Telecommuting, or working from home, is a work arrangement where eligible employees don’t travel to an office. Instead, they have a remote work location, such as their own home, and they rely on internet connectivity to be able to work.
While telecommuters are usually expected to show up in the office occasionally (in contrast to remote workers), this is typically more of an ad hoc arrangement with flexible scheduling than hybrid employees who work in the office on specified days of the week.
While the telecommuting trend has received some criticism in recent years, many of the employees and businesses that adopted telecommuting during the COVID-19 pandemic have continued to advocate for its use, citing benefits to their personal life, work-life balance and increased productivity.
Benefits of telecommuting for creating a positive work environment
Improved work-life balance
Many remote work employees find that they’re able to self-regulate when they work from home, meaning that they get greater control over the hours that they work and the times that they take their breaks.
This can bring a greater degree of freedom to your employees’ working day and help them feel as though they have more control over themselves than they would if they were commuting to the office every day. It also provides better accessibility, encouraging diversity sourcing.
In one poll, 78% of employees reported having a better work-life balance when they were allowed to work from home. This alone can help to recalibrate your workplace environment, placing employee welfare at the heart of your business culture.
People who telecommute also have more control over where they work, whether that be at home, in a privately-rented remote workspace, or even in a coffee shop. This provides even more freedom for those with remote work arrangements, helping them to structure their work life in a way that maximizes their productivity.
By moving to a telecommuting framework, your business would be sending a clear message to your employees that their well-being is crucial to the business’s success. This would provide a meaningful platform from which business owners and managers can create a positive work environment.
Increased productivity
Another aspect of a successful remote work strategy is increased productivity. 62% of remote workers feel more productive when working from home, and increased productivity can often help to encourage a positive work environment.
Increased productivity could be seen as a key indicator of a positive work environment—after all, one of the key aims of building a positive work environment is to find healthy and sustainable ways of increasing productivity.
This can become a self-reinforcing cycle, as happy employees are 12% more productive. Employers can look to use the benefits of telecommuting to make employees happier, which, in turn, improves productivity. This increase in productivity can then help make employees feel valued in the workplace, helping to further boost happiness.
Reduction in commuting
Finally, telecommuting reduces the daily commute. Depending on where and how employees commute, this daily journey can create stresses that are then transferred to the workplace.
Telecommuters are expected to occasionally turn up at the office. So, commuting won’t be totally eliminated, but the associated stresses will be significantly reduced.
Many businesses also implement hybrid telecommuting agreement models, where employees still commute to the office on predetermined days, limiting the effectiveness of this potential benefit.
Drawbacks of telecommuting
Now that we’ve looked at some of the broad benefits that telecommuting brings when it comes to creating a positive work environment, it’s time to look at some of the potentially negative impacts of telecommuting.
Visibility issues
One of the main issues that people who telecommute have when adapting to working from home is a reduction in visibility. Some employees find that the switch to remote work means that their employers don’t recognize their hard work as much as they once did.
Naturally, this presents a challenge, as remote work employees that feel as though they aren’t being recognized for their work are more likely to feel discontent with their employment. This will then have consequences for the workplace environment.
Communication challenges
Another issue related to the lack of visibility can be a reduction in communication that’s associated with telecommuting.
Since employees have less face-to-face contact with their managers and employers than those working in a traditional office environment, it’s possible that they feel more isolated when working from home.
This isolation is obviously unhelpful for businesses that are looking to create a positive work environment. So, employers need to take steps to ensure that remote staff feel as included as possible, such as by adopting a variety of communication channels.
Best practices for telecommuting
In this section, we’ll examine some best practices for reducing telecommuting’s negative impacts on the workplace environment.
Setting up a telecommuting position
One of the best ways to avoid potential issues with telecommuting is to set up dedicated telecommuting positions.
When posted to job boards, these positions should clearly state the telecommuting aspect of the role to prospective employees to avoid confusion and manage expectations from the outset.
Before advertising the role, it’s crucial that employers ensure that they have the infrastructure to make working from home possible. This includes:
- Virtual desktops
- Hardware, such as laptops, PCs, and monitors
- Technical support staff
- Instant messaging software
- Robust data protection procedures and systems
- A virtual phone system
If your business lacks the resources required to implement telecommuting properly, it should be avoided. This will create confusion and delays that will negatively impact productivity and the workplace environment.
Effective team management
Secondly, businesses need to ensure that they adjust their managerial outlook for telecommuting. Employees and managers will need to find ways of replicating the ease of communication and increased visibility that the office environment affords.
A good starting place would be to arrange for regular meetings—both for specific departments and teams, as well as for individual employees and their managers.
This is important, as it establishes a framework for regular communication and appraisals that brings structure and clarity to the work environment. It also provides a chance to enhance collaboration in the workplace.
As referenced above, effective team management will also require your business to ensure that it has the infrastructure to support telecommuting.
Employees will require access to project management software and communication tools in order to work effectively in telecommuting jobs.
Employers may also want to consider performance assessment software so that they can accurately determine the productivity of telecommuters.
There are several solutions to this, with some proving to be more controversial than others (notably mouse monitoring and keylogging software). But a good place to start would be CRM software that logs employee activity.
The future of telecommuting
Overall, telecommuting offers some key advantages to businesses that are looking to create a better workplace environment.
While there are communication and visibility challenges that are associated with the practice, good planning, preparation, and clear communication can help your business mitigate these issues.
Telecommuting can provide employees with greater freedom, a better work-life balance, and the opportunity for increased productivity, enabling businesses to prioritize employee satisfaction in revolutionary ways.
Broadly speaking, the trend toward telecommuting seems to have stabilized, and that doesn’t look to be changing anytime soon.
That said, some business leaders, such as Reed Hastings, the CEO of Netflix, have been critical of the shift toward telecommuting and remote work.
So, it’s possible that hybrid models will gain further popularity as employers try to retain some of the benefits of the traditional office environment.
Telecommuting FAQs
How can a business successfully shift from a traditional office environment to telecommuting?
As mentioned in the best practices section, it’s essential to get your IT infrastructure and communication channels up to scratch. If you don’t have the appropriate services and technology to support a remote team, you may find that your workplace becomes chaotic during the transition.
It’s also crucial that you clearly communicate potential changes to employees and offer as much flexibility as you can. Some employees may not be pleased with the transition, so if you do have the option to retain traditional office space, prioritize its availability for these employees.
What are the differences between remote employees, hybrid employees, and telecommuters?
Distinguishing between these models can be tricky. However, the easiest way to think about it is that remote workers are generally not expected to show up at the office, whereas telecommuters are expected to show up occasionally on a more ad hoc basis.
On the other hand, hybrid employees are expected to be in the office on prearranged days. They usually work from home on the same days every week. For example, a hybrid worker may work from home three days a week and from the office on the other two days.
How should I raise the question of telecommuting to my employer?
The main thing to remember when enquiring about the possibility of telecommuting with your employer is effective communication. It’s a good idea to clearly state some of the benefits that telecommuting would have on your productivity so that you can have an open conversation.
It’s also important to remember that businesses need to undertake significant planning in order to accommodate telecommuting. Also, keep in mind that your employer isn’t obliged to offer telecommuting unless it was advertised as a part of your role when you applied.
Originally published Jun 11, 2025
