Does telework increase or decrease productivity

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Does telework increase or decrease productivity
Reginald Weatherton
Colorado State University Global
ORG575-1 – Critical Evaluation of Research and Theory
Dr. John Johnson
March 28, 2021

Does telework increase or decrease productivity
           Teleworking, better known as working from home, refers to employees’ ability to work remotely away from the organization’s offices. With the help of modern technology, most organizations have made it easier for employees to work from home. Although the workers have the freedom to work away from the offices, teleworking gives the employer the mandate to keep in touch with them. The majority of employees prefer working from home because they do not have to commute to work early in the morning and home late in the evening. According to Vyas & Butakhieo (2021), the majority of companies, towards the end of the year 2020, introduced the option of employees working from home. Some companies offered the employees the mechanism to facilitate the option of working from home. However, some companies never bothered to offer employees the latest technology to assist in working remotely. Many employees across the globe encounter difficulty when it comes to communicating with colleagues and senior management. Poor internet connectivity in remote areas has caused employees to lose their jobs, as most companies do not offer technical solutions regarding telecommuting says Ansong & Boateng (2018). The inability to receive and send messages faster contributes to miscommunication with coworkers, affecting the overall productivity and level of efficiency within the organization. The question of whether telework increases or decreases productivity will be the focus of discussion in the paper.
           Although telecommuting has become popular in current organizations by allowing employees to work remotely, a key challenge to both employees and organizations is strong internet connectivity. The majority of the organization, due to covid-19, have forced employees to work from home to help reduce the spread of the virus. Internet connectivity has become a significant setback to working from home. Each organization requires team meetings to update employees on the current affairs pertaining to the organization’s progress (Ansong & Boateng). Senior leadership utilizes meetings to communicate and update various staff members on attaining the organization’s vision and mission. Lack of a strong internet connection affects the nature in which companies hold meetings as some employees remain dormant in all meetings. Workers living in rural areas face low internet speeds and weak internet connectivity, making it almost impossible for them to attend meetings effectively. Subsequently, as pointed out by Vyas & Butakhieo (2021) some employees live in rural areas that lack WI-FI connectivity. Organizations ought to solve the issue of internet connectivity by offering employees mobile data. The mobile data will help employees in using a mobile hotspot to access the internet via laptops. Organizations might occasionally arrange physical meetings to ensure that all employees participate in developing objectives and strategies to help the organization attain its mission and vision.     
           Various challenges arise with employees working from home during the lockdown caused by the covid-19 pandemic, says Chang (2020). One key challenge facing organizations during teleworking of employees is that some organizations require employees to use specific applications on laptops and desktops. According to Lee (2015) employees consistently report to work during normal working conditions and find a readymade laptop or desktop that is functional . The information technology team constantly works to maintain and repair computers to ensure they function properly and make it smooth for the rest of the employees to work without challenges. However, working at home implies that each employee has to utilize the laptop and desktop. Some of the electronic devices used by workers at home lack the capability to function with the organizational software and applications.
           Most employees lack information concerning the correct operating system needed for the company’s software to function without any challenges. For instance, the majority of the organizations utilize computers that have Microsoft-related software, but not all laptops come with such applications, says Susanto(2019). Some employees might have laptops with different operating systems, making it almost impossible for them to work from home. Organizations need to invest in a long-term solution in delivering laptops that have installed software needed for daily task functions. Companies can solve the challenge by giving laptops to employees and possibly deducting the amount from salaries (Chang 1). Alternatively, the company can offer the employees online access to sites that workers can download the required applications and software.    
           Another challenge that employees and the organization might encounter during teleworking is the number of disruptions, especially for parents working from home. Working from home becomes a significant challenge to parents because of the lack of the ability to differentiate between work and home duties and routines (Vries, Tummers & Bekkers 2021). Parents lack the ability to deny attention to the children back at home that might require help during the day. Working from the office helps parents avoid disruptions from other family members. However, during the covid-19 pandemic lockdown, parents and children are staying at home. Some children attended classes using the online learning platform, while some parents continued working from home (Susanto et.al 2019).
           The majority of the parents face a difficult time separating home duties from the assigned work tasks. Over the previous two years, employees have lost their jobs because of attending meetings late with the excuse of having to deal with family matters. Some family members attend meetings while having children playing in the background of the camera in applications such as Zoom and Skype (Lee 2015). A solution to parents’ home-related distractions is for them to employ someone to help in running the house choirs while they work from home in peace. Additionally, parents should consider creating an office in the house that has limited movement. The office door back at home could have a sign to indicate the working hours and do not disturb sign during meetings to keep the children away during these times. The distractions that employees face while working at home make it difficult for organizations to count each worker’s number of working hours per day. The organization’s inability to measure the number of hours as well as input effort by employees makes it a challenge, especially during calculations of payment (Vries, Tummers & Bekkers, 2019)

References

Ansong, Eric, & Boateng, Richard. Organisational adoption of telecommuting: Evidence from a developing country. E J Info Sys Dev Countries. 2018; 84:e12008. https://doi.org/10.1002/isd2.12008
Chang, Yuhsuan et al. “Telecommuting during the coronavirus pandemic: Future time orientation as a mediator between proactive coping and perceived work productivity in two cultural samples.” Personality and individual differences vol. 171 (2021): 110508. doi:10.1016/j.paid.2020.110508
Lee, Jungwoo. The Impact of ICT on Work. Springer, 2015.
Susanto, Heru et. al. Human Capital in Today’s Globalization: A Management Information System Perspective. Apple Academic Press, 2019.
Vries, Hanna, Tummers, Lars & Bekkers, Victor. “The Benefits of Teleworking in the Public Sector: Reality or Rhetoric?” Review of Public Personnel Administration, vol. 39, no. 4, Dec. 2019, pp. 570–593, doi:10.1177/0734371X18760124.
Vyas, Lina & Butakhieo, Nantapong. The impact of working from home during COVID-19 on work and life domains: an exploratory study on Hong Kong. Journal of policy design and practice, (4), 1, 2021.