With the growing prevalence of telecommuting, questions and concerns arise about the practice—most notably, is this good or bad for office politics? A typical response to telecommuters from “office-workers” is resentment. Relationships with co-workers are crucial in maintaining both a high level of productivity and a positive working environment. Conference call services maintain a connection to the office and the team, keeping the team in teamwork mode.
A study from WorldatWork found that 88 percent of nearly 800 large and small enterprises offer employees a telecommuting option. The cleavage between office-workers and telecommuters is based on a stigma that “work-at-homers” are not as productive, and operate outside of the team.
Co-author of a Personnel Psychology study and University of Illinois business professor Ravi Gajendran had some interesting findings to illuminate. Job performance of telecommuters is superior to those that work in the office. His reasoning is gratitude toward the employer for the flexible arrangement.
Gajendran goes on to note that remote workers receive a negative connotation because of the unpredictable “fires” that occur daily in an office environment, of which they are not physically there to be aware of and or help. It is vital for a remote worker to make office awareness a priority and Web conferencing with the team makes it abundantly clear they are available to help.
An added dimension to this Rubik’s cube is management. A remote worker must be given the autonomy to function, when management begins to “micro-manage” a remote worker, problems occur. The employee feels as though they are not trusted and can allow this to affect performance.
Kudleep Singh, senior director of HR for UST Global India offers management a few suggestions for implementing a successful and productive remote workforce. Things like virtual collaboration, remote interactivity and managing team knowledge are integral to a virtual team. All easily accomplished through the use of conference call services. Web conferencing tools foster collaboration and the regular contact with team members keeps the team feeling like a team.
It should not be surprising that telecommuting and the remote workforce are gaining in popularity. The only way to dispel the myths of a remote worker being a lazy, unproductive and unaccountable employee is in the results. Communication and collaboration are as easy as picking up a telephone. And, with the growth in conference call services, within seconds all team members are solving a problem—together.
Edited by Stefania Viscusi