One of the major reasons workers dislike remote environments is it inhibits certain tasks that are made easier by being physically located in the same place. One of the codes then is that telework often adds difficulty to tasks that were once completed without much trouble. It complicates simple work operations. For example, employee training, or learning new tasks, is easier when there are people around to assist and answer questions. Frank the IT intern said that he prefers to spend as much time in the office as he can while he is still learning the job. He described it this way:
It’s very helpful to have other people in the office. If I have a problem, or
something’s going wrong I can easily talk over something, ask for help. I’m new, I gotta learn more systems, learn how the business grows.
Telework has a built-in latency to the communication between coworkers and networks that is frustrating. Frank said that when working from home, it can take several seconds or longer for updates on his work to populate, which when he is trying to get a project done before the day is over, it can mean having to take himself out of the flow and pick up a project the next day.
David says he avoids trying to communicate with coworkers while he is
teleworking. “I try to do things that don’t necessarily require collaboration.” As someone who supervises employees and legal aides at the law firm, he reiterated the point that training and managing is a social exercise that does not translate well to remote locations. “I don’t think I’d have as good of a working relationship as I do with people right now,” he said when asked if he was interested in taking on more telework in the future. Sam, the web security analyst spent two years getting acquainted with the nuances of his job
before switching to a telework arrangement. He cited having access to his trainer as the main reason for wanting to be around the office for the first several months, and one of the drawbacks to going to remote work. “Now that I’m teleworking, it means typing at her, sending her an IM, sending her an email,” which takes more effort because it is “not in the regular flow of things I have to do.”
Communication technology, such as email, instant-message, videoconferencing equipment or software, and telephones make telework possible, but most teleworkers find them to be an insufficient long-term replacement for face-to-face communication.
Ramona’s company is primarily teleworkers, although there is an office where workers can gather, most of the employees and board members are scattered throughout the United States. She was new to her job when interviewed, and so getting information from coworkers who were not in a position to respond for several hours created many
frustrations for her. In the office, she gets quick answers to questions, as well as a long history of why a certain thing work the way they do. “It’s a 28 year old nonprofit, there’s so much history and sometimes when I ask a question, there’s a ten minute response even though the actual answer is 30 seconds because I get the whole history of why they do something the way they do.” This is an important and rewarding component of working at her company, she said, but you do not get that when you instant message or email each other.
Some technology is better for remote communication than others.
Videoconferencing for example, is perhaps the most advanced technology associated with remote work, but teleworkers in the sample found it to be more trouble than it’s worth. Stephen said that they have videoconferencing rooms to use with teleworkers in
his office, but everyone avoids using them. David made the same point, saying everyone in his office prefers phone calls or instant-message to communicate with remote workers. George, whose entire operation is in Sweden, attempted to have video chat software open with his team all the time in order to feel more physically connected to them. He
describes the experiment:
That didn’t work, we almost never use it now, we just use messaging or just voice phone. Or Skype with just a voice on. It’s not a natural situation to sit in front of the camera with your face, being filmed; it didn’t work. That’s not how you talk to someone either, with your face looking directly at theirs. You get better
connection if you only use voice, that’s our feeling. You get a normal connection; you talk and work. It’s not like 100% taking your attention, this video thing.
On the other hand, Cecil said all of their meetings use video for the remote workers in order to make up for their physical absence. “I try to get as much in-person, but at least I see [the teleworkers] every day on the video screen. They’re always videoed, never just a phone call.” Stella, a software development engineer whose entire company is virtual, said she opts for video before phone calls, but tries to meet up with local coworkers whenever it is convenient. Video conferencing technology and software, although occasionally useful especially for permanent teleworkers, can be cumbersome and awkward.
Increased distance and non-standardized work schedules also create latency for teleworkers. For example, remote communication can actually be an impediment to productivity and efficiency because it presents a delay where one does not usually exist if employees work together. Frank said that working by remote means dealing with
a couple of seconds, which is really frustrating.” Technological delays aside though, there is also latency in having to wait for other coworkers to respond to a question, or provide approval. Cy is in a different time zone than many of her coworkers, which means getting approval or answers can mean burning through her work hours just waiting for someone else to get back to her.
I think, “I have this idea, I’m going to write it in an email, and I’m going to wait the next two hours and see what everyone thinks about that.” And there’s also those times when I need something and the person is not working, so I have to wait for them to get to work… When I’m in the office, I can get what I need when I need it.
This can be demoralizing for employees, who have successfully eliminated “time holes” such as commuting, only to have it replaced with new time wasters specific to telework, such as waiting around for updates, or for coworkers to respond to issues and questions.
The disconnection from the professional discourse at a workplace can be a major issue when teleworking. For George, time stopped when he left his home country for Canada and began teleworking. He describes it this way:
I know what we’re doing in the project, but I don’t know what’s happen in a general sense. What are people doing, where are we going professionally? When I’m at the office, I can always have my eye on the future, or it looks like these projects are coming in, this is where we’re going and what we’re doing. You feel like you’re wasting a little a bit, a part of the thing about having a job, you’re missing out on it.