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Telecommuting in the 21st Century:  Benefits, Issues, and Leadership Model Which Will Work

March 31, 2003 

"Telecommuting, telework and teleworking are terms used somewhat interchangeably.  Telecommuting occurs whenever an employee is paid for work done at an alternative worksite and total commuting time is thereby reduced (Mariani, 2000).  This does not include self-employed persons or those employees who feel it necessary to take work home with them on a regular basis.

 The first telecommuter on record was a Boston bank president who installed phone line between his bank and home in 1877 (Langhoff, 1996).  What allowed this evolution from this humble beginning to our current state of affairs has been the drastic evolution in computer technology.  Telecommuting, while still in its infancy, has already drastically changed business all over the world.  While employers can now offer a new way for employees to work and thus increase their productivity, as well as tap into never before accessible labor resources, thy must also change old attitudes and break down outdated management practices to capitalize on this new resource.

 A 2000 research survey sponsored by AT&T and conducted by the Behavior Research Center concluded that 16.5 million employees aged 18 and over can now be classified as teleworkers.  Interestingly, the same survey showed that while more than half of these have been working offsite for at least three years, 2.8 million were new teleworkers with one year or less experience as telecommuters.

 Many employers believe that telecommuting increases morale and productivity, improves retention and recruitment opportunities, and reduces absenteeism (Solomon, 2000).  Merrill Lynch and AT&T are two examples of major corporations that have made use of telecommuters from almost the very beginning.  As of early 2001, half of AT&T's 50,000 mangers worldwide telecommute, while Merrill Lynch announced that they save anywhere from $5000 or $6000 per office per year in overhead costs because of their employees who have chosen to telecommute (Rodgers & Teicholz, 2001).

 Many employees report concern about the decrease in communication with their co-workers.  A 1999 survey found dissatisfaction with peer relationships (Igbaria & Guimaraes, 1999).  Employers express other concerns about their teleworkers regarding the costs associated with telecommuting and security. 

 Technological revolutions lead to people revolutions.  This is the case with telecommuting.  The difference between management and leadership has never been more important.  Mangers are responsible for getting the job done through other people and may spend a great deal of their time doing paper work, dealing with organizational problems and clearing the obstacles so that employees can do their jobs.  Leaders, influence based not only on their job title, but by their expertise and relationship power. 

 Teleworkers need effective leadership to feel comfortable in their off-site working environment.  Leaders can make them feel connected and integral to the overall operation and this in turn can lead to career satisfaction and job retention. 

 'Situational Leadership' developed in the late 1960s by Paul Hersey and Ken Blanchard, provides a practical model for leaders to use in diagnosing the needs of the employees and then applying an appropriate leadership style.  It is based on Hersey's contention that leadership is a process of influence.  Hersey further posits that leadership requires three basic competencies:

1. diagnosing - being able to understand the situation you are attempting to influence;
2. adapting - being able to adapt your behavior, and other things that you have control over, to the contingencies of the situation; and
3. communicating - being able to put the message in a way that people can easily understand and accept (Hersey, et. Al, 2001).

 'Situational Leadership' is based on a two-dimensional approach that says leaders use a combination of task behavior (directive behavior) and relationship behavior (supportive behavior).   The leader's job is to diagnose how much of each behavior a given employees needs in a given situation. 

 It is incumbent on the leader, therefore to make use of some extraordinary communication techniques to maintain camaraderie while still allowing the teleworker the delegated responsibility that he or she deserves.  These communication techniques may include scheduled chat rooms, daily e-mail contact, weekly phone calls, periodic staff meetings held in the office or virtual staff meetings held by video or audio conferencing. 

 The key to effective use of 'Situational Leadership' is to constantly monitor the readiness level of the teleworkers and to reasons with the appropriate mix of relationship and task behavior.  This monitoring can be tricky sine the teleworker is not as observable as the traditional employee.  Revisiting the basic three competencies of leadership, success relies on continuous, deliberate diagnosis by the leader; adapting of the leader's style to meet the readiness level of the employee at any given time and in any given situation; and appropriate and sufficient communication between the leader and the teleworker (2002, Gibson, Blackwell, Dominicis & Demerath, pp. 75-86)."

Reference: Gibson, J. W., Blackwell, C.W., Dominicis, P., & Demerath, N. (2002). Telecommuting in the 21^s century: benefits, issues, and a leadership model which will work. The Journal of Leadership Studies, 8(4), 75-86.

The Journal of Leadership Studies is available on loan from the OSU Leadership Center.  A complete listing of all the Leadership Center's resources is available on our website www.ag.ohio-state.edu/~leaders

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Created: 2008-01-09, Updated: 2009-02-17