What’s Inhibiting Telecommuting?

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• • Accelerating Economic Growth through Advanced Telecommunications Infrastructure Considerations for Community Leadership – November 2010 Background As information and communications technologies have swept across the globe, the economic impact affects every community throughout the United States. Not only has this revolution accelerated the growth in the information economy but also it has facilitated the rapid transfer of American jobs to other countries. As America struggles to find its policy footings regarding these swiftly advancing services and technologies, fundamental changes to social and economic structures are well underway. As a ‘new’ infrastructure, relative to transportation, telecommunications planning and implementation is left primarily to commercial service providers with little involvement from community leaders and planners relative to creating a community co-operative needs assessment or vision. In most instances, public leaders lack the experience and expertise to facilitate telecommunications infrastructure innovation in their communities. The pace of globalization and corporate access to foreign labor has increased the likelihood that the private sector will invest more heavily in developing economies than here in the United States. Employers used to provide a level of assurance to employees for continued job security, medical coverage and on-going education, leaders and planners are now finding those assurances are falling more directly on the communities themselves. There is a general understanding that something must be done to advance telecommunications infrastructure throughout the United States and that a correlation exists between advanced telecommunications infrastructure and economic gain. Our initial efforts have focused on the general notion that ‘more connections’ and ‘faster speed’ will achieve positive economic benefits and that universality is the cornerstone of our initiatives. In essence, this ‘shotgun’ approach will yield some results but may not be the only effective approach to marshal the full potential of telecommunications resources. Transportation Predilection It’s about ACCESS – “Accessibility is a key ingredient of well-being and prosperity in contemporary societies. The ability of individuals, families, entrepreneurs and firms to exchange goods and services, to be where activities are being carried out, and to interact with people on a regular basis is crucial not only to economic life but also to the quality of life. With the growth of economic and social networks over the course of the past two centuries and the spatial dispersion of activities, transportation has become the backbone of accessibility systems. It is also a crucial part of economic growth and social interaction in most countries. Unfortunately, the adverse effects of transportation have a greater impact on the natural and human environment than two other important mechanisms for providing access: proximity and telecommunications. ” - AIR POLLUTION FROM GROUND TRANSPORTATION, United Nations and World Bank – 2002 Transportation (mobility) is the predominant focus of community discussions around infrastructure and access. The time, money, and energy devoted to this method of access dwarfs any discussion (if any exist) regarding telecommunications infrastructure. It is only natural that transportation is a more formalized and familiar focus of leaders and planners while telecommunications is somewhat a mystery and therefore fraught with uncertainty and reluctance. Our reliance and experience with transportation bridges centuries and the industrial economy required all the tools of productivity be brought to a single location. More recently, information technologies have evolved rapidly and the nature of work has become more information focused. The shifting population densities in our major extended metropolitan areas and our substantial reliance on gasoline, have demonstrated that transportation alone is an expensive and losing proposition as the predominant method of access. Given the rising relevance and increasing capabilities of information technologies in our economy, leaders and planners will need to consider expanding alternative approaches. Finding a balance of methods of access might yield more timely and effective relief on congested highways. Community Needs Every community requires a core set of elements to be viable in today’s economy including: 1) Jobs and job access, 2) Education at all levels, 3) Medical Services and 4) Government and public services including emergency services. Jobs and job access - Communities have long relied on the approach of attracting jobs by attracting employers – one at a time. This has pitted neighboring communities against one another and, in many instances, the reliance on one or several major employers, has been devastating when the employer moves, is acquired, or goes out of business. As jobs move, so do people. Moreover, given the current weakness in the housing market, this has become more problematic. The changing nature of work in America, shifting from a manufacturing to an information economy, has underscored the relevant role of telecommunications infrastructure in re-engineering our economies. Education – Access to all levels of quality and affordable education has become more fundamental to our economy and society. We no longer accept that education stops at high school graduation or even college level degrees but rather that education is an ongoing necessity for sustainability and growth. We must recognize that advanced telecommunications infrastructures are a critical component to our success. Medical Services – As the need for medical services increases relative to America’s aging demographics and the expense of services continue to increase, timely access to quality medical services can be greatly enhanced through telemedicine, and remote clinic services to a greater number of communities. Government and public services – As community revenues have fallen, leaders are pressed to find more cost effective approaches to informing the public and responding to their needs. Likewise, emergency services are pressed to do more with less and must find more efficient methods to respond. Once again, telecommunications has a central role to play. Telecommunications as Infrastructure In order to maximize and effectively influence information and communications technologies investments, it is important to recognize the infrastructure character of telecommunications and its unique properties. As with any infrastructure, telecommunications is best leveraged when we assess aggregated demands AND opportunities. Infrastructure requires economies of scale that are best achieved by integrating the multiple needs of a community rather than pursuing redundant initiatives. In addition, the inherent characteristic of telecommunications infrastructure to disseminate information and connect geographically dispersed users and sources of information requires communities to ascertain collective opportunities to coordinate innovative and advanced telecommunications programs. Broadband technologies and the internet are, perhaps, the most transformative and dramatic manifestations of information and telecommunications technologies to date. And, while these have propelled tremendous upheaval in globalization, little has been done to establish formal creation of community plans. Certainly, some communities have ventured into municipal access activities but, for the most part, this is a ‘if you build it, they will come’ conviction. The drawback to these events is that further investigation and experimentation has been limited in applying innovative methodologies to the issues