Telecommuting: How working remotely works for us

The U.S. Census released a report last week saying 35% more American’s are working from home at least one day a week, leaving companies like Yahoo and Best Buy to question their recent decision to eliminate remote work all together.

As more high-profile companies are killing their remote policies, telecommuting is being scrutinized by businesses all over the country. We’ve found that as technology continues to advance and the workplace becomes more dynamic, companies now expect their IT services to support remote work. According to Gordon Sampson, our Senior Manager of Support Services and Inside Sales, “what was formerly a request (the idea of having an entire workforce be connected anywhere at anytime), is now a key client assumption when discussing the delivery of clients’ respective IT support services.”  

With our client base requesting strategies to aide in their telework and telecommuting initiatives, it only makes sense that we, Dataprise, leverage some, if not most of our client recommendations to take advantage of the flexibility and agility that telework and telecommuting provides as an internal benefit to our staff.

The key is moderation. At Dataprise, we allow employees to telecommute, but not everyday and not every individual. Certain criteria such as the individual’s position, experience, and ability to do their jobs away from the office can qualify a person to work from home.

Some employee’s prefer working from home so they can focus on their work in a quite, controlled environment. Cindy Madden, a Senior Account Manager at Dataprise appreciates the option to work remotely, “The office can make for a noisy, bustling environment. Telecommuting allows me to work in a quiet, noise free area so I can concentrate and work more efficiently.”

Sampson has found that telecommuting actually increases his team’s level of collaboration, communication and productivity, “without that face-to-face interaction, we need to over-communicate to ensure we are being as clear as possible. Many times productivity increases as staff members log on before their start times and stay on well after their respective end times.”

This is not to say that there isn’t value in being in the office side by side with our colleagues; it fosters a sense of team camaraderie and identity, builds synergy between teammates, and allows real time feedback. All that having been said, with a decentralized workforce such as ours, and with roughly 65% of our company’s staff not reporting to our corporate headquarters on a routinized, daily basis, we rely on remote workplace technologies throughout the business day.

Despite the recent trend eliminating remote work, we’ve found that the benefits are vast. Not only does telecommuting lower companies’ costs and boost productivity, but a 2008 study by Cisco Systems found employees who could work remotely experienced an increase in their quality of life.

It’s no secret that collaboration, communication, and face time in the workplace is vital, but allowing employees to work from home every now and then will only help your business – costs will decrease, and employee productivity and quality of life will increase.

• You might also be interested in: 4 Ways to Work in a Virtual Team, Enterprise Mobility Management