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Comments on news posted 2007-11-20 17:42:59: Psychologists studied 20 years of research on "flexible work arrangements" and not too surprisingly found that telecommuting results in higher morale and job satisfaction and lower employee stress and turnover. ..
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2 edits |  SBC won the merger battle of top mgt positions
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| |  CabalPremium
join:2007-01-21
Austin, TX | Re: SBC won the merger battle of top mgt positions They probably figure (correctly) that they can accomplish as much with half the staff, post-reorg. Most telecommuters suck.
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Interested in open source engine management for your Subaru? | |
| | |  ropeguruPremium
join:2001-01-25
Mechanicsville, VA | Re: SBC won the merger battle of top mgt positions You must be a telecommuter then...
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FWD#: 223611 | |
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| | Not at my company Telecommuting is not allowed. We have to come to work, even in a blizzard, and work in a windowless building. | |
| | | | Re: Not at my company We can at my company. I am hardly ever in the office. | |
| | |  en102Canadian, eh?
join:2001-01-26
Valencia, CA | Re: Not at my company I've been in the offices ~ 5 weeks in 4 years.
Upside: More flexible hours, save on gas, car wear. More family time, less wasted time on the road (Los Angeles is traffic hell).
Downside: Longer work hours (~10 hours/day is typical + paged off hours). Hard to keep track of management (i.e. not great for moving up the food chain), easier to be laid off if you don't make yourself extremely useful. Local annoyances (power/telco outages, house phone, neighbors, door bell, kids, etc.
Its a mixed bag, depending on the work you do.
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Canada = Hollywood North | |
| | | | | | Re: Not at my company Yeah, it is easy to be forgotten about if you're not in the office and easier to be laid off. Same if you're in one city and boss is in another.
I have a nice large home office in my residence but I can't get anything done. Too many distractions at home and I'm the sole occupant  I think the only way I would get work done at home is if I put up cubicle walls, get a cubicle desk, cabinets and fluorescent overhead lighting to replicate the office.
If I have to catch up on things, I'll come in on a weekend afternoon when no one is in and I'll fly through the work. I can get so much done without the noises of the people, phone, etc. | |
| | | | | en102Canadian, eh?
join:2001-01-26
Valencia, CA | Re: Not at my company Hehe - I know exactly what you mean.
I've hooked up HDX101, and work out of my backyard gazebo 90% of the time - no house phone, no doorbell, no TV, no radio, etc.
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Canada = Hollywood North | |
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|  N3OGHYo Soy Col. "Bat" GuanoPremium
join:2003-11-11
Philly burbs
kudos:1 | I wouldn't want to telecommute.
I prefer to deal with the criminals outside my home......
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Petty people are disproportionably corrupted by petty power… | |
| |  n2jtx
join:2001-01-13
Glen Head, NY
 ·Optimum Online
| My itsy bitsy teeny weeny minuscule excuse for a company has allowed telecommuting for many years but it has really been a vehicle for putting in tons of overtime. I would enjoy telecommuting more if I had the option for defined hours but being "exempt" means no such thing as "overtime". At this point I would only be interested in telecommuting on those days when the weather (ie. snow) is so bad that a physical commute is just too treacherous and taking a vacation day is not practical or desired.
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I support the right to keep and arm bears. | |
| | | | Field techs like myself have the same predicament as well, rain or shine.
I almost feel like a postal worker. | |
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 banditws6Shrinking Time and DistancePremium
join:2001-08-18
Frisco, TX
·RoadRunner Cable
| Seen both sides of the fence... I've worked as a telecommuter for about two and a half years now and have definitely reaped the benefits of higher morale and job satisfaction. There are days where I get up at 10 a.m. and work till midnight, but I do it because I'm motivated and believe in the company. And that motivation partially stems from the trust the management has placed in me to do my job without constantly being under some suit's thumb. Besides, I always know there will be other days when we'll take the afternoon off and go play video games online against each other -- it's that kind of workplace.
At the same time, telecommuting doesn't work for everyone. Or should I say, not every employee works effectively as a telecommuter. The employee has to be an inherently responsible person and show the company that they can be trusted to manage their own time and get things done.
