Introduction
The world is rapidly changing especially with the increased embrace of internet use. Telecommuting is quickly gaining momentum as many people prefer working from their living rooms. There are various consequences that can be attributed to this trend.
Impacts of telecommuting
There are various impacts that telecommuting is instilling on the society and the resources that are available. This may also contribute to the success or failure by the companies that are to be served by the platform. Hamilton (2012) argues that there are numerous scenarios that may lead to adoption of telecommuting as the methodology of work executing. Some of the actors may include a decline in technological costs, increased advancement and investment on the digital technology, having expansive digital platform and much more.
Energy conservation: Telecommuting increases the conservation of physical energy because workers are not required to move to their work stations. Those who own vehicles may also conserve the fuel energy that they would have used to travel to their work stations. In other words, it provides the shortest way possible to execute the duties provided just rom home.
IT Operational Costs: Nonetheless, there are associated costs that are inevitable in this approach. It needs the investment on proper It infrastructure and such includes a fast internet connection. This implies that the user has to part with some extra money in managing the system. The organization also has to spend heavily on running IT platforms.
“Green computing”: Telecommuting depends on the modern computing methods which support the use of the green computing. This is also referred to as the cloud computing where the company may contract a consultancy firm to manage its computing services such as providing internet connectivity as well as storing the crucial documents. It is also cost-effective to the consumer.
Shifts in telecommuters’ lifestyles: Those who are disadvantaged like people living with disability can use this platform to execute their duties. Those who use it also spend more time with their families. However, it weakens the employee interactions which may be beneficial in team work (Hamilton, 2012).
How business infrastructure should be designed to enable employees continue with business functions in the event of a disaster destroying buildings or making them inaccessible
Companies have the desire to stay in business no matter the eventualities that may be faced in the process. Sometimes, businesses may be hampered by the occurrence of certain disasters such as the floods, storms, earthquakes, hurricanes, mudslides and much more. But in the case that the business was built on robust and flexible business strategies, there are possibilities that operations will not be affected. Current businesses are therefore required to adopt designs that can support business functions even in the event that the buildings have been destroyed. Some of the strategies that may be used may include:
Embracing paperless work: The first thing that a business will be required to do is to eliminate all the traditional filing system and may be only use them as back up. A huge chunk of information can be stored in computers and even other storage devices such as the external drives.
Adopting cloud computing: The best strategy that can ever be implemented in the current age of computing and filing system is the cloud. It is where all the data are stored and partially managed by a contracted external company. In that case, such data can be accessed anywhere through the internet as long as access is authorized by the administrator of the company. A cloud system is the most pertinent data management approach that can support unhampered business operations. In this kind of system, the employees will be able to work online and finish all their duties online unless they have cases that involve offline duties that require perhaps other things.
Advantages and disadvantages of telecommuting from manager’s perspective
Telecommuting comes with various advantages and disadvantages to the person that is involved in the program, the employer and the supervisor or the manager. From the perspective of the manager there are advantages that can be associated with the telecommuting. Gajendran & Harrison (2007) assert that telecommuting gives leverage to the employer’s bid of giving employee the freedom to choose working conditions.
First, a manager can give the junior employees the condition to engage in telecommuting in the event that such a decision is likely to help them perform to their highest. Secondly, the manager can have the upper hand in ensuring that there is much-needed flexibility that the job requires so that boredom can be eliminated. The third merit is that it allows the manager to bring in a culture that is likely to ensure that there is boosted morale and job satisfaction. It can also be used to mitigate, or to eliminate the potential office politics that can impact negatively on the productivity of workers (Hamilton, 2012).
There are also myriad disadvantages in telecommuting that may affect the manager. The first disadvantage is that the manager may not be able to achieve work place boding, interaction and team work when the telecommuting is embraced. Work place interaction creates an environment for sharing work-related ideas which cannot be acquired at home. The employees who are commuting may end up posting lower performance because they will not be able to distinguish work time from the family time. In this approach, personal employee interaction and motivation may not be possible for the manager. But such man-management is equally vital (Hamilton, 2012). The manager has to constantly ensure that all the resources that reinforce telecommuting are in proper condition and this could be extra burden.
The effects of Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) on:
The BOYD policy is based on the assertion that companies can cut cost once they make it compulsory that their workers should only use their person devices in workplaces. However, there are various impacts that this policy will have on the consumption of IT.
IT Infrastructure and Support: Running or implementing the BOYD policy while expecting to have secure IT infrastructure could be a pipe dream. It requires a centralized common application which cannot be used especially when dealing with the personal devices. It also complicates the IT support because information is only fed to the employees (Diogenes & Gilbert, 2015).
Knowledge: BOYD may help in increasing the knowledge especially on the IT-related areas because employees have access to their devices all the time. It simplifies the working system so that they can use it and improve their productivity.
Data Management: The BOYD complicates the management of the corporate data. It is quite cumbersome to put restrictions to the employees on how they should use their personal devices. This leads to the weakened or susceptible data management system (Diogenes & Gilbert, 2015).
Green Computing: BOYD promotes the adoption of the green computing. This happens because it promotes the use of common centralize app which control and modify access to information irrespective of the locations of users.
Telecommuting: BOYD has also encouraged the use of telecommuting as one of the modern day working techniques. It allows the employees to ensure that they can work from their devices given that the companies endorse such an idea.
References
Diogenes, Y., & Gilbert, J. (2015). Enterprise Mobility Suite Managing BYOD and Company-Owned Devices. Microsoft Press.
Gajendran, R. S., & Harrison, D. A. (2007). The good, the bad, and the unknown about telecommuting: Meta-analysis of psychological mediators and individual consequences.
Hamilton, E. (2012). Advantages and Challenges of Telecommuting. Boston College. Retrieved from: http://www.bc.edu/content/dam/files/centers/cwf/research/publications/pdf/BCCWF_Telecommuting_Paper.pdf
