Self-evaluation (telecommuting will be the new way that jobs are performed in the next ten years. introduction )

It is important to examine all the disadvantages of telecommuting before making decision to offer telecommuting. Here some of the arguments d inthe paper are evaluated to bring the negative aspects in front. A review of advantages and disadvantages is necessary for successful telecommuting.
This paper presents an argument that telecommuting helps in reduced use of parking lots and roads expansion. This can be a necessary benefit for those companies which hire telecommuters but this can be disadvantageous to the community since this will lead to fewer needs of parking attendants and road workers thus causing reduced opportunities for job for a section of people. This can act as detrimental to a section of people are not well educated or skilled to perform any other kind of jobs. (Piskurich, 2008, p. 27)
Another argument presented by this paper is that telecommuting can provide an employee the added advantage of selecting his/her own working environment and this can have both economic and social benefits. However, there is also a down side because it becomes the responsibility of the employee to pay the bills of electricity and heat of his own working environment and in most companies the employees are not reimbursed for these aspects. (Piskurich, 2008, p. 22)
The paper puts forward a third argument that telecommuting provides the employee the advantage of working from home. This can help the employee to spend more time with the family thus promoting family values and developing stronger family relations. However, this can be disadvantageous for the supervisors whose primary responsibility is to monitor the efficiency and productivity of their supervisees. The supervisors do not feel comfortable because they cannot physically see their supervisees on daily basis. If the supervision is done badly then telecommuting can further reduce its effectiveness, however it can increase supervision that is done well. There is also the problem of jealousy from colleagues as many people feel that telecommuters do not work in all working hours at home. There may be others who cannot take up telecommuting because of their nature of work. All these can arouse jealousy from colleagues. This working from home facility can have an added disadvantage for those companies which regularly face crisis as it causes lack of flexibility. In case of emergency when holding a meeting is required it becomes extremely difficult to bring all the employees together if majority of them work from home. Therefore telecommuting as a way of job is not recommendable for business that faces regular crisis. Telecommuting as way of job can also face mechanical problems which may range from simple problems like insufficient paper or major problems like computer crash. In any case people who are capable of fixing such problems may not be available in time for those employees who work from home and this may cause a delay of a day or two. (Piskurich, 2008, pp. 23-24) People who are engaged to do telecommuting and work from home also suffer from the feeling of loneliness and isolation due to lack of personal conversation in the office ambiance. This can be detrimental to people who are more gregarious in nature. Also working from home can make a person stay at home for days thus making him workaholic which can have negative effect on the telecommuter. (Piskurich, 1996, p. 23)
Many programs of telecommuting fail to succeed because of their apparent simple and logical nature which causes the company to concentrate less on the planning. It is necessary to develop proper telecommuting policies and procedures to achieve maximum benefits.
References
Piskurich, G. M. (1998) An Organizational Guide to Telecommuting: Setting Up and Running a Successful Telecommuter Program. USA: American Society for Training and Development
Piskurich, G. M. (February, 1996) Disadvantages of Telecommuting, Training & Development, 50(2), p. 23