I am not one to spend a lot of time talking about “going Green” here on Home Office Warrior. To be honest, I think there are some who do the “Green” post and even start “Green” blogs for the sole reason of taking advantage of a popular topic and niche. And please understand, I see no problem with that. In fact, we are in the process of the initial planning phase of our own “Green” blog too. 
What really got me to thinking about all of this was a recent article which predicts $7 gas in two years. And what that possibility really means for those commuting to work every single day. My commute takes me a matter of seconds. I only have to walk down the stairs to my basement office. No driving, no paying for gas, no wear and tear on my car. And, for those concerned about the “Green” factor, no carbon signature either.
Why is it that employers are not stepping back and looking at what their employees are facing with the cost gas and commuting to and from work? Is it the fact the employers are not having to pay out of their own pocket for the cost of the commute? Forgot about the politics. Forgot about the “Green” factor. Lets look at the economic impact only. I really think that is key in all of this. If the employers were actually facing first hand the economic consequences of $7.00 gas, they might just see how telecommuting or teleworking would benefit them too.
Let me be one of the first to say, whether employers believe it or not, $7.00 gas, even $4.00 gas will have a significant economic impact on their own pocket books. Just for a moment, lets step back and look at this from an economic view only. Each day the price of gas increases, the employees commuting to and from work see their take home pay decrease. Not that the employers are withholding the cost of gas out of their check each pay period. But, the impact is the same. The employees are having to fill their gas tanks up just as often, but at a higher and higher cost each day. Their actual disposal income is decrease right along with the increase in the cost of commuting.
How does this have an economic consequence on employers you ask. Easy, what is the one BIG distraction most of us have each and every day. Money, right? And if I was driving to and from work each and every day of my work week. Spending god knows how much on gas. And seeing my actual disposal income decrease right along with the increase in the cost of commuting, I would venture to guess I would be very distracted. Not only at home, but at work.
If employees are so distracted about money and having enough to buy those things they need, won’t that affect their productivity? I can not see how it won’t. To that end, the solution is easy as far as I am concerned. While I agree, working from home is not for everyone, nor every employer. However, if your office is made up of mainly those who work from a desk some of the time. Or travel from the office. Why not provide them the option of working from their home? Telecommuting and teleworking just makes sense. No longer will the employee be worried about the cost of gas and in turn be distracted at work and not get their work done. It has already been proven more than once that those workers who work from home actually get just as much or more done. And employees who work from home can work when they are the most productive. 
Not only will workers save on the cost of commuting. They will save a huge chunk of their day by not being on the road driving to and from work. How much time is wasted every day by employees having to get their mind around working once they drive to the office in morning rush hour traffic? Telecommuting and/or teleworking would put a stop to that little problem. Again, the home office worker would be more productive as soon as they get to their home office desk and computer.
Employers, stop worrying there are tools for this:
The usual excuse I hear from those who are reluctant to allow their office workers to work from home is, “how do we keep tabs on what they are doing?” Let’s be “frank” for a moment. If you are having to keep tabs on them, fire their sorry asses. I am serious. And then step back and take a look at what you are doing or not doing that causes your employees to not feel like they have a stake in what happens in your company. If you are giving them a reason to give a crap, maybe they just might.
Instead of worrying about keeping tabs on them, give them and yourself the tools to make telecommuting and teleworking work for you business or company. Most workers are worried they won’t be able to keep up on the “water cooler” talk. Workers, take advantage of all the free stuff out there for this. Instant messaging, twitter and other social tools. And employers, set up IM groups and even twitter groups just for your employees to keep up on what is going on at the “water cooler.”
You don’t have to be sitting in the office to have a staff meeting either. However, in my opinion, staff meetings are a complete waste of valuable time anyway. You usually sit around and argue about something or give your worthless opinion about something. But, if you have to do this, use the tools available. ooVoo is a free video chat and video conferencing tool you can use to have a video conference with up to six people. Skype is another free tool you can use to stay connected with home office workers.
No longer can employers and office workers use the excuse there are not the tools available to work from home. And I only named two. There are tons of them. (And I will do a future post on some of the other tools available in the very near future).
Employers, work into telecommuting or teleworking slowly:
If you are worried it won’t work. Try it in phases. Let workers work from home 2 or 3 days a week to start with. You will know if it works and you will know if they are working by the amount of work they get done. Some of the workers will make this work and they will work from home the entire work week. And some will need to come to the office 1 or 2 days a week for whatever reason. However, in the end this is a win-win for the employer and the worker. The worker will save commuting cost and be less distracted with the bottom line issues for their household budget. The employer will find out quickly that the worker will be less distracted, less tired and more productive working from home.
