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Author
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Topic: Telecommuting
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MikeP
Sr. Member Posts: 107
From: Tracy, CA USA
Since: Jan 2001
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posted 07 September 2004 03:22 PM
   
I was wondering: the word "telecommuting" never seems to pop up when you read about traffic congestion. I telecommute (with a Viavideo for video) as much as I can, but, it is still not accepted practice, even at Lawrence Berkeley National Lab where you think it would/should be (many factors)! My question is: Do your companies allow telecommuting? I'm assuming you all work in the same area as I do....i.e. remote collaboration via video, voice, and data. If they don't allow it, what is their reasoning? Also, how can we push telecommuting to a higher awareness in the general public? Mike IP: Logged |
ehookano
Member Posts: 6
From: USA, Salt Lake City
Since: Jun 2004
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posted 07 September 2004 04:48 PM
There is actually a bill that has been passed that is forcing Govt agencies to come into compliance with a % of federal workers being offered a chance to telecommute. This is a provision attached to an air pollution bill. So take it for what its worth, but "top people feel they are working on this". IP: Logged |
Keisuke Hashimoto
Sr. Member Posts: 377
From: Funabashi Japan
Since: Aug 2000
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posted 07 September 2004 09:47 PM
Interesting topic.The word "telecommuting" has been around for a while in my country as well, but I have heard that there are some issues relevant to how boss can supervise his/her subordinates who are telecommuting or working from home, in terms of things such as working hour management, reporting, etc.. In addition to telecommuting or working from home, we also hear "satellite office". Anyway, we see some big companies in Japan are doing telecommuting, but it is still not the mainstream yet. But the Telecommuniting Association in Japan is working hard with the government to promote that.
This message has been edited by Keisuke Hashimoto on 07 September 2004 IP: Logged |
Keisuke Hashimoto
Sr. Member Posts: 377
From: Funabashi Japan
Since: Aug 2000
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posted 07 September 2004 10:31 PM
I am not sure if this is applicable to all telecommuters,but I heard that telecommuters feel isolated because they are usually alone in their home/office for example, while their colleagues in the office may be able to chat one other in a casual way during coffee break or lunch break, the telecommuters can not join that.What I want to say is that by telecommuting, the human relationship between colleagues in the office and telecommuters may change and sometimes cause sense of isolation on the part of telecommuters. Short term telecommuting may be okay but if it is going to be a long term lacking actual meetings with colleagues on periodical basis may cause adverse effect and impact on the telecommuters and worsen work productivity even though increasing work productivity was initial purpose of telecommuting.If telecommuters feel isolated, they may not perform well in their work. This is one concern that I heard before when considering telecommting implementation in an organization. However, this is not a simple issue as telecommuting involves not only technological availability, but also impact on office work style, employee regulations in office, human psychology, etc.. But I think that human aspect is the most important among them. keis This message has been edited by Keisuke Hashimoto on 07 September 2004 IP: Logged |
tomsveraview
Sr. Member Posts: 81
From: Buffalo,NY,US
Since: May 2004
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posted 08 September 2004 08:34 AM
The "human factor" is a big concern for many in both telecommuting and distance learning applications. Some organizations I work with feel its best to use video communications to supplement the office or teaching experience. Teachers still travel once/twice a week (weather permitting around here) to teach a class at the distant facility to provide some social interaction with their students.In office situations, an employee in a large metro area who may have an hour or more to commute each direction will benefit from the ability to telecommute several days a week. There is nothing people hate more than driving an hour and a half to sit through an hours-long powerpoint presentation. Imagine someone who has to take three trains to an office building where they sit behind a desk and provide telephone support for hours on end. IP: Logged |
MikeP
Sr. Member Posts: 107
From: Tracy, CA USA
Since: Jan 2001
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posted 08 September 2004 10:05 AM
I find that two days is good. Three if necessary (ie if traffic is really bad on particular day...like yesterday).Video helps. We have a "Virtual Watercooler" where people call into it to meet and chat. I regularly video with colleagues in the UK, France, then later in Chicago and of course Berkeley. It keeps the isolation at bay. Mike IP: Logged |
Keisuke Hashimoto
Sr. Member Posts: 377
From: Funabashi Japan
Since: Aug 2000
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posted 12 September 2004 05:06 AM
The issue of "possible isolation" can be avoided by how you manage telecommuting in your organizations as it is pointed out by MikeP. If the use of video is right, it can keep the isolation at bay and rather it can increase work productivity among geographically dispersed colleagues. keis
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jdonohue
Member Posts: 8
From: Highlands Ranch, Colorado USA
Since: Jul 2002
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posted 16 September 2004 02:35 PM
My wife telecommutes or "home offices" and she loves the fact that she is only a few steps from work. She is equipped with a DSL and some analog lines. Believe it or not her company (a network service provider) does not use video. She travels to meetings all the time. I brought her home a ViaVideo to try and she could not find any colleagues that have IP enabled video endpoints.IP: Logged |
Keisuke Hashimoto
Sr. Member Posts: 377
From: Funabashi Japan
Since: Aug 2000
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posted 07 February 2005 07:44 AM
In Japan, currently, Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications is conducting an experiment on telecommuting having some of their staff work at their respective homes at least one day a week to see how effective it is to adopt telecommuting work style in an organization.So far they found that use of video enabled web conferencing is effective when communicating with their colleagues at office. They basically keep connected by video between colleagues at the office and telecommuters in their homes. And this helped telecommuters not to feel being isolated from their colleagues at the office. So that they can communicate one another whenever they want. This is done because the government is planning to increase the number of telecommuters to 20%(which means more than 11 million) of the total workforce in Japan in 2010 by leveraging IT technologies including conferencing tools, emails, presence etc.. Web conferencing system that they are currently using in this experiment project is MeetingPlaza developed by NTT-IT. According to NTT-IT, more than 1000 companies in Japan are using the MeetingPlaza either in the form of ASP service or software purchase.http://www.meetingplaza.com The following links are in Japanese.
-Press release from the Ministry http://www.soumu.go.jp/s-news/2004/041227_13.html -Telework Diary blog http://teleworknikki.no-blog.jp/teleworknikki/
Teleworkers talk about what they feel about teleworking on a daily basis. This message has been edited by Keisuke Hashimoto on 07 February 2005 IP: Logged |
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