What is Telecommuting?

Telecommuting is a work arrangement in which employees work from home or a location other than the employer's office. Working from home or a nearby location, such as a coffee shop, library, or co-working space, is common.

What Is Telecommuting?

When you telecommute, you work from a place other than an organization's physical location, and you normally rely on technology to help you do your tasks and communicate with your boss or coworkers.

Telecommuting positions are available in a variety of industries, including sales, publishing, customer support, and marketing. Many office professions and technological positions (including computer and software programming) may be done from home. Some medical professionals, such as health claims analyzers and radiologists, have started working from home.

How does Telecommuting work?

Rather than commuting to the workplace, the employee communicates with coworkers and bosses via telecommunication. Telephone, online chat applications, video conference platforms, and email are examples of these.

Advancements in technology have helped to make working from home more convenient for office workers. Having access to WiFi may make communication almost smooth.

The employee may visit the office on occasion to attend meetings in person and communicate with the employer, but with so many choices for distance conferencing, there isn't always a necessity to do so. Many employees work from home full-time, while others may work from home part-time and then return to the office for the remaining week.

When Is Telecommuting Appropriate?

Why don't most, if not all, workers telecommute if it is such a wonderful productivity booster? It's because not all sorts of employment or enterprises are suitable for telecommuting.

The sort of job performed by the person is a major factor in determining whether or not telecommuting is acceptable. After all, the goal of telecommuting is to help employees become more productive while also increasing the profitability of the organization.

Telecommuting can be a realistic choice if the job can be done successfully outside of the office. It won't be a good match if not being in the workplace prevents individuals from executing their duties properly.

Is telecommuting beneficial or harmful?

Telecommuting may be beneficial or detrimental depending on the sort of employee you are. Telecommuting is an excellent alternative if you are self-motivated and love working alone. Telecommuting, on the other hand, may not be for you if you need to work closely with others and demand greater social engagement on a daily basis.

More productivity is one of the key reasons why more and more firms are enabling their employees to telecommute. It's one of the many reasons why many employees opt to work online full-time as freelancers.

Colleagues are the single largest work distractions in a workplace, blocking employees from hunkering down and hyper-focusing on work. They make pit stops at other people's workstations to accomplish things like −

• Chitchat
• Inquire about work favours.
• Inviting people to lunch or coffee breaks is a good idea.

Workers can avoid such distractions by telecommuting from home, a coffee shop, or other remote work locations. Hence, they will be able to focus more on their tasks. People who are able to concentrate better on what they're doing can −

• In the same period of time, you may do more tasks.
• Get the same results in a shorter amount of time.
• In a shorter span of time, do more.

Telecommuting also relieves individuals of long commutes, allowing them to devote more time to work or other rejuvenating activities such as exercise, meditation, and sleep. These can also lead to increased job productivity.

More productivity also means increased earnings.

Telecommuting vs. Remote Work

The terms telecommuting and remote work are frequently used interchangeably. While the terms can be interchanged, remote work generally refers to work performed by a contractor or distant employee for a corporation that does not have a central site. Telecommuting, on the other hand, refers to workers who work part- or full-time from home and may visit a corporate headquarters on occasion.

How to Manage Telecommuting

The easiest way to manage the transition to working from home is to create a comprehensive business policy and ensure that your employees are appropriately prepared for their new working environment.

• State your telecommuting policy − Employers who enable telecommuting usually have their telecommuting policies. This policy explains how work done from home will be evaluated when hours employees are expected to be accessible when telecommuting is prohibited, and so on. When advertising for a new position that has the potential to be done outside of the company's main office, many firms will additionally specify their telecommuting policy.

• Assist employees when they require assistance − Some businesses provide a small stipend for technology or a co-working space rental, but the employee should choose a suitable workplace with a dependable internet and phone connection.

• Stay connected with the help of technology − Phones, messaging applications, project management software, and video conferencing platforms are the only things that make telecommuting conceivable. All of these are used by companies with successful telecommuting policies to communicate with their telecommuting employees and keep everyone on pace. Slack, Zoom, and Google Docs are all popular telecommuting apps.

Advantages

Following are the merits of Telecommuting

• More flexibility − Telecommuting allows employees to have far better control over their working hours and location. It also allows the employee to better manage work and personal duties, such as picking up the kids from school or caring for a sick family member. There is generally more time to attend to personal problems when there is less commute time.

• Saves money − Remote work can save both an employee and employer money. Employees may save money on commuting, and companies can save money on everything associated with running an office. If the company covers the cost of WiFi, phone service, or other telecommuting-related expenses, the employee can save money as well.

• Employee happiness − Employers typically see improved retention rates as a result of this.

Disadvantages

Following are the demerits of Telecommuting −

• More potential distractions − When working from home, things like children, pets, other people, or roommates can quickly distract you. Working at a coffee shop or any comparable setting can also be distracting.

• It can be difficult to "unplug" − As the borders between business and personal time blur, making it is more difficult to stop working at the end of the day. They also risk working during non-business hours.

• Loneliness − Working from home might be isolating for some people because they aren't surrounded by co-workers.