Case Study #2

WORKING FROM HOME – IT’S IN THE DETAILS
(An article review)

1. Identify and discuss the main problems or concerns mentioned in this case study regarding telecommuting. In your opinion, do most of these problems originate with the company or the employee?

• I noticed lots of problems in this article regarding telecommuting. One of these problems is Communication breakdown. Employees under this kind of job begin to feel isolated although it is part of the job, because they are lack of interaction between their managers and colleagues. Even if there were many ways to communicate with them like internet, phones, instant messaging or social medias still much better to communicate with physical appearance. It has a big bearing in the behavior of people inside the organization. It is also hard for the managers to keep in track their people. As everybody say that people in the company is the most important asset, it is important that the managers will assure that they have build a good collaborative environments with them.
Another concern is fear no longer part of the organizational ladder, some employees feel that they might be not part of the trends of the company, because they didn’t report or go in the office regularly, compared with the employees in a traditional office setting. Some believe that they need to be in the company to be more productive and learn. We, as part of our organization where we employed, we feel happy everytime that our company have an accomplishments and achievements especially if we witnessed the said sucess. Maybe some telecommuters want to experience that kind of feelings. Indiscipline in maintaining fixed schedules is an issue also in this study. As stated only few out of the total telecommuters do their job, others do it in just a couple of days in a week and others wouldn’t telecommute at all. It becomes habitual to some employees not to do their job well. Because they have no boss/manager that supervise of what their doing. They have a strong instinct that they will not terminate from their job even if they do or not their job.

• Since the employees know the advantages and disadvantages of telecommuting job during the pre-employment period. I think these problems originate most from the employees. Because since they know the possible things might happened in the future, they must prepared and and be more conscious towards their job. They must consider the fact that they were properly compensated so, they must do their job in accordance with the duties and responsibilities that the company assigned to them. And have faith and trust to the company that they are always part of the possible success of the company.

2. Describe the characteristic of people who adjust more easily to telecommuting. How can companies identify these employees or develop others to be better prepared for telecommuting?

• The article doesn’t discuss much about the characteristics of people. However, it explains that telecommuting is not appropriate for new hire employees, beacause as stated it requires face to face mentoring and working in the office for a period of time before going virtual.
• The company may develop a better telecommuters by providing them the total Company allignment which coherent and clearly stated, with strategies, policies processes and reward systems all aligned toward achieving common goals — goals that will benefit the copmany and the people.

Company should also ensure that effective telecommuters should not rely dependently with their co-telecommuters especially to satisfy their social needs. They must work with their own knowledge as guided by the principles of the company.

To be effective telecommuters they must have an independent initiative, they are able to maintain and set their own work goals and maintain productive work schedule without direct supervision. The company must ensure also that evey employee understands how they bring value to the company.

Management must create a strategy for communicating and reminding the staff of the proper focus, the overall mission, how to achieve the company goals, and what’s in it for them. And Management must establish mechanisms for monitoring results and to ensure that any new plans promote the company mission.