of economic growth and sustainability in American communities. We must also be aware that the foundations of the internet market and matters of public good and public policy are all in a precipitous state of flux. Additionally, issues regarding affordable high-speed universal access, network neutrality, privacy, and security are significant concerns. Focused Approach "It is adaptive rather than allocative efficiency which is the key to long run growth. Successful political/economic systems have evolved flexible institutional structures that can survive the shocks and changes that are a part of successful evolution. But these systems have been a product of long gestation. We do not know how to create adaptive efficiency in the short run." - -- Douglass C. North, Economic Performance Through Time - 1993 Economics Nobel Prize lecture As with any new set of tools, we must understand their intrinsic characteristics and appreciate how we might best utilize them for a given outcome. Adapting tools to the way we behave is not the same as adapting our behaviors to the characteristics of these new tools. Inevitably, we do both. Assessing aggregate community demands and understanding telecommunications as infrastructure might provide an expanded horizon how a more focused approach could enhance the economic competitiveness and sustainability of our communities. This is the basis for the distributed workplace model. Distributed workplace is a community work model. A network of strategically based work centers, distributed workplace is a higher order model than today’s teleworking approaches. These work centers contain multiple suites with each suite dedicated to 15-50 employees from one company or agency. With a dozen or more tenant organizations, each work center supports 500 to 1000 employees. Each work center is connected to other work centers and employers’ locations using dedicated, secure broadband technologies. By creating economies of scale, a central support technical staff provides infrastructure, training, and security to the various work center clients. Employees will have the capability to work for major business and government employers around the metropolitan or regional area from a networked work center located in their communities. These strategic office networks will achieve economies of scale and create a secure, scalable platform for rapid geographic expansion to other suburban and rural communities providing residents local access to jobs. In addition, there are economic incentives to develop distributed work centers extending employments opportunities to part-time working parents, students, and individuals with disabilities. Locating work centers in local communities puts underutilized commercial real estate to work and will improve employee productivity and employers' abilities to attract and retain quality employees. Localizing jobs more easily offers employment opportunities to part-time working parents, students and those with disabilities. Distributed workplace is a permanent deployment of employees, which produces measurable and predictable reduction in transportation congestion while immediately converting gasoline dollars into ‘local economy’ dollars. Furthermore, this new approach begins to provide a higher-level security for data, systems, and employees than current methods. The architecture for distributed workplace networks and community-based centers is designed to integrate the other essential building blocks of distance learning, telemedicine, day care and after school programs, government services, and emergency preparedness based upon the needs of each community. Creation of these networked centers not only enhances access to existing jobs but also creates new technology jobs to support this infrastructure. The multi-location, distributed workplace model takes advantage of the changing nature of work and balances deployment with security and management oversight while enhancing economic growth and competitiveness. Michael B. Shear, Founder of Strategic Office Networks (formerly POCKETS Distributed Workplace Alternative), and of the non-profit Broadband Planning Initiative has almost 3 decades experience in bringing new technologies and services to market. Mr. Shear has earned a BA in International Affairs and a MS in Telecommunications from the University of Colorado. From 1993 through 1998, Mr. Shear was a key leader in the product definition and market creation of national directory assistance in the U.S, dramatically changing the nationwide directory information services market. In 1999, Mr. Shear turned his attentions to identifying how information technologies may better reduce congestion and stimulate economic growth while improving employee productivity and work–life balance. The result is patented multi-location, strategic office network distributed workplace initiative unique in both scope and depth. He may be contacted at mshear@pocketsnet.com (www.pocketsnet.com) BENEFITS OF NETWORKED COMMUNITY HUBS
  • Michael Shear
  • July 4, 2011
• • Let me add a thought about "the other side of the coin." Many workers feel that telecommuting puts them in a position of being "out of sight and out of mind." The demand may not be there because of a real or perceived threat of either job loss or loss of opportunity for advancement. In the atmosphere of "do more with less," many workers crave face-time in the belief that it helps them keep their job.
  • Bill Welter
  • July 6, 2011
• • It's all about empowering your employees to to heir job and that they will. Add measurable accountability on top of that, that both parties agree on, and you have a successful process.
  • John Welsh welsh
  • July 7, 2011
• • In 2009, I did over $1B in total project cost proposals. Hundreds of millions of dollars of total projects have launched in the last few years and I've helped raise tens of millions in grant funding an more in private capital. Imagine how much more I could do in a good economy. I've never met or seen my "boss." My expenses for business development are far higher than my costs of being a remote resource for other companies. Since I do some work for other companies and some work in business development, I many not be a traditional telecommuter. As more and more of our business becomes electronic, I have less and less reasons to travel (still have to travel some for new business development - different group).
  • Tarkus
  • July 11, 2011
• • There are positive aspects of being part of a "work family" - provided, of course, that it's not a dysfunctional family. People are wired to be part of a community - it's how we evolved as hunter-gatherers. Communities include some people that we like, and want to spend time with, some people we don't like, and people to whom we are indifferent. This is human nature and being part of a community of other humans. An office can be a healthy stimulating environment. Working alone, at home, with little to no personal interaction is not necessarily mentally healthy. People need personal interaction with other people.
  • Max
  • August 4, 2011
• • I used to work for a non-profit organization that operated via virtual offices (from home), mostly to save on cost and eventually more money went into programming. Communication was key. Yes, there were phone calls, video conferences and face-to face meetings but the bottom line is to not have a micro-management approach. I believe everyone suffers then...of course, trust is important but if the work is getting done, there should be no doubt. And, if there's doubt when work is getting done then its the management not the worker. If telecommuting is something that will enhance productivity, effectiveness, creativity and overall job satisfaction then its a no-brainer...do it!
  • Carmen B.
  • August 5, 2011