Lets keep the conversation going:
Leave your comments on your own experience working from home for an employer. And leave your comments with the tools you and your employer use to make it work. The comments you leave will be worked into that future post I mentioned above.
Categories: Featured, Telecommuters
9 Comments
I’m an attorney in a firm of 12 lawyers.
I work from home probably one day per week. I enjoy the quiet, and I am not one who is easily distracted by things at home anyway. Saving the gasoline is simply a bonus in my book (but it’s becoming a larger bonus).
One of the things that makes working from home a real option is that our voice mail system forwards a copy of each message via email. So, when a caller calls my office, he or she is told I am away from my desk (which is 100% true) and offered voice mail. The email shows up in my inbox a little while later, and I can return the phone call. (I dial *69 first so no one knows I’m calling from my home phone.)
My assistant and I can email documents back and forth as needed. It works out very well.
Great post. I completely agree with everything you are saying. Employers HAVE to start waking up to the idea that working from home is a good thing for business and for employees.
Thank you for the post, I look forward to reading more.
Kevin
20smoney.com
Great post Grant! The point about employers wanting to ‘know’ their employees are working is a roadblock that virtual assistants deal with often. I always make the point that the Monday after Thanksgiving is the biggest online shopping day of the year…and where are all of these shoppers? At work, many of them in a traditional office. Being paid for it. At least if I shop online, I’m not charging my clients for the time when I’m doing it.
I so LOVE this post!! Unfortunately my most recent employer is a govt organization and they love to hide behind the red tape as a reason to disallow telecommuting (even if some related govt offices DO allow telecommuting). I agree that telecommuting - even part-time - is a wonderful win-win situation for good employees though (and yes boot the bad ones right out the door).
Grant, that was a great idea suggesting that employers set up IM and Twitter groups to fill the need for water cooler talk.
I wish I could say that most employers are broad-minded enough to encourage telecommuting, but I don’t think that’s the case!
The best tactic I’ve heard on selling bosses on the remote work arrangement comes from Tim Ferris, in his book “The 4-Hour Work Week.” His proposal to his boss was to try telecommuting 2 - 3 days per week on a 2-week trial basis, or some short time frame, clearly specifying that if it doesn’t work out, no hard feelings.
But he was sneaky! He enhanced his output during at-home time, while slightly downgrading his at-work performance to highlight increased productivity at home. Pretty clever. But the trick is the TRIAL BASIS. This makes it non-threatening proposal for the boss.
Remember that song: “My baby takes the morning train. He works from 9 to 5 and then he takes the train back home again…”
Thank goodness work isn’t like that anymore!
Work is not a place. It’s not time bound. It is all about mobility and connectedness, anywhere on the globe.
I’m a big advocate of teleworking as a new business model for sustainability and economic productivitiy. The use of flexible working arrangements and telecommuting provide opportunities for increasing participation of women in the workforce, governments growing productivity and communities reducing their carbon footprint as fewer cars hit the road and large buildings burn lights and air conditioning plants.
Telework Australia says that having a workforce that works at least partly at home can reduce costs of heating, air-conditioning, car parks and lighting by 17 per cent of salary costs. And telework reduces avoidable staff turnover by over 20 percent, while managers report that employees are up to 40 percent more productive.
Sheryl- Thanks for you comment. Interesting comment from Telework Australia too. Just wish employers here in the states would come to grips with the fact that teleworking is actually a benefit for both the worker and the employer.
Working from home is only way to telecommute. Workers can telecommute from Remote Office Centers. Remote Office Centers lease individual offices, internet, and phone services to workers from multiple companies in secure shared centers that are located around the suburbs.
Telecommuting is analogous to an exercise program. Some people have the facilities and discipline to work out in the home. Others will tell you that they can not maintain a good work out routine unless they go to the gym. It is the same for telecommuters. Some people are very efficient working out of their home. Others need a place to go to.
Remote Office Centers provide structure and infrastructure. There is a web site where people can search for Remote Office Centers: http://www.remoteofficecenters.com
Workers spend all of their time on the phone and on the computer anyway. Most workers access computer systems that are located in other cities anyway. It is time for a paradigm shift. It is a small shift (how offices are provided), but it can greatly reduce fuel consumption, and lower commuting costs for employees everywhere.
Hi Grant, great post, thanks. I learned about your post from Friendfeed. It is almost more than ten years that I’ve been working as a freelancer and telecommuter with several employers in Iran. It was always hard to convince employers but as the result of traffic jams in the capital, Tehran, I did my best and thanks God, succeeded anyway. Maybe, all in all, throughout these years I have also been researching about telework and telecommuting since the first time I read about it on the Internet and tried to write about it in our national and local magazines about the importance of this issue. I’ll follow your writings in this regard. Thanks again.