Teleworking can cut cost and boost productivity

T. Sima Gunawan, Contributor, Jakarta

It is a serious meeting. Participants work hard to find ways to improve company performance, and sometimes they argue fiercely against each other. It is like any other meeting. What makes it different is that the participants are not situated in the same room. They are in different places - even in different countries.

Teleconferencing is not new here. In 2002, the Central Jakarta District Court even held a videoconference in the corruption trial of then Golkar leader and House speaker Akbar Tanjung in order to hear testimony from former president BJ Habibie, who was in Germany.

Technology helps people communicate with each other throughout the world. With the Internet, facsimiles and telephones -- especially cell phones -- distance is no longer a problem, allowing anyone to work from wherever they are.

Teleworking reduces costs and can boost productivity.

"We have been using the system for years. It is very efficient," Endang Rachmawati, director of enterprise solutions at Nortel, said.

She can work from home, and when someone calls her extension number at the office, she can pick it up from her computer. So, she might even talk to a client in her pajamas, with the later completely unaware that she is not in the office.

"Teleworking is good because I don't have to stay until late at the office. I can go home after office hours and spend some time with my children," she said. "The bad thing is that I might have to work at weird hours, anytime, and I don't have any excuse not to have the work done..."

Unlike Endang, who still has to come into the office everyday, there are telecommuters who mostly work at home and go to the office only occasionally. They include computer programmers, web designers, writers, translators, consultants and marketers.

Many professionals run their own businesses at home. Those who need to have a prestigious address can rent a virtual office or a mailbox that are available for relatively low prices. The services generally offered by serviced offices includes the assistance of a professional secretary who is always ready to take calls, and access to a lounge or meeting room where tenants can meet clients.

Teleworking has been a trend in developed countries since the mid 1990s. In the United States, many employees began to telecommute due to bad weather, forced them to stay at home. There are also companies who allow their employees to work from home because of family commitments. Other companies promote "virtual work" in order to reduce costs, with office space being quite expensive.

Surveys show that even though employees may not work at the office, they remain productive. In the beginning, companies need to allocate funds to buy equipment such as laptops for employees. But it turns out to be a good investment that brings many advantages to the company.

Himawan Wijanarko, general manager of strategic services, Jakarta Consulting, however, observes that most telecommuters in Indonesia are freelancers, temporary employees or semi-permanent employees.

"Take the example of marketing employees in an insurance company or a cosmetics manufacturer. They do not have to come to the office everyday. What's important is that they can achieve sales targets," he said.

Companies are often reluctant to have "virtual employees" as permanent employees because they are accustomed to seeing workers physically.

"If they can hire employees who are willing to work full time in the office everyday, they think: 'Why should we hire virtual employees?'," said Himawan.

Discipline is another factor, he added. People prefer to have their staff in an office so that they can keep an eye on them, especially as many Indonesians are considered to be ill disciplined and in need of supervision.

Juni Kuntari, an associate partner at the Asia Resources Operating Group, observes that as an archipelago, Indonesia with its many global industries would surely obtain benefits from teleworking. A distance is not really a problem.

"But it should be noted that teleworking needs proper infrastructure, which is still a problem for many areas in this country.

"Communication networks that are unstable and poor infrastructure generally will pose problems for such working mechanisms," said Juni, who was herself facing a technical problem regarding the computer server in her office.

The lack of human interaction among teleworkers, she added, might result in then not having a sense of belonging within the company, so this issue needs to be addressed.

Despite the potential negative impacts, virtual work obviously has many advantages, not only for employees but also for employers. Companies will clearly save a lot of money by not having to rent expensive working space, and employee transportation costs are eliminated.

As for employees, they will certainly be happier for not having to spend hours every day stuck in chronic traffic jams. They can work more efficiently and become more productive. They will also be able to better balance their professional life and personal life, with more time for family and socializing.

However, virtual work is definitely not for unmotivated people. No matter where they are - be it in the bedroom, at a restaurant, or in a car, virtual professionals are always ready to work.