We have pointed out in several Leading Virtually Digest posts that telecommuting is all over the popular press lately (check out the coverage captured by Google News). But the majority of articles merely mention telecommuting without providing any specific information about doing telework.  However, research does exist on this topic, and we have some evidence about the conditions that make a telecommute more or less effective.  Therefore, this post will discuss some of what is missing from popular press articles: factors that make a difference in the effectiveness of telework.  If you are interested in the possibility of working from home or a remote location, here are some major points you should take into account if you are considering telework:

• The nature of your job;
• Whether or not your organization allows telecommuting;
• Your personal work habits; and
• Your supervisor’s leadership style.

I elaborate on these below along with how you can make a pitch to your supervisor.

1. The nature of your job

One thing to consider is the nature of the job, or set of tasks you typically do, since some jobs are more easily done remotely than others.  Remember that you might be able to do some of your work in the office and some work remotely, depending on whether you can break tasks up into separate blocks of time (e.g., 2 days in the office and 3 days telecommuting from home). Consider the following when you are thinking about whether your job is suitable for telecommuting.

• Task predictability

One research paper we came across points out the importance of task predictability to effective telework.  A task is predictable when the boundaries and expectations of the task are clearly defined – that is, when you know more clearly what you need to do.  Tasks with low predictability answer more ambiguous questions, and often require significant adaptation in the process of completing the task. Such tasks don’t lend themselves well to telework.

•  Collaboration

 Do you work closely with others, or do independent work?  The less you count on active, same-time collaboration with others, the more likely that telecommuting could work for you.  Even if you and others are interdependent, the way in which you’re interdependent can make a difference (see http://tinyurl.com/5mt2ox for explanations of several types of task interdependence).  If you do a lot of brainstorming, group decision making or problem solving, or other naturally group-based tasks, chances are you will have a hard time telecommuting (it’s not impossible, but requires more technological support and self discipline).  If your interdependence requires each group member to do their own work and aggregate, perhaps telework is a viable option.  Ask yourself how much of your time and effort comprises working on problems or tasks together, and how much that collaboration influences the set of tasks you do.

• Customers

What is your relationship with your primary customers, internal or external?  Many sales people already do some kind of telecommuting; the feasibility of telework is harder to determine for those whose customers are internal, and at a centralized office location.  Ask yourself whether you can maintain high customer service if you work part of the time outside the central office location.  Does your work require that you have frequent face-to-face contact with customers, and if so, where does this contact occur?  Must you be available to your customers at all times? Ask yourself how you usually communicate with your customers.  If most communication is by email or telephone, as opposed to face-to-face, you may be able to transition smoothly to telecommuting.

• Information and other resources

How much does your work rely on information?  The companion question to this is what kind of information sharing system your organization currently employs.  If you need to respond quickly to information, you can only telecommute if there is good infrastructure for getting that information to you remotely.  Does your organization have file sharing?  An intranet?  A reliable VPN client you can use to log in from home?  To be successful at your work from a remote location, you will have to have reliable access to the information you need.  More broadly, consider all the resources you depend upon on a daily basis, and whether you can access them from a location outside the office.

2. Organizational considerations

Your company’s current policies are another major consideration when thinking about telecommuting.  Do others in the organization telecommute or work part of their time from another location?  Are the policies for this official or are they determined on a case by case basis by each supervisor?  If you present this information to your supervisor when making the case for telecommuting, be sure to present it as examples of success, or ideas you can adopt.  Avoid anything that sounds like “Sally gets to do it, why can’t I??”

In a company that has official policies on telecommuting, you are less likely to have any surprises in the process.  On the other hand, those policies may limit your ability to come up with a creative telecommuting plan.  Think carefully about the political implications of what you are asking for – if being away from the office will hurt your abilities to progress, it may be a poor idea for the long term.  Of crucial importance, be sure to discuss how your work will be evaluated if you are working from another location.  Evaluation processes tend to be seriously flawed even when employees work in the same physical location as their supervisors.  If you are trying to telecommute, you and your supervisor should document an evaluation plan and clear it with HR, to avoid confusion later.

