivity estimates, with claims that telecommuters are anywhere from 10% to 65% more productive than their office-bound counterparts (Westfall, 2004). But it’s been difficult if not impossible to substantiate any broad-based claims, given that telecommuters make up such a fast-changing group engaged in all kinds of different work.
Even findings from recent surveys of telecommuters seem to be at odds. A recent Insight Express/SonicWALL (2005) survey of over 900 remote and mobile workers found that 76% thought that working remotely boosts productivity and 61% thought their managers would agree. This is despite the fact that 21% took afternoon naps, 18% of men did some household chores, and 28% said they watched TV.
Meanwhile, a survey of 2,450 workers conducted by CareerBuilder.com (2005) suggests productivity may be low indeed for those who sometimes work at home. A full quarter confess to spending less than an hour on their office work when working from home, and just over half (52%) spend less than three hours. Just 14% say they put in a full eight-hour workday. Among the biggest distractions involve caring for children, making personal calls and surfing the Internet, and watching television or sleeping.
The problem with such surveys is that they may well include people who only occasionally work from home. The CareerBuilder.com press release, for instance, doesn’t specially mention the terms “teleworker” or “telecommuter.” (Full disclosure: I’ve been a full-time telecommuter for most of my working career.) The fact is that many people work from home only once in a while, and some work only a part of the day at home before going into the office (“Telework,” 2005). But if people only occasionally work outside the office, it’s quite possible they haven’t developed personal routines and the discipline to keep them on track, and it also seems likely that their supervisors may not have established effective guidelines if employees are working outside the office only occasionally.
But as telework becomes an ever more mainstream phenomenon, it’s important for managers as well as employees to give the subject greater consideration. Prof. Thomas Davenport (2005) of Babson College thinks companies should start with smaller-scale projects that are based on certain principles. Managers should, for example, worry less about hours and more about outputs. That is, true telecommuters should be judged by the quality and quantity of their work. “It all comes down to close performance management, establishing a series of milestone tasks that have to be completed by a certain time,” notes Rita Mace Watson, general manager of Telework Consortium ( Butler, 2006).
Barbara Gomolski (2006), who has been a full-time telecommuter herself, recommends that mentors help guide new employees who work from home. An experienced telecommuter will have a deep understanding of the many challenges facing mobile workers and will have worked out solutions of his or her own. Gomolski also recommends that telecommuting be viewed as “a privilege, not a right.” She argues that not all employees have the self-discipline or integrity to work productively from home. Rita Mace Watson makes a similar point, saying, “Just like some people don’t get promoted because a new position doesn’t fit their skill set, it’s the same for telework” (Butler, 2006).
Rosemary Haefner, Vice President of Human Resources at CareerBuilder.com (2005), recommends that telecommuters get dressed for work and try to stick to a daily routine. People should plan out their workday and pick a quiet place to work that’s out of the way, preferably one away from the temptations of televisions or refrigerators.
In some cases of full-time telecommuters, however, the real danger is that they’ll work too hard and burn out, never officially “going home for the day.” This can cause stress both on the worker and on his or her family. Prof. Davenport (2005) notes that leaders need to model the right work behaviors and create proper norms. “If a manager is observed sending e-mails at 3 a.m. and throughout vacation periods, employees will feel obligated to do the same.”
Managers should also be sure they use telecommuting for the right kinds of jobs. Jobs that require maintaining strong social ties and sharing complex knowledge may not be right for full-time telecommuting. If such knowledge sharing really is essential for workers who don’t have much face-to-face interaction, then employers had better invest in the right kind of virtual collaboration tools. Otherwise, the resources going to telecommuters could be time and money wasted.
For an article on the CareerBuilder.com survey, click here and here.
For more International Telework Association & Council information on the number of teleworkers, click here and here.
For more on the Insight Express and SonicWALL survey, click here.
Documents used in the preparation of this TrendWatcher include the following:
Butler , Kelley M. “Survey Results Report Productivity Lag Among Teleworkers.” Employee Benefit News, March 2006, p. 56.
CareerBuilder.com. “One-in-Four Workers Spend Less than One Hour on Office-Related Work When Working from Home, CareerBuilder.com’s Survey Finds.” November 30, 2005.
Davenport , Thomas and Paula Klein. “Rethinking the Mobile Workforce.” Optimize. ProQuest. August 2005.
Gomolski, Barbara. “Confessions of a Full-Time Telecommuter.” Computerworld, February 27, 2006.
International Telework Association & Council. “Annual Survey Shows Americans Are Working from Many Different Locations Outside Their Employer’s Office.” October 4, 2005.
International Telework Association & Council. “Home-Based Telework by U.S. Employees Grows Nearly 40% Since 2001.” September 4, 2003.
SonicWALL. “Survey Shows Employees Rate Productivity High, Security and Clothing Low When Working from Home.” March 1, 2005.
“Telework: When It Works and When It Doesn’t.” Managing Benefit Plans, July 2005, pp. 1, 12-15.
Westfall, Ralph D. “Does Telecommuting Really Increase Productivity?” Communications of the ACM, August 2004, pp. 93-96.