A recent article in the Wall Street Journal by Sue Shellenbarger talks about the other side of telecommuting - people who work remotely and end up disliking the experience:

It’s an ironic twist on corporate America’s march toward telecommuting: A small but significant number of foot soldiers dislike the trend…A large majority of workers like working from home because it offers flexibility and reduces commuting costs and hassles. (As a longtime telecommuter, I am among them.) But the very perk that so many people covet in their quest to balance work and personal life is anathema to others. Among office workers who could telecommute if they wanted — that is, who have jobs or employer policies that permit working from home — 14% want to stay in the office…

Though this number - 14% - is definitely in the minority, it is still a significant percentage of people who for various reasons would prefer to work in the office rather than remotely.

According to the article, one of the main factors in telecommuting that causes this dissatisfaction is lack of social contact with ones coworkers. When working remotely, one cannot meet one’s peers face-to-face on a daily basis. For those who find this contact to be an integral part of their workday, the lack of it is something that can be very detrimental.

The article also talks about the steps that some individuals and companies are taking to try to address this issue. Some people make sure that they have daily schedules, maintain contact with coworkers via phone and Instant Messenger, or make a point of going into the office at least once every few weeks. Some companies retrain employees and managers to prepare them for working and supervising remotely, while others IBM (who have 40% of their 330,000 employees working remotely) have invested in programs to help rebuild their workplace culture:

IBM set about rebuilding workplace culture. The company last year began pouring new resources into the “IBM Club,” an 80-year-old employee organization that had shrunk amid 1990s spending cuts, revitalizing it as a vehicle for employee sports leagues, parties and networking; membership has grown to 90,000. Managers started “speed mentoring,” gathering employees in small groups with a senior manager for advice, says Monica Chambers, a human-resource manager. IBM also expanded and improved satellite offices as a place to meet and use support services. (Moves like IBM’s are fostering a boom in leased satellite and temporary office space.) Morale ratings rose 28 percentage points over 18 months, with 78% saying they were happy in their jobs, Mr. Pelino says.

Whatever is done to address this, potential dissatisfaction (especially because of lack of social contact) is something that any would-be telecommuter employee or employer should be aware of, and should take proactive steps to address and fix.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, June 6th, 2007 by Yaakov Ellis and is filed under Articles, Tips & Advice. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
Tags: coworkers, remote work, telecommute, telecommuting, telework, wall street journal, working from home, workplace culture
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