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" Make sure gifts are appropriate for a business setting.
" The Internet provides a great way to shop for business gifts.
" Consider whether your company's products or services might make
good gifts or can be offered to employees at a discount.
" Try sending thank-you notes or gifts to an employee's family in
appreciation for supporting the employee and all he or she does for the
company.
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Getting Out of the Office
Chapter 8
Lesson 8.
Getting Out of the Office
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Getting Out of the Office
Chapter 8
In this lesson, you learn about the benefits of getting people out
of the traditional office setting.
Think about it: When you have only a week or two per year for vacation,
do you sit around the same house you've been sitting around all year, or
do you go somewhere else? When people want to renew or refresh
themselves, many head for a change of scenery. Workers are no
different even the most attractive and pleasant workplace gets tiresome
after a while. At some point, employees begin to measure the dynamics of
the workplace by the number of feet they walk from their cubicle to the
coffee pot, a number that never varies.
In this chapter, we'll explore some of the benefits of giving your
employees a chance to work out of the office and get a new perspective
on their careers.
Telecommuting: When Work Comes Home
Some call it telecommuting, others telework or flex work. Whatever you
call it, it involves a decentralizing of your work force, allowing some of
them to work part-time or even full-time from their homes.
Plain English
Telecommuting (also called telework or flex work) is the practice of
allowing workers to work from their homes, taking advantage of various
technologies to connect them to other workers and information.
According to a recent survey, more than 12 million people telecommute
today, making it clear that this way of doing business is here to stay.
Advances in technology and telecommunications, especially in the area of
computers and the Internet, have made this lifestyle possible.
Ironically, this practice is really nothing new. In the not-so-distant
Industrial Age of the late nineteenth century, workers were pulled out of
their cottage-based industries into factories. That means that only a
hundred years or so divides us from a time when people didn't get up,
knock back a cup of coffee, and run out the door to the office. Instead,
they stayed at home and made products that they sold to a company or
sold directly to their community. So, telecommuting may be a lifestyle
whose time has come again!
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Getting Out of the Office
Chapter 8
The Benefits of Telecommuting
Many debates have gone on about the pros and cons of telecommuting.
But with technology providing more ease of communication and better
access to centralized information, it's getting harder to argue against it.
The first thing most people consider to be a benefit of telecommuting is an
increase in productivity, often cited in the 15 20 percent range. That
productivity increase is thought to come from the less stressful
environment found in one's own home, the lack of disturbances or
downtime from casual chats in the hallway, and the removal of as many
as a couple hours of high-stress commuting from the work day.
Tip
If you want to sell the concept of telecommuting in your workplace but
think that you'll be left with an empty office when everybody stampedes
home to work, don't worry. Many people can't stand the isolation; others
lack the discipline to work from home.
Other benefits are financial in nature. True, most companies that allow
telecommuting contribute to the cost of equipment, supplies, and phone
bills of those working from home offices, and they also have to reimburse
the high initial costs of setting up a telecommuting site. However,
companies usually find that they save money in the long run. If people are
working at home full-time, companies can downsize office space, and
even the cost of setting up videoconferencing may be quickly offset by
cutting down on the number of phone lines, parking spaces, and break
room spaces needed for your in-office work force.
How Telecommuting Works
A few variations on telecommuting exist. First, there's either a full-time or
part-time telecommuting situation. In a full-time telecommuting scenario,
the employee makes a weekly or monthly office visit. In the part-time
telecommuting scenario, a worker works at home two or three days a
week and is in the office the other days.
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Getting Out of the Office
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Caution
At first look, part-time arrangements might seem better to you because
you'll still get significant face-to-face time with your employee. But
beware: Part-time telecommuting means financial support of two offices
instead of one and an office that sits empty and unproductive for a few
days every week.
If an employee is a full-time telecommuter, that person actually might live
in another state or even another country. In that case, companies must
factor in costs of bringing telecommuters to the office every month or so.
Another consideration is deciding what expenses of the home office the
company will cover and what the employee will pay for. Some employees,
eager to move into the telecommuting lifestyle, will deal with setting up
an area of their home, purchasing ergonomic office furniture, and even
paying to install a second phone line. But ongoing costs, such as a
computer, phone calls, monthly cost of the second phone line, an Internet
account, software, and supplies typically become the burden of the
employer. In some situations, employers also are expected to pay a
portion of an employee's home utility bill. Whatever the arrangement,
make sure that you and the employee are clear about it from the start.
Tip
It might prove easier on your company to arrange for direct billing of
some items, such as a second phone line and overnight shipping.
Setting Up Shop: The Telecommuting Office
The existence of various technologies contributes greatly to the success of
telecommuting. But each comes with an associated cost and, in some
cases, the time of your Information Services (IS) staff to support it. Be
sure that your employee really understands all the things involved in
setting up a home office before you both take the plunge.
Some items to consider in setting up a telecommuting situation include
these:
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Getting Out of the Office
Chapter 8
" A docking laptop computer so that part-time telecommuters can
take their office computer back and forth between office and home easily,
negating the need for two computers
" A connection to your company network for access to information
and an office e-mail account
" IS support for hardware and software used at home
" A fax machine
" An answering machine or voice mail
" A copier
" A second, faster phone line for Internet access
" Videoconferencing capability
" A two-line phone with hold, mute, and conference capabilities [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]