The engine revved as my ancient Civic struggled up the airport end of the Arthur Lang bridge, the worn-out valves popping and clattering not unlike the sound of a coffee grinder in a vain attempt to keep up with traffic. I tried not to notice the newer, healthy cars surging past me and the dirty looks and curses of morning commuters for having delayed their daily pilgramage to officeland by the seconds it took to change lanes and go around my frail old car.
The wastefulness of the morning commute struck me. All these cars roar along choked corridors to get their single occupant to the cube farm on time, while burning vast amounts of fuel and spewing pollutants. And consider the resources and energy spent building thousands — millions — of cars that make the same trip twice a day all across the country. It’s an obscene waste. And none of it is the least bit necessary.
Having spent the last five years working from the remote location of my desk at home, I can assure you that there is no reason why office workers can’t be productive remotely. Using secure software for remote access to the company’s servers and a reasonably fast Internet connection, anyone can be virtually present at the office. Add to that virtual presence an instant messaging and VoIP application, then workers can be available for meetings, presentations, and even casual watercooler chat.
This kind of virtual presence is something that any Second Lifer well knows already. In a world created collaboratively by individuals spread all over the globe, working remotely in environments like Second Life becomes second nature. From our living rooms and home offices, we meet, chat, organize, build. And even though Second Life itself doesn’t lend itself to practical aspects of the workplace, like sharing documents, other software exists that allows exactly that.
So where is the telecommuting revolution that tech pundits promised a decade ago? Why are we still engaging in the wasteful, destructive daily migration to the office towers downtown? What is the resistance?
To employers, it would seem to be a no-brainer. Remote workers don’t use up costly office space and resources. There are no on-site insurance issues. You don’t need to spend money on meals when they work late.
I think in the end it comes down to trust, or a lack thereof. Employers feel the need to keep a watchful eye on their employees when productivity is measured in keystrokes per minute, not in the quality and volume of daily output. If workers aren’t seated in their cubicle and clattering out words at their keyboards, then they simply aren’t working. Part of the resistance on the management’s part is purely emotional, I imagine. Decentralization means a loss of direct control over the minute-to-minute activities of their subordinates. And that means no more leaning on the cubicle wall, coffee mug in hand, with a personal reminder to put the cover sheet on the TPS report.
Somehow, this negative perception needs to change to follow the example of Second Life. Businesses need to change from a centralized, cubicle farm model to a decentralized, remote model. Office workers needn’t be enclosed in a grey stall to work productively. In fact, as I can attest, working from a home office reduces stress, which in turn improves productivity, creativity, and output.
Until the telecommuting revolution arrives, however, I’ll be bumper-to-bumper with the hordes of fellow cubicle dwellers.
Related links:
- The quiet revolution: telecommuting (MSNBC)
- Telecommuting revolution (ZNet)
What’s the single most common question that aircraft makers ask me about the Terra Combat System? “Does it do bombs and missiles?”