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17/03/03
The Telework Compass
There is a great difference between tactical telework, as an informal or alternative work arrangement, and strategic telework, as a formal component of a firm's business strategy, reported the AT&T Telework Webguide. The "Telework Compass" illustrates this move from tactical to strategic - from the familiar to the unknown. Most organisations are already doing tactical telework. Many managers frequently travel, often spending more time in airports, hotel rooms and client locations than in their official offices. Taking work home at night or at weekends isn't uncommon. Telework is a fairly widespread practice, and one that shows how work is already shifting to something independent of location. From a strategic perspective, on the other hand, telework is an indicator of a fundamental change in the enterprise from a manufacturing-based model to a knowledge-based, networked structure. Telework isn't an alternative work arrangement; it's an enabling and foundational technology of the knowledge economy.
Telework and the underlying information and communications technologies that it depends upon (internet access to the home, personal computers, and intranets, for example) form a suite of functionalities that are driving the evolution of a complete redefinition of the firm. The structure of the company in the information economy will evolve from an organisation, based on buildings, into a technology-enabled network that uses information structures linking people and their knowledge with the goal of increasing asset utilisation.
This shift is illustrated by two different VO (virtual office) initiatives currently being deployed inside AT&T. In these two organisations alone, more than 500 employees have been moved from dedicated AT&T office space into virtual offices within a year as part of a strategic drive to create a more efficient and effective business structure. Real estate costs have been reduced by several million dollars, while productivity and job satisfaction have increased. Some of the lessons that have been learnt are these:-
(1) The bigger, the better. The per-person benefits of telework - productivity, job satisfaction, retention, etc. - increase with the number of teleworkers in an organisation.
(2) Have solid technology and policy platforms in place.It takes a different calibre of infrastructure to support a 200 person virtual office project than to support two dozen people teleworking occasionally as an alternative work arrangement.
(3) Leaders must lead. Support, including the highly visible regular executive telework support, helped reassure tentative employees and managers that a networked, virtual model was the right way to go.
17/03/03
Telework and the Inclusive Workforce
From the beginning, the Internet has offered new ways for people with disabilities and others to participate in the world's activities as equals, according to the views of Michael Burks, a Principal Member of the Technical Staff for the AT&T Telework Webguide. Telework extends and broadens this inclusiveness by offering advantages to those who cannot commute to the traditional office with ease, such as people with disabilities or seniors. Telework offers them much more than the ability to work from home - it can be a gateway to a much richer life.
Telework will benefit not only those people who will have access to talent and intellectual capital that otherwise would be inaccessible or retired. Workers who wish to work or continue to work longer, should be able to do so, whether they have a disability or not. The employer and the economy in general benefit by having experienced, enthusiastic, productive workers.
The much higher speed of broadband means that delivery of multimedia to the end user is much improved. This enhanced speed makes it feasible to present information in multiple ways such as video (even broadcast quality), audio, combinations of both, animation, and so on. The improved ability to deliver such technologies as video conferencing, document sharing, and online collaboration, means that distance workers, both disabled and non-disabled, can work together efficiently. Improvements in distance learning and computer-based training capabilities are making huge strides. Providers of computer-based training and distance learning are beginning to address the issues involved with making this coursework accessible to people with disabilities.
By allowing disabled employees to work either at home or in an environment such as an Independent Living Centre (IL), the costs of maintaining workspace for employees can be reduced, and a company's operating structure can become more efficient. Employees gain an ability to work in an environment they have designed to meet their needs, commuting costs are reduced, and the environment benefits through reduced energy consumption.
21/02/03
Teleworking Takes Off in Ireland
There are now 40,000 teleworkers in Ireland, according to the Central Statistics Office, and reported by Nua Internet Surveys. The research indicates that nearly 10% (148,000) of persons in non-agricultural employment work from home to some extent and almost 60,000 people within this group use a computer with a telecommunications link. Almost 39,000 people are home-based teleworkers for whom a telecommunications link is essential for them to be able to work from home.
10/12/02
Right At Home With Telecommuting
According to Naween A Mangi, in Business Week, more than 86% of small-company executives surveyed by Sales & Marketing Management in New York say salespeople who telecommute are at least as productive as office-based workers. "When telecommuting started five years ago, there was a suspicion on the part of managers that people wouldn't be doing their jobs," says Melinda Ligos, editor-in-chief of Sales & Marketing Management. "Now they've realized it's a good option and an advantage in recruiting workers." About 46% of small companies allow telecommuting, but it's still a good idea to do a three- to six-month test run before establishing any policy.
08/11/02
More UK Companies Permitting Teleworking
Eighty three percent of companies allow some form of teleworking, according to a survey conducted by security specialist SonicWall, and reported by Silicon.com and Nua Internet Surveys. Approximately 43% of the companies that permit teleworking allow employees to access the company's network from home via the Internet. The study found that big companies are more likely to encourage teleworking than small or medium sized enterprises.