Overall though, I'm much happier with my job and feel personally invested in the work I'm doing.
The boss at the company I used to work for was of a totally opposite mind about telecommuting. He was paranoid, wanted to micromanage everybody. It got worse after I quit. Now when I visit my old colleagues from that job, the ones who are still working there, they all look like the life has gone out of them. Total Initech situation.
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"I'll follow the law until it's just stupid." -Ted Nugent | |
| | | cisco is moving away from telecommuting cisco has recently been moving to the butt in seat approach except for a few specific cases.
Just strange for companies that promote communications and work and play from anywhere also requiring physical presence. | |
| | | Works for us My company has 3 offices across 2 states and telecommuting is a must. Most work is done through terminal services by the employees. The company expects people to be in the office as much as possible, but they encourage people that are sick or can't make it for whatever reason to dial in from home.
When some power hungry middle manager said they couldn't do that anymore, the CEO stepped in and said, "Of course they can! They are still making me money!" | |
| |  KrKHeavy Artillery For The Little GuyPremium
join:2000-01-17
Tulsa, OK
 ·AT&T DSL Service
| Re: Works for us said by MightyPez:When some power hungry middle manager said they couldn't do that anymore, the CEO stepped in and said, "Of course they can! They are still making me money!" Sounds like you actually have a smart CEO.
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"Regulatory capitalism is when companies invest in lawyers, lobbyists, and politicians, instead of plant, people, and customer service." - former FCC Chairman William Kennard (A real FCC Chairman, unlike the current Corporate Spokesperson in the job!) | |
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 tim_kButtons, Bows, Beamer, Shadow, KaseyPremium,VIP
join:2002-02-02
Stewartstown, PA
kudos:13 | not us VZ won't allow union peons to telecommute even though my job is well suited for it. After they moved our location to "traffic hell", a lot of people have taken off for stress.
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|  bkymoof moofPremium
join:2002-07-05
Austin, TX | it's a win-win-win A win for the employer, a win for the employee, and a win for the rest of us by removing one more car from the jammed rush-hour freeways. | |
| |  CjaicemanPremium,MVM
join:2004-10-12
Parker, CO
kudos:2
·Comcast Business..
| Re: it's a win-win-win said by bky:A win for the employer, a win for the employee, and a win for the rest of us by removing one more car from the jammed rush-hour freeways. I'm surprised no one has said this yet, but I will say it.
Building on that comment you can also add less fuel used, thus more money in the employee's pocket, less miles on the car, and less pollution all around (I'm not trying to be a tree hugging hippie, but I like having to spend less of fuel than a regular commuter does). | |
| | | KrKHeavy Artillery For The Little GuyPremium
join:2000-01-17
Tulsa, OK Reviews:
·AT&T DSL Service
| Re: it's a win-win-win More Americans need to realize that "Going Green" doesn't mean you're some tree hugger, but that IT SAVES YOU MONEY. IE Going Green can be as American as Apple Pie... I'm all for cutting down on emissions and electricity and gas usage etc because it's saving me money!
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"Regulatory capitalism is when companies invest in lawyers, lobbyists, and politicians, instead of plant, people, and customer service." - former FCC Chairman William Kennard (A real FCC Chairman, unlike the current Corporate Spokesperson in the job!) | |
| | | | Asmodeus
join:2004-05-26
Spring Valley, CA | Re: it's a win-win-win said by KrK:More Americans need to realize that "Going Green" doesn't mean you're some tree hugger, but that IT SAVES YOU MONEY. IE Going Green can be as American as Apple Pie... I'm all for cutting down on emissions and electricity and gas usage etc because it's saving me money! going green is nothing more than a reformulated phrase for being a conservationist... conserving what you have and being as optimal and as efficient as possible is the very nature of conservancy... that isn't being green, it's being smart... being or going green is marketing hype... | |
| | | | | KrKHeavy Artillery For The Little GuyPremium
join:2000-01-17
Tulsa, OK
1 edit | Re: it's a win-win-win Well said, and exactly so. Why burn money (and waste resources) un-necessarily. Save your own money, conserve resources, help yourself AND everyone else out too. | |
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| | | | | said by KrK:More Americans need to realize that "Going Green" doesn't mean you're some tree hugger, but that IT SAVES YOU MONEY. IE Going Green can be as American as Apple Pie... I'm all for cutting down on emissions and electricity and gas usage etc because it's saving me money! Thats kinda been the unmarketed plan the past several years. Even the dumbest politician knows you can't get funding for alternative fuel research or get manufacturers to pump tons of money into developing hybrids, when gas is a buck a gallon. Until the sky rains fire, most American's aren't going to give a crap about getting 14mpg in their bigger-than-a-bus SUV. But hit their wallets, and suddenly hybrids have a 6 month waiting list.
