Making Telecommuting Work
Amy Barrett checks in on the growing acceptance of telecommuting, noting, for instance, a 2008 study which found that  “telecommuting and flexible schedules were the third most important incentives when attracting new hires.” The piece goes on to offer tips for companies considering telecommuting, e.g.,: “Whether you’ve got one employee who wants to work from home or you’d like to get several out of the office to save on real estate, first draw up a telecommuting policy. Otherwise, those who are office-bound may suspect favoritism or discrimination.”

10 Ways to convince your boss to let you work from home
Susan Harkins provides tips for those on the other side of the equation: the employees who are lobbying to be allowed to telecommute: “There may be dozens of reasons why telecommuting makes sense for you. But to make your case with management, you need a list of reasons that make sense for the business…” A few of the selling points Harkins suggests you use with your employer: “Your place is cheaper than theirs; your productivity will increase; and employee retention will go up.”

Federal employees lack tools for mobile work, study finds
NetworkWorld’s Ann Bednarz reports on a study, sponsored by Telework Exchange, that indicates that while “federal employees are becoming more mobile… government agencies are missing opportunities to improve employees’ productivity when they’re working outside the office.” Some of the data: “Eighty-two percent of federal employees spend work time outside of the office each month, [and] among those, 42% telework at least part time and 20% spend at least a portion of two days per week outside of the office. In addition, 80% of mobile employees say they spend at least 20% more time working outside of the office.”

The Irish flunk at e-working
“In the decade or more since Irish executives have been encouraged to work from home to cut down on travel, help the environment and achieve a work-life balance, it seems we are among the worst in Europe when it comes to teleworking…” So starts this article which cites a recent study which found that “only 2pc of Irish executives telework at least one day a week, compared with 21pc of their counterparts on the European continent.” The piece goes on to theorize why Ireland may be slow to adopt teleworking.

Home is where the heart of our future economy is, and we should support it
Michelle Rodgers champions, in a UK-focused piece, home-based businesses, saying, “The potential to grow a global operation from a home office with a small workforce is immense. With a focus on working with partners rather then employing personnel, and on turnover as opposed to headcount, these home businesses are quite simply redefining our perceptions of growth.” The piece pulls together data from several recent studies, including one that suggested that such business owners are more hopeful about weathering the current economic crisis, and urges policy makers to work to better understand and support these ventures.

The Paper Diet: 30 Tips for Home and Office
Michael Bloch enumerates the many ways we can cut back on our paper usage. As he points out: “The pulp and paper industry consumes the most water of all industries in OECD countries - and is one of the biggest industrial greenhouse gas emitters. Aside from the wood, water and energy consumed; chemical processes involved with the creation of many types of paper products generate toxic by-products that wreak tremendous damage on the environment - the land, water and air.”

Not dead, just resting
The Economist weighs in on the paper usage issue in a discussion of how discredited technologies can be unexpectedly resurrected. As the article points out, since the dawn of the computer age there’s been talk - a “techno-Utopian prophecy” - of a “paperless” office. Problem is it didn’t happen. “What actually happened was that global consumption of office paper more than doubled in the last two decades of the 20th century.” And yet, picking up the on premise of the article, “the prediction seems to be coming true at last. American office workers’ use of paper has actually been in decline since 2001. What changed? The explanation seems to be sociological rather than technological…”

The Office of 2015
Catherine Rankin Harper imagines the office of the future: “With such emphasis on developing technology to enhance portability and mobile communication, it seems a very real possibility that the office of 2015 may be a table at your local coffee shop, the sofa in your front room or even seat 1A on a jet somewhere over the Atlantic.”