With the change in the workforce dynamic the global pandemic brought, more and more workers are telecommuting.
Have you ever wondered what this term means? Do you think your current job is adapting to the way the workplace will be in the future? Then, find out everything you need to know about telecommuting, including how they operate and their advantages and disadvantages, among others.
What is Telecommuting?
What is telecommuting? Also called “teleworking,” telecommuting can be utilized as a work arrangement. Workers work outside the typical physical workplace at least once a week and communicate through the telephone or Internet to the office.
This working arrangement may also offer additional advantages such as a flexible schedule, although not always for all telecommuting employment. What is an example of telecommuting? A familiar application of telecommuting service is a virtual assistant.
How Telecommuting Works?
With the right technology, telecommuting work cannot be avoided. Moreover, virtual working environments have fostered its growth and acceptability.
Instead of visiting the workplace, the worker can do some homeworking by utilizing costly telecommunications tools to maintain contact with colleagues and bosses..
The pandemic period saw apps like Slack and Zoom make working from home simpler for office employees.
The employee may sometimes go to the workplace for physical meetings/conferences, but the office may sometimes not have to be visited with various distance conference alternatives.
What are the pros of Telecommuting?
Many companies in numerous countries have adopted telecommuting because of its benefits. Telecommuting advantages include:
1. Two-way communication and personal touch
With the benefit of having a one-on-one interaction with the client, one of the first and foremost advantages of telecommuting is that it enables you to engage with customers. In this manner, the customer becomes more personal and engaged with your goods. In addition, with telecommuting, you learn about the customer’s requirements and interests immediately, and you can provide tailored solutions for them.
2. Ease of Use and Marketing
One of the advantages of telecommuting is its simplicity. It is pretty easy to use since you can describe products to customers on-the-go via regular mails or even text messages. Sales experts would regularly employ voice modulation and persuasive abilities to improve the chances of closing a sale.
However, in a text-based pitch, this element is absent. This is to say, email marketing and telecommuting each have an advantage over traditional methods, and they all help to improve the likelihood of making a sale.
3. Teleworking is very cost-efficient
When it comes to cost-effectiveness, telecommuting has the upper hand. The use of telecommuting provides outcomes of excellent quality with fewer resources. You may also increase your sales volume more quickly. As well, the expenses spent by telecommuting campaigns are readily quantifiable.
4. There are no restrictions when it comes to telecommuting
Telecommuting does not place geographic boundaries on the reach of a campaign. Regardless of geographic location, you may sell your product if it has relevance. As far as you wish, you may expand your sales area. Also,f by using telecommuting, you are now able to expand your product’s worldwide presence. This has the dual effect of increasing sales and increasing brand value. You can contact more individuals in a day via teleworking methods than by meeting with them face-to-face.
In summary, telecommuting aims to empower employees to work from anywhere, asides from physical office spaces. In some cases, workers can choose the time they want to work. For the organizations, it helps to save costs.
What are the cons of Telecommuting?
While telecommuting may have many advantages, it can also pose some difficulties. Telecommuting disadvantages include:
1. Telecommuting is not accepted by everyone
Telecommuting has drawbacks since it has historically been stereotyped, inadvertently causing consumers to see telemarketers with hostility. Customers can sometimes regard marketing via telecommuting as suspicious. It may be almost impossible for you to succeed in telecommuting if you don’t have a properly trained staff.
2. Reliance on outside resources
However, using outside services looks pretty agreeable on the surface, but it is quite the contrary. Without a clear outsourcing strategy, you risk losing control over your sales, which may negatively impact your conversions. You may not know whether your sales process is handled correctly since the staff is not taking care of it.
3. All out-of-pocket expenses
Although telecommuting might reduce costs, if it isn’t monitored, it may develop into a costly enterprise. For example, onboarding new team members costs a lot of money, and the prospect list is expensive to acquire. Therefore, decisions requiring good judgment are needed to minimize these expenses.
4. More potential distractions
Family members, pets, other people, or colleagues may easily divert individuals from home. Working at a coffee shop or in a similar place may also be distracting.
5. Some Employees Might Feel Lonely
Some individuals may feel lonely since they are not around colleagues. This applies in particular to individuals who live alone. Thus, unless the company puts in deliberate steps to motivate workers to communicate and collaborate with each other, then no employee will feel like they’re left out.
What are the types of Telecommuting?
Most tasks that don’t need a physical connection may be done from anywhere. There are two major types of employment that you may search on depending on where and how you carry out your work:
Virtual job
This job offers complete location freedom. Virtual jobs don’t have any need for employees to be physically present. Companies with this role often use contractors rather than having actual offices. While virtual positions still need you to do corporate business from a certain location, they offer a lot of personal freedom.
A home-based job
To be well-suited for home working, you need to have an office of your own where you may work. While you may need to be accessible during normal business hours, it may also be required. Nonetheless, as more businesses judge the timeliness and outcomes of their workers, not only how they manage their time, there is an increase in the numbers of these kinds of organizations.
Examples of Telecommuting Jobs
Currently, there are lots of job activities that can be categorized under telecommute work. Some examples of telecommuting are:
- Call center agent
- Customer support
- Customer success manager
- Affiliate marketer
- Brand ambassador
- Social media manager
- IT analyst
- IT support specialist
- Help desk technician
- Database administrator
- Tutor
- Travel instructor
- Web developer
- Financial analyst
- Personal trainer
- Curriculum writer
- Healthcare consultant
- Medical transcriptionist
- Virtual assistant
Telecommuting vs. Remote Work
There is a distinction between these terms although, in the majority of instances, they have been used interchangeably.
Remote employment means working from a different place than the one the company is based in. On the other hand, telecommuting is an indication that the employee is nearby enough to at least part-time work on-site. It is possible for a company to have its workers telecommuting from a distance of about 200 miles or to have people working remotely from various locations around the world.
Although remote employees are internationally displaced, team-building and meeting activities are needed for telecommuters.
Final thoughts on Telecommuting
Telecommuting provides excellent value to the working environment. It has generated numerous flexible working possibilities with improved work-life balance for workers and businesses.
By establishing a comprehensive work-from-home policy, businesses and employees may enjoy the advantages of telecom and prevent bottlenecks in productivity or inefficient communication.