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| | | | |  KA3SGM- -... ...- -Premium
join:2006-01-17
West Chester, PA
 ·Verizon FiOS
 ·Cricket Broadband
| Re: it's a win-win-win said by Camelot One:said by KrK:More Americans need to realize that "Going Green" doesn't mean you're some tree hugger, but that IT SAVES YOU MONEY. IE Going Green can be as American as Apple Pie... I'm all for cutting down on emissions and electricity and gas usage etc because it's saving me money! Thats kinda been the unmarketed plan the past several years. Even the dumbest politician knows you can't get funding for alternative fuel research or get manufacturers to pump tons of money into developing hybrids, when gas is a buck a gallon. Until the sky rains fire, most American's aren't going to give a crap about getting 14mpg in their bigger-than-a-bus SUV. But hit their wallets, and suddenly hybrids have a 6 month waiting list. The ability to telecommute is awesome in fuel savings, but I don't usually drive the Full Size SUV for work, but my V8 powered, Mid-Sized Sport Sedan with over 300HP. still gets only 15MPG, even when I drive it conservatively.
Who drives a 300+Hp car conservatively anyway.. 
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"Lithium is no longer available on credit" | |
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| Reviews:
·Comcast
| said by bky:A win for the employer, a win for the employee, and a win for the rest of us by removing one more car from the jammed rush-hour freeways. Tell me about it. I work an over nite shift , 4 of em to be exact , and the traffic in the morning can take me up to 2 hours to get home and it's only 30 miles.
What kills me is my job is easily done with a softphone voip and a vpn connection with mapped drives. But the company don't want that, because we don't have access to all the servers from the vpn. I keep saying it looks like some one has a poorly configured VPN and they just laugh and say but it wont change any time soon.
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"It's always funny until someone gets hurt......and then it's absolutely friggin' hysterical!" | |
| | Sammer
join:2005-12-22
Canonsburg, PA | If the average commuter telecommuted just 40% of the time that they spend at work it would also be good for national security. | |
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 MrMoodyFree range slavePremium
join:2002-09-03
Smithfield, NC | Cheaper too It's much cheaper too; office space is tremendously expensive. | |
| | | | Re: Cheaper too True, but if you don't have an office space, you don't appear to be established. And that will push away alot of potential business!
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Where have the adults gone? | |
| | | ropeguruPremium
join:2001-01-25
Mechanicsville, VA | Re: Cheaper too said by S_engineer:True, but if you don't have an office space, you don't appear to be established. And that will push away alot of potential business! That is because everyone is still in the dark ages in their mindsets. That is also why countries like India are taking over. There have been articles floating around about those that work from home doing tutoring, call center work and many other things over there. Moms with kids can get jobs and stay at home with the kids while still being productive. Unfortunately the US is becoming non-innovative and non-forward thinking because companies are still backward thinking and profit greedy.
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FWD#: 223611 | |
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Reviews:
·Comcast
 ·Comcast Digital ..
| I occassionally telecommute I have a boss that is pretty flexible. My position requires me to be in the office. However, if I have a function or something going on like an event at my daughter's day care, he would let me work from home so I could attend.
He has the ability to remotely tap into our machines via VPN but I believe we have earned his trust by our hard work and he doesn't think twice about sensible requests to occassionally work from home.
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The only place where Success comes before Work is in the dictionary. | |
|  viperpa33sWhy Me?Premium
join:2002-12-20
Bradenton, FL | Telecommuting is a good thing I have never telecommuted until I got my new job and thinks it's great. I work from home a couple of days a week. It's great not having to deal with rush hour traffic or the frustration being at work. Your able to relax and do your job without all the interruptions.
