Telework

by | 23 Aug 2015

In our agency, employees are required to come to office only once in a week, so that their computer can get updates from the agency network. Rest of the days they are allowed to work from remote locations (home, hotel, etc.) which is called telework. I think 1/2 days of telework per week is good but telework almost every day is bad for an organization.

I miss camaraderie of our office because I only see my next cubicle neighbor/colleague once or twice in a year. Most of the time I am alone in the whole row which I do not like. Prior to this big change we used to see almost everyone every day or at least 2/3 days in a week. Now, I rarely see any of my close colleagues. Thus, I think even though the employer and the employees are saving money and time on electricity, travel, gasoline, etc. people are losing human connection. To me human connection is important because humans are social animals by nature.

We used to know employees of different branches and what was their field of work, so for any work related problem we knew whom to go to. Therefore, problems were addressed promptly but now if I face any problem I need to create an issue ticket and wait for someone, who is most likely teleworking, to send me an email with instructions. We are wasting a lot of valuable time because of this new way of working. If this continues for a long time, one day we will know a person only by his/her email or voice (phone call).

I am one of the very few employees who still comes to work 3 or more days in a week. Nevertheless, I think telework is good for few days in a week. This way we know that in case of emergency we will be able to work from remote locations. However, unlimited days of telework is counterproductive and bad for employee morale.

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