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Exploitable results
Teleworking - working remotely from an office - is said to have many benefits for organisations, the environment and society. It provokes mixed reactions from its acolytes and those that experience it first-hand.
Whether you like it or not, it is true to say that work is no longer dependent on geography and this opens up a range of opportunities for working in new ways and environments. Indeed the Bonn-based Empirica estimates the number of teleworkers in Europe has doubled in the past three years to 20 million.
Previous research has shown that telework can make a substantial contribution to the three pillars of sustainable development identified at the Gothenburg summit of 2001 - the economy, society and environment.
It can assist economic development, for example, through increasing staff productivity and enabling better use of office space. It can assist the social objectives of sustainable development by, for example, balancing work with family life, or by providing work opportunities to those who might otherwise be excluded, such as the disabled or people looking after children or elderly relatives. And it can be environmentally friendly, reducing commuting to and from work.
When studying the sustainability of using new technologies it is important to clarify what is being 'sustained', for how long, for whose benefit and at who's cost, over what area, and measured by what criteria?
The European Commission's IST project SUSTEL, led by Professor Peter James of the SustainIT unit of the UK Centre for Environment and Economic Development (UKCEED) was set up to undertake a comprehensive assessment of the relationship between teleworking and sustainable development.
Using a newly developed sustainability assessment framework based on the UN and Global Reporting Initiative models, the team (many of them teleworkers themselves) gathered data on 27 key research questions about the three pillars of telework.
Understanding the economic benefits
"This research has increased the amount of hard data on the economic benefits of teleworking. The surveys and many of the cases provide solid evidence of improved work performance," reports Professor James. There was, not only, increased productivity but also "a better quality of work. For example, teleworkers tend to make fewer mistakes, and approach their work more creatively."
The surveys show "that the productivity increase is not primarily because of longer working hours (as is sometimes suggested). Although prevalent, working more is just one of a number of influencing factors, and not the most important."
An unusual comparison of the performance of teleworkers with a closely matched control group of non-teleworkers found that not only was productivity higher, but also that absenteeism and error rates were lower.
Two other areas where SUSTEL has added to the economic impact knowledge base is its effect on absenteeism and space utilisation.
In the case of absenteeism, over 60 per cent of those surveyed stated that telework had enabled them to work when they were prevented from reaching a work location (usually through illness or transport problems). Around half the cases also identified substantial reductions in space requirements - to the point where one organisation had completely done away with a central office.
However, large space reductions seem to require a transition from relatively ad hoc forms of teleworking to a 'total solution' which involves staff giving up dedicated office space and working at a combination of home, hot desks and 'on the road'. In practice, few organisations have yet made this transition.
Teleworking and transport
The project also examined the total transport impacts of teleworking. Previous US research has suggested that much of the reduction in commuting travel from teleworking is eroded by additional travel. One suggested reason is that, because an extra car is now available at home during the day, extra journeys are undertaken by teleworkers themselves or other household members.
The survey found that additional travel varied between 14 per cent of the commuting reduction in Italy, 19 per cent in Germany, 24-25 per cent in the UK and 73 per cent in Denmark. One explanation of the high Danish figure may be the much higher proportion of women in the organisation's workforce, who had a higher level of transport connected with childcare and other domestic duties.
The figures therefore show that teleworking can reduce total travel substantially but that additional travel is significant and can in certain cases erode most of the benefit.
The social impact of telework
Socially, the SUSTEL research found that most survey respondents felt that teleworking gave them a better quality of life and work-life balance. Many also reported health benefits. A significant number also stated that they were using local services more and becoming more involved in their local communities.
The loss of teamwork and team spirit within teleworking populations was tackled through ideas such as Oracle's 'FUNctional' offices. Designed to increase communication and interaction when people are at the office, they are bright, and focused around a central café to stimulate ideas and face-to-face contact.
The finding that many teleworkers report both longer working hours and better quality of life is paradoxical. More time working is usually associated with increased stress, domestic tension and other factors that reduce quality of life.
One possible explanation is that, for many individuals, their increased working hours will be less than the time they have saved in commuting. Hence, they still have more time available for family and other activities. For some, the stress associated with commuting (especially for long distances) may be less than that arising from additional working time. Perhaps most significantly, teleworking can in effect create time through opportunities for multi-tasking or greater control of activities. As one survey respondent noted, "Although the amount of time has not changed it has made the weekends freer, as domestic activities can be fitted in during lunchtimes or early morning."
Of course, teleworking does not constitute a job in itself, only a method of working - individuals still need to have the expertise and skills to bring to their work. However, in order to help companies find this 'best method', the next stage of the SUSTEL project involves using the research materials to create an online business tool. This will provide organisations with a quick 'health check' to assess the economic, environmental and social impacts of their teleworking scheme, and provide ideas on how it can be improved. It should be online by early autumn.
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