However, while a large number of survey respondents said that they believed respondents said that they believed teleworking would become more common in the future, 52% said they were concerned about the security issues associated with allowing remote access to the corporate network. Additionally, 44% cited cost as another barrier. The study also reveals that 50% of companies, who allow employees remote access to the corporate network, never review who is authorized to access the organisations computers.
10/10/02
Teleworking on the Increase in Europe
The number of teleworkers in Europe has doubled in the past three years to 20 million, according to a survey published by the Bonn Empirica society for communication and technology and reported by Nua Internet Surveys. The study findings indicate that more than one in ten employed people in the EU works from home more than once a week. However, only two percent of all employed people work from home on a full-time basis.
Germany has the largest number of teleworkers in the EU with six million people working from home more than once a week. This compares to two million German teleworkers in 1999. However, while the number of teleworkers in Europe has risen dramatically over the past three years, Europe still lags behind the US. The study found that as a percentage of the population, the number of people teleworking is approximately twice as high in the US as it is across the EU.
06/08/02
AT&T Telework Survey Indicates Productivity is Up
According to the AT&T Telework Survey, between the years 1999 and 2002, about half of AT&T managers have worked from home at least once a month, about one-quarter at least once a week, and about 10% in a full-time "virtual office." About 70% of those surveyed cited increased productivity due to teleworking. This increased productivity is valued at $65 million annually. When real estate and job retention savings are included, AT&T saves more than $100 million every year due to telework.
"Telework is a growing trend that's providing real value to AT&T," said Braden Allenby, Environment, Health & Safety vice president. "This year alone, we have several large units within the company that are moving to a full-time virtual office structure. Telework also has benefits to the environment. In 2001, AT&T teleworkers avoided driving 100 million miles, saving 5 million gallons of gasoline and preventing many thousands of tons of air pollutants."
Five of the top six reasons cited by office employees for not working from home relate to the need for speed. Typically, a teleworker who has a company-paid data line works twice as many days at home per month as one who doesn't. And those who have a high-speed, company-paid connection reported gaining about one additional productive work hour each day spent working from home.
The survey also found that:-
(1) 82% of teleworkers said that balancing work and family responsibilities was a significant advantage of telework;
(2) About 70% of teleworkers are more satisfied with their current job and their personal and family lives; and
(3) 56% of telworkers who received competing job offers said that they factored telework into their decision to accept or reject the offer.
09/07/02
Over 27 Million European e-Workers
The number of teleworkers in Europe could reach as many as 27 million by 2010, according to a report from the Institute of Employment Services (IES). The study identifies four different types of e-workers, which are:-
(1) Multilocational e-workers - these include employees who alternate between a home and an office workstation, or who work nomadically from multiple locations. This group is expected to grow from an estimated 3.7 million in 2000 to over 14 million by 2010.
(2) Self-employed e-workers - this is the second largest category and they include self-employed people who work from their home but do not supply business services. This group is expected to grow from 3.08 million in 2000, to 6.58 million in 2010.
(3) Telehomeworkers - these are employees who conduct the majority of their work from home, are expected to rise from 810,000 in 2000 to just over three million in 2010.
(4) E-Lancers - this is the smallest group and they are self-employed workers who supply business services to clients using a computer and a telecommunications link. According to The IES, the latter group will grow from an estimated 1.45 million in 2000 to 3.04 million in 2010.
11/06/02
Go To Work in Your Pyjamas
During 2001, 2.2 million people in the UK - 74% of the employed population - were "teleworkers", according to data from the Labour Force Survey (LFS), and reported by the Guardian. This is an increase of 65% on the 1997 figure. Of the 2.2 million, 1.8 million say they need both a telephone and a computer to work at home. The growing use of the Internet and especially of e-mail communication is eroding physical distance. The 2.2 million includes those defined as "occasional teleworkers" who do not usually work at home but do so for at least one day a week. The LFS study does not show how many are in each group, but an earlier piece of work by the Centre of Labour Market Studies at the University of Leicester suggested that more than half the teleworking population are in the one-day-a-week camp, and that millions more say they sometimes work from home.
The LFS analysis shows that working at home is rising most quickly among those people who also have an office. While teleworking was once a near-preserve of the self-employed, 55% of teleworkers are now employees. Also, the growth of home-working among employees since 1997, at 82%, is much faster than among the self-employed (48%). This suggests that companies are becoming more tolerant of staff working at home "in their pyjamas."
Some jobs are better suited to teleworking than others, of course: very few machine operatives work at home. There are signs, too, that home-working is something of an executive perk: there are twice as many teleworking managers as administrative staff. There are clear advantages to working from home, in addition to the opportunity for peace and quiet. Work can be fitted around family demands. Companies seem to be trusting their staff more.
The LFS study has no figures on why people choose to work at home, but a comparison of average commuting times and the proportion of the people teleworking in some EU nations suggests that traffic jams may be playing their part.
