Remote Control
Melissa Campanelli is a leading expert in small business e-tailing. She is also the co-author of several books on e-business, including Open an Online Business in 10 Days, as well as editor-in-chief of eM+C, eMarketing and Commerce, a Target Marketing Publication, which covers the world of e-commerce and e-marketing for traditional marketers.
By
Amanda C. Kooser
It's out with telecommuting and in with teleworking.
Teleworking encompasses employees who work from home and those on
the road. A late 2005 survey by the Telework Advisory Group for
WorldatWork and the Dieringer Research Group showed a
30 percent increase in the number of employee telecommuters alone
over the past year. Of 135.4 million American workers, 45.1 million
worked from home, and many worked from multiple locations,
including their cars and clients' sites.
A recent Gartner Inc. study shows that one factor in the growth
of teleworking is employee pressure to improve their effectiveness
and achieve a better work-life balance. Luckily, technological
advances have made it easier than ever to manage remote workers,
and growing businesses that hop on this trend can reap several
business benefits, including happier employees, reduced
environmental impact, and reasonable equipment and technology
costs.