Re: The telecommuting myth

[Andrew Plato <intrepid_es -at- YAHOO -dot- COM>]

Yep, I think you hit the nail on the head, Rod. Employers hate telecommuting
for one simple reason: control.  If you are not in the office, they cannot
control you.

In my line-o-work, consulting, telecommuting is a total joke.  My clients
always want to see me doing the work.  Only clients with whom I have a long and
established relationship allow me to work off site.

There is a tangible feeling inside petty managers that if you are sitting in
front of a monitor, you are productive. We all know that is BS, but to some
people they feel better when you are right there and they can command you.

The other problem is that many people take advantage of telecommuting and do
not get work done.  I have had this problem with some consultants.  My client
allows the consultant to work at home, he bills 100s of hours, yet the work
never gets done.  The only conclusion I can come to is: he is not working while
at home.  I actually had to terminate a person off a contract because of this.

I have found that smaller firms are usually much more flexible about
telecommuting than big ones. That's not a scientific survey, but it makes
sense.  Smaller companies can be more flexible than large ones.  Smaller
companies are also inhabited with more assertive people who work hard
regardless of where they are sitting.

Andrew Plato
President / Principal Consultant
Anitian Consulting, Inc.
www.anitian.com

--- Ron Sering <rsering -at- EXCALIB -dot- COM> wrote:
> Well, I didn't check the archives on this subject, but since I figure there
> may not be many people working on the holiday, why not put this out there so
> those of us who are working can carp about it. After having worked for
> several clients/employers over the last few years, I am beginning to wonder
> how much telecommuting truly takes place in these wired times. I manage one
> or two days working at home per month (sometimes less), but these are
> granted only grudgingly, and have so many conditions attached to them that I
> really have more latitude to do my work when I come in to the office. So I
> have concluded that telecommuting is something that the magazines and Sunday
> supplements like to write about as a Big Trend, but that it has only
> miniscule acceptance in the Real World. Thoughts, anyone? If anyone is out
> there besides me....
>
> Ron Sering not Serling
>



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