ICT & Teleworking essays

ICT & Teleworking essays Teleworking can benefit the individual in numerous ways. Working from home avoids both the high costs and stress often associated with commuting to work. It also allows a certain amount of comfort that cannot be achieved in an office environment, as you are working in your own native environment, the home. Teleworking gives more flexibility, especially in working hours, or working in other locales. For example, work can be done at night, or in smaller segments throughout the day, etc. or while travelling. However, there are also disadvantages to teleworking. Being at home, there are numerous possible distractions, especially normal house life, family, television, etc. These distractions, and absence of supervision, can hinder motivation; thus, the quality of work may deteriorate. The lack of a properly defined working environment can make it hard to escape from the home environment, and the boundaries between them become blurred. The lack of social interaction and support withdraw the teleworker from society, and essentially the second family of work colleagues. Additionally, the costs of resources, equipment, heating and lighting, etc. have to be paid at the workers expense. Teleworking primarily benefits the organisation financially. It cuts the cost of resources (equipment, power, etc.) and expensive property, a substantial cost of running a business, allowing it to be invested elsewhere. Because business is not dependent on location, there is a much larger recruitment area, as workers can be employed who live many miles, or even time zones, away. The lack of centralisation also means the organisation itself is more flexible and not reliant on one locale. On the other hand, because the workers are not centralised, it is hard to maintain quality of work or ensure that workers do not go off on a tangent. The lack of supervision can decrease motivation, affecti ...