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Telecommuting's Potential
Submitted by Matt on Thu, 07/31/2008 - 09:43
ICT infrastructures for telework are a key component of a green computing strategy, reducing both local commuting and long-distance travel costs and carbon. A Harvard Business Review Editor's Blog post, "The Telecommuting Imperative", takes on executive reluctance to advance telework. Among other motivations cited for moving more aggressively:
"According to a couple of interdependent researchers, Kate Lister and Tom Harnish, 33 million people in the U.S. could potentially do their jobs at home. Doing so would save them a combined $25 billion in gas purchases, not to mention all that commuting time that could otherwise be devoted to work."
I'll take a more detailed look at the Lister/Harnish work in a future post.
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Telework
Thanks for your comment, Michael.
I, too, have come to prefer the term "telework" over "telecommuting" because it embraces much more than working from home as an alternative to a local work site. Global virtual teams, telework centers, online collaborative tools, and other concepts are all part of a broader telework vision.
The multi-location model involving telework centers is of particular interest right now because of a sustainable real estate educational program to which I am a contributor. I'll check out the Pocketsnet site, then follow up with you offline from Vertatique.
Matt
Another way?
Matt,
I would like to offer another perspective on our current teleworking approach. After several years of research, I found the issues of working from home or hoteling have limitations that might require a fresh approach. The multi-location model presented on the pocketsnet website is a possible way to move beyond some of the impasses of current methods. I would be interested in opening a dialogue of the potential benefits derived from an aggregate solution. Last mile issues could be much more expensive in many ways than we have considered.
Best regards,
Michael Shear