There is a lot of pressure on organizations in major cities to find a way to allow some employees to telecommu

Question

There is a lot of pressure on organizations in major cities to find a way to allow some employees to telecommute or have flexible hours to reduce traffic, pollution, and overall congestion. What characteristics make jobs less appropriate for telecommuting? How can we manage productivity of telecommuters?

Answer 1

If you need information or documents that are in the office, you cannot telecommute.  You manage productivity by comparing production in the office and at home.  I've telecommuted for over 6 years.  I was never this productive in the office.  It can work.  Oh and I buy gas every 6 weeks or so.

Answer 2

Yucky work like working in a slaughterhouse is no good for telecommuting.

Answer 3

A great deal  depends on the nature of the job involved.

The key concern regarding on the appropriateness of telecommuting is the degree of interaction required with other employees, management, or customers. Sometimes, there's just no substitute for face-to-face meetings. In other cases, once guideleines have been set, the work to be done can be done on a fairly independent basis.

Managing productivity is much the same as it is in any non-telecommuting situation. The boss really doesn't need to see you sitting at your workstation. All he or she needs to do is monitor the progress towards planned project milestones. So long as the work is proceeding according to plan, it really doesn't matter exactly where the work is being performed.