Telecommuting is generally defined as work at a distance from the office. This broad definition can include many alternatives to the traditional office. Telecommuting could include coming to work four days a week and working from home one day. Conversely, the majority of time could be spent at home, with an employee only occasionally coming into the office. Self-employed workers working from home are also considered teleworkers. Those employees who spend at least ten hours per week away from home or the office on business trips and check in via a computer or phone are also called telecommuters. Given this diversity of telecommuters, not only the definition but the activities considered telework are varied and hard to outline.

With telecommuting offering such a variety of alternative work schedules what are the benefits of telework aside from employee flexibility? With any alternative work arrangement an organization has to consider the core hours employees must be in the office. In certain situations, employees could do their work just as easily away from the office. This is one of the benefits of telecommuting – staff effectiveness improvements. As a result, cost effective telecommuting is proved after the initial cost of implementation. Telecommuting can also reduce office space needs, as well as extend the hours of customer service depending on when employees work from home. Finally, telecommuting can be very inviting for certain employees and potential employees. A telework program could help increase recruitment and retention of quality employees.

As an organization, how do you go about setting up an alternative work situation like telecommuting? The first consideration for an organization in implementing any policy or procedure is whether it makes good business sense to do so. Just because some organizations are setting up telecommuting programs does not mean your organization would benefit from such a system. However, do not assume that this type arrangement should be limited to large organizations. Findings indicate that small companies can implement changes faster and have more incentive because they must find ways of retaining key employees. Telecommuting can answer the question of how to keep employees.

If an organization decides to move forward with a telework option, should all employees be given the option of working away from the office? The answer is that not all employees have the maturity level to work responsibly from home. Additionally, telecommuting can bring up issues of isolation from other people or conflicts with family already at home. Telecommuting should be reserved for those individuals who are the most productive and most trustworthy. From this pool, those individuals must decide if they will be too distracted by spouses or young children at home. Keep in mind, also, that not all positions lend themselves to facilitating a telework schedule. For example, a receptionist is needed at the office to greet clients and answer phones. The bottom line is the importance of the work getting done. It is up to an employee to decide if he/she will be able to achieve deadlines and deal with issues of isolation or family.

Once the individuals have been selected for telecommuting and schedules have been established, equipment issues have to be addressed. Employees have to be connected with the office when they are away. This usually happens through phones, faxes and high-speed Internet connections. Setting up a home office can be costly and time consuming. If an employee has both an office at home and at work, an organization must decide if this individual should have separate desktop computers at both locations or a laptop for traveling between them. If an employee uses a computer at the home, the organization must set up a policy as to who has access to that computer and how private the files are on that computer. Most telecommuting experts say that it is preferential to have a space in the home that is designated as the “work” office space that contains an area for the computer, which is used strictly for business purposes. This means that if an employee has family members, they are not to use this space and, if the employee is conducting work on the side, it should be done at a different workstation.