The quiet revolution: telecommuting

Even as telework becomes ubiquitous, human interaction won’t be totally replaced.

“Face-to-face meetings with superiors will still be with us, for company cohesion and career advancement, but held much less often,” says Michael Haaren, president of Staffcentrix. “They'll be replaced with high-realism communications options, higher expectations of employee initiative and autonomy, and 1-on-1 or small-group ‘mini huddles’ that have clear objectives, take place wherever convenient, and end when objectives are met.”

Two major challenges for workers in this environment will be keeping a high enough profile and not ending up working 24-7.

Workers will have more of the onus on them to prove that they’re worth their salt since they won’t be hanging around the office where bosses can see them working away. “Workers will have to ensure that they are communicating their value with every email and phone call,” says Kirsten Dixson, a branding expert and co author of “Career Distinction: Stand Out by Building Your Brand.”

And, she adds, employees are going to be on the job all the time thanks to PDAs and email. Workers will have to set boundaries, and they’ll have to find jobs they love or they’ll end up burning out faster.

To be sure, there will be certain types of jobs and certain types of people who will never be cut out for teleworking.

Technology consultant Daniel Burrus says, “Separating home from work is difficult. Some people have the ability to do that and some don’t. And some people just need to be around people, not just video conferencing.”

On the other hand, teleworking has already begun to pull a whole new group of individuals into the job market. “The workforce will gain people with disabilities, who, in spite of ADA, often find public transportation and building accommodations a barrier to work. Removing these barriers will broaden the talent pool for employers,” says Haaren.

There will always be jobs that require human interaction, like physicians, retail clerks and teachers, for example. But even in these cases technology is allowing for more and more tasks to be done remotely.

Here’s one job that seems un-teleworkable: A hotel concierge.

Well, the concierge at the Hyatt Regency Santa Clara, Anna Mariano-Morris is in fact a teleworker.

Her boss, hotel general manager Peter Rice, says Mariano-Morris came to hotel management five years ago with the idea to let her work from home so she could spend more time with her family and not have the hour and a half commute.

Management decided to go for it, paying to set up a webcam on her home computer and covering the cost of a T1 line to her home. They also put a 42-inch plasma television in the hotel lobby that also has a webcam so Mariano-Morris can see hotel guests and they can see her. She can look up restaurants and local attractions online and even remotely print out directions for guests right there on the spot.

“She’s a phenomenal concierge and it doesn’t matter that she’s 85 miles away,” he says. “We call her virtual Anna.”

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