Some jobs you wouldn't be able to telecommute but a lot of jobs you could. More companies should promote telecommuting. | |
| | Reviews:
·Comcast
·Comcast Digital ..
| Re: Telecommuting is a good thing I am a big proponent of this. I like going into the office a couple days a week, but when my turn in the on call rotation rolls around, I want to work from home every day I'm on call. Mainly because I get paged at all hours of the night and if I went to the office I wouldn't be able to nap when I needed it and would be easily working 12+ hours a day for 7 days straight. Working from home allows me to do this without as much stress and I can still do things around the house when I have time. My boss doesn't mind, however his boss does. He wants everyone in the office for the team aspect. Funny thing is....he works from home every day as his office is in a place we don't have an office. Gotta love the irony. | |
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| quatrixPremium
join:2005-02-11
Davie, FL
kudos:2 | Autonomy? "Autonomy is a major factor in worker satisfaction and this rings true in our analysis."
Autotonomy = screwing around? | |
| |  bentand IngaPremium
join:2004-10-04
Loveland, CO
·Comcast
| Re: Autonomy? said by quatrix:"Autonomy is a major factor in worker satisfaction and this rings true in our analysis." Autotonomy = screwing around? No, autonomy is allowing professionals to act like professionals, on their own terms, thereby getting more productivity out of them.
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"That government is best which governs least" - Thoreau | |
| | |  ZaberWhen all are gone, there shall be none
join:2000-06-08
Cleveland, OH | Re: Autonomy? That is a concept that many "managers" do not understand. Here the CEO believes that if you are not in the office, in a suit you are not working. | |
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| | Good for Everyone There are even more unseen benefits:
I worked in a job with the phone ringing non-stop, and people sitting outside my office, waiting to get in when the ones in there were finished. When I had important deadlines to meet, I would tell my Admin that I was going home so I could get some work done. When I needed time to think, or do some analysis or writing, that was the only way I could get time to concentrate.
Another example: I had a very valuable employee, suffer kidney failure. Well after he had "recovered" he still needed to spend several hours a day, twice a week, at the hospital hooked up to a dialysis machine. He was coming back to work and asked me if I could arrange flexible hours to accommodate the hospital's schedules - they have limited equipment. I asked if he would be able to work while on the dialysis machine. He said yes, so I made arrangements to have those hours count towards his workweek, so he didn't have to waste his off hours stuck in the hospital. Didn't cost me a thing - I knew he would work for that time. A few simple gestures like that can help build a very loyal workforce. | |
| |  Jafo232You Can't Spell Democrat Without Rat.Premium
join:2002-10-17
Boonville, NY | Re: Good for Everyone Agreed..
Telecommuting for a few years now. I really see no downside. I work harder, get more done, and it keeps one parent in the house eliminating the latch key for the kids. The savings in day care alone is like a huge raise.
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| | |  tcp1Premium
join:2000-04-17
Herndon, VA
·Verizon FiOS
| Re: Good for Everyone As far as everywhere I've worked, the only people I've seen who are against telecommuting are the meddling micromanaging types who never trust anybody - and this is usually a reflection on the manager, not their subordinates. The paranoid middle managers who usually are the most clueless in their own jobs are often the ones who refuse to trust someone to do their job correctly.
It also goes to say that if a manager cannot trust his or her professional employees to handle ther time responsibly, then didn't that manager make a mistake hiring them in the first place?
I currently work in government contracting, and that's a tough call as far as telecommuting goes. The smarter, more up-to-date contractors absolutely understand the benefits of telecommuting; however when you work with the gov't and military, many clients want to "see the troops at the crack of dawn", if for nothing but the very reassurance that they're there. They don't like flex time, either.. You're a morning person to military clients, or you don't belong there. Kind of silly, really.
(Of course, you can't telecommute to do classified work, but that's another issue.)
