By Jayson Jarmon, CEO, Lux Worldwide
I live in the city of Tacoma, Washington - about 30 miles away from the southern border of the so-called Emerald City, Seattle. That 30 miles requires a drive a 1.5 hour commute each way by car, or 1 hour each way by train. As I have made that commute since 1997, figuring two commutes roughly five days a week, I have spent something like 7,800 hours...nearly a year in aggregated time, sitting on my rear end traveling between the two cities (and yes, living in Tacoma is worth it).
If anyone in the world would like to see proof positive that telecommuting works, it is me. Sadly, there is yet little evidence to support it as an improvement upon a fixed workplace.
First off, and most sadly, I'm afraid, given the amount of fossil fuel going into the air and the deplorable congestion of the Puget Sound's main roadways at rush hour(s), the meme that telecommuting increases a company's productivity is over-hyped. According to a Cal State study, virtually all of the evidence yet put forth breathlessly touting large increases in productivity associated with telecommuting are, at best, anecdotal.
Well, perhaps that can be explained away by the novelty of telecommuting...surely there are longitudinal studies suggesting improved performance over time. Sadly the answer is no, according to a study commissioned by Honeywell.
Well then, what about improvements for the individual? While there are benefits to working at home, there are as many drawbacks if you've done it. Crying babies, no contextual feedback from co-workers, no separation of work life and home life, and worst of all, the blogs are full of complaints from telecommuters about how being away from the office is fettering their career and damaging their chances of advancement.
Well, you know what? As much as some of the early results damage the case for telecommuting, I think we still owe it to ourselves as employees and employers to continue experimenting and finding ways to make it work in appropriate circumstances. We owe it to the planet, to our families, and to our own commute-stressed physiologies. All good things take time to suss out, and telecommuting is no different.
