Is Telecommuting Right For Your Business?

Trends in business change every day. One trend that appears to be gaining momentum is telecommuting, but is it a trend at all? There are many of ideas around whether telecommuting is good for business or not. Some of the questions raised are, “Will it make employees more productive? Will they be happier, lonelier, more connected or less? What are the benefits to the company?” These are all issues to consider when deciding if telecommuting is a good fit for your company’s culture.

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This study shows there can be great benefits to telecommuting.  Below we’ve laid out some pros and cons:

Pros

• Telecommuters appreciate that there’s no wasted commuting time.
• Telecommuting employees are generally less stressed.
• Telecommuters can adjust their working hours around their lives and the hours they are most productive – even if that is at three a.m.
• Telecommuters are often more productive.
• Telecommuting encourages self-reliance and problem solving, and develops time management skills.
• Employers can hire highly skilled individuals without paying for moving costs.
• Telecommuting saves the company and the employee money.

Cons – of course, there is a flip side to every coin

• Can be a challenge to monitor and manage employees remotely
  
• Telecommuting can lead to burnout particularly for those with poor time management skills, which in turn results in resentment of the company.
• Telecommuters may feel ostracized from the rest of the team.
• Telecommuting can lead to a reduction in motivation, as there is not a physical tie to the rest of the team.
• Telecommuting can lead to a break down in communication due to distance.
• Telecommuting can require a little more time than normal to set up a home office.

For both manager and employee, successful telecommuting takes strong communication, time management skills, and clarity of job responsibilities. We are seeing more and more people desiring an independent working environment. But in the end, whether telecommuting will work or not, depend on the company’s culture and the employees’ mindset. Tell us what you think; will telecommuting be the way most businesses are organized in the future or will it fade out?