I've never heard a really good argument against telecommuting. It usually comes back to "well, if you give people too much freedom, they'll screw around." We're talking about adults here, for the most part. If you give them freedom and they screw around, you didn't hire well, or they have good reason to screw around once they're out from under your magnifying glass. If you're not treating your employees well, that'll manifest itself in other ways - in the office or out. | |
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| | Depends on the situation When I moved up to Albany to be near my fiance (now wife), I was working for Winmag.com. I made arrangements with them to set up a home office in my apartment and work from home. It wound up working nicely. I didn't have to get up extremely early anymore since my "commute" to work was a two minute lazy stroll to the next room. I would typically sign in at about 8am, get some work done, take a quick break at around 10am to shower/get dressed/etc, and then work until 4 or 5.
I'd say that I was just as productive with that setup as I was in the office. Unfortunately, Winmag.com was shut down a few months later and I got another job where I had to be in the office from 8-4:30. My boss is nice and lets me telecommute sometimes when I can't get in. For example, if there's a blizzard out and the roads haven't been plowed yet. I'll do some work in the morning, shovel the snow, and then drive in.
I've found, however, that my telecommuting productivity isn't as good as my office productivity now. I think the reason for this is that my family life has grown such that there are more distractions at home. At Winmag, my fiance-at-the-time would be out in classes nearly all day, so I would have the apartment to myself. Now, my wife is at home with our two kids (4 years and 6 months). It's so easy to take "just 2 minutes" to help her with one thing. And "only a minute" to help my son with something else. But add up all of those minutes and you don't get any work done.
Still, this is a case-by-case situation. If a manager believes that an employee could do their job via telecommuting and the employee wants to do this, then the manager could allow the employee to do one day a week telecommuting. The manager could monitor the employee's productivity and either increase or decrease the telecommuting time depending on how productive the employee is. | |
| | | Oh yes. I would love to work from home so I could do so sans pants. | |
| | | | Re: Oh yes. You do have to scramble, though, when someone knocks on the front door. | |
| | | | t-shirt and shorts..
Need I say more?
Working from home rocks!! | |
| | | | | Re: Oh yes. I kid you not, the only downside to working at home is that front door. I'm working in a bedroom on the second floor, and hopping down the hall on one foot, trying to pull pants on over my scivies, and then pulling up short of the stairs is a serious health risk. Think I can get a government grant to study this phenomenon? | |
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| | remote working i work for AT&T(SBC side).
as an employee telecommuting always seems to sound good but my former area manager said something to me that really makes sense...
"if you can do your work from home then someone else can do that work from india."
you really dont want to prove to the company that your work can be done remotely... | |
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1 edit | Re: remote working So what you're saying is that I work from home I'll develop a hard to understand accent and lose my sense of troubleshooting? | |
| | | | | Re: remote working I actually work as a consultant in the outsourcing industry, and as much as I would like to be able to promote my product, I have to agree. Indians, Filipinos, etc. all believe they can do anything we can if it can be done remotely, but that is not true. Much of what can be done by telecommuting requires an American perspective that people who have never set foot in America just can't duplicate. Unfortunately, they are being led to believe otherwise, which is what I am here to assist with. Basic, mundane things can be done offshore - things that - from an American perspective - don't require a lot of thought. Other, more higher-function things will never be able to be duplicated by anyone offshore from another nationality. GOD BLESS AMERICA! | |
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| | | More like:
If you all work from home, who will I manage?
If the work can be done AS WELL from India, what does at home or in an office have to do with it? Do your job well, and someone will pay you to do it right here in the good 'ol USA.
If your manager is counting on hiding the fact that work can be outsourced from the executives, you'd best get to work on your resume. | |
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 buckinghamBuckingham Pa
join:2005-07-17
Buckingham, PA
·Verizon FiOS
| Telecommuting is how I survive.... I have been telecommuting for over 10 years now. I wouldn't have it any other way. I can't get any work done in an office environment...too many distractions, believe it or not. The company has also bagged a lot of expensive real estate, especially for sales role functions simply because it doesn't make sense to have it. If folks are doing their jobs, they are in front of customers or on the phone with customers. And they are also being held to their quotas...non-performance means you're gone.
I sometime joke with folks that my morning commute decision is "back stairs or front" on those days I'm not traveling.  | |
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I've been telecommuting full time for almost 11 years!