Here too, you must consider where you will do your work, if not in the central office location.  Telecommuters currently work from home, from the road, from satellite offices, or from a combination of these.  You must figure out where you will have access to email, intranet, phone, fax or any other technologies you need.  Are you asking your company to pay for a phone/fax line and your high speed Internet at your house?   Be prepared to explain what is needed and how much it will cost.

3. Individual differences

This one requires some honest self-reflection, and is not easy for most people.  One of the most important considerations is whether you have the work habits to be productive outside a traditional office setting.  Telework requires very high levels of self-discipline every day, and that’s not for everyone.  Being a good, smart, reliable worker does not mean you will take naturally to telecommuting.  Consider experimenting with your self-discipline and motivation even before pitching a long-term plan to your supervisor.  Telecommuting sounds good at face value, and is superficially very appealling to people.  Keep in mind that it is nothing like time off – with the flexibility comes a whole new set of responsibilities.

Also, give some thought to your social needs.  After several weeks or months of doing telework, a person who needs interaction with others can become dissatisfied, distracted, or even depressed.  You should think about whether you are an extrovert or an introvert, and how much you need interaction and affiliation with others.  Do you look forward to having a cup of coffee and a chat with others at work?  Do you tend to initiate socialization in the workplace?  Are you the person who brings baked goods or doughnuts regularly?  If so, telework might fail to meet your needs as a social human being.  It’s hard to predict how a person will react to a major change, so again, try to do a little test run for a week or two before committing long term.  Remember that you might be able to work several days a week in the office (getting your fix of social interaction) and several days from another location.

 4. Leadership

 Any manager of supervisor has influence over workers and their productivity, so you must consider not only your own characteristics, but also those of your supervisor.  First, if your supervisor isn’t open to the idea of telework, or isn’t comfortable with the change you suggest, it is unlikely to work.  Have others asked for a similar arrangement?  Has your supervisor allowed flexible time or other accommodations (for sickness, family needs, etc)?  Prior reactions can help you understand the odds of your pitch being accepted.

 Also, consider how much you depend on regular guidance from your manager, and the dynamics of your work group.  For example, if working remotely will put you in the “out group” and have a long term, negative impact on the resources you receive from your superivisor, you need to consider that in the cost-benefit analysis of telecommuting.  Being in the same location as your supervisor can be very developmental, and you should consider whether that development will happen if you are working remotely part of the time.  Think about your supervisor’s style of leadership and how he or she tends to communicate with work group members.  Will you be missing out if you are not in the office?

Making a pitch to your supervisor

You should have a clear idea of all of these considerations before discussing the possibility of telecommuting with your supervisor, so your pitch looks polished.  The more you demonstrate that you have thought it through carefully, the more likely his or her approval.  Remember too that you can enact your plan on a trial basis if you and your manager aren’t sure whether it will be successful.  It’s not a bad idea to do your own little pilot study on whether telecommuting is right for you, your company, and the work you do before you commit to something long term.

Research articles on telework

The following are a few of the articles that influenced the content of this post.  If you search for “effective telework”, “effective telecommute”, or “telecommuting effectiveness” on http://scholar.google.com, you will find numerous other articles (access to some of them may require payment of a fee; however, by clicking on the link that shows you the different versions of the paper, you may sometimes reach a site that makes the paper available without payment).

• Feldman, D.C., & Gainey, T.W. (1997).  “Patterns of telecommuting and their consequences: Framing the research agenda.”  Human Resource Management Review, 7(4), 369-388 (available here).
• Fritz, M.B.W., Narasimhan, S., & Rhee, H. (1998).  “Communication and coordination in the virtual office.”  Journal of Management Information Systems, 14(4), 7-28 (available here).
  
• Gajendran, R.S., & Harrison, D.A. (2007).  “The good, the bad, and the unknown about telecommuting: Meta-analysis of psychological mediators and individual consequences.”  Journal of Applied Psychology, 92(6), 1524-1541 (available here).