It’s simple to understand the definition of telecommuting. It’s a way to have multiple employees collaboratively work from multiple locations from anywhere in the world. Small businesses are gaining tremendous benefits by implementing this strategy into their current business model.
Why is telecommuting so valuable to businesses? Well, it offers a number of different ways to run a business that were previously impossible. If a small business needs to hire part-time or temporary employees immediately, they can do so from a pool of specialized workers from around the world. And it’s easy to keep everybody working together through videoconferencing and other valuable online tools.
The United States government has recommended telecommuting long before it became popular. Now business owners are finally starting to catch on, and they see how valuable remote workers can truly be to their organization.
Are you considering telecommuting for your business? Here are a few of our favorite reasons why you should make the switch.
Worker Productivity Will Increase
Whether you know it or not, traditional in-house employees have a tendency to experience more distractions throughout the day. People working from home have the ability to invest more time on their job because they do not have to deal with all of the typical distractions that they would often experience in a regular office environment.
Plus, working from home also eliminates their daily commute. In many instances, this will save employees as much as 1 to 2 hours per day that they can productively use to complete their projects for your business.
According to a number of different surveys, telecommuting employees are more productive and happier than when they worked in a traditional office environment. Obviously, some employees need more supervision than others, so you’ll have to find the right virtual employees to meet your needs.
Utilizing Online Timesheets
Not only will you get more productivity out of your office workers when they telecommute, you’ll also be able to save money by utilizing on line timesheets.
From a cost savings perspective, online time tracking does much more than clock employee hours. You can set your system up to create valuable reports that will allow you to accurately bill your customers based on the amount of hours invested into a particular project.
As an example, let’s say you have five remote workers working on a specific project. You’ll set up a project using time management software and have your virtual employees log in their hours on a per project basis.
This gives you the ability to run a report and see how many hours each of the five remote workers spent on this project. First of all, learning the amount of time invested per employee will help you invoice your client accurately. It will also let you clearly see which employees struggled and which ones were capable of performing their tasks quickly and efficiently.
Physical Locations Are Never a Barrier When Telecommuting
The digital age is truly amazing. You never have to worry about being unable to reach your team members even if they live thousands of miles away. Obviously you’ll need access to the Internet – and who doesn’t have that at this point! You may also need videoconferencing software and other applications to help your business run smoothly.
At the end of the day, please know that it is easier than ever to get in touch with virtual employees whenever you need them. You can set up online meetings through Google Hangouts or GoToMeeting, access a telecommuting employee’s computer through GoToMyPC, and work on collaborative projects by sharing all of the necessary files through Google Drive.
Conclusion
Telecommuting truly has the power to revolutionize your business. Are you ready to take the plunge?
