We explain what teleworking is, its modalities, advantages and disadvantages. In addition, we give you tips to make it more efficient.
What is teleworking?
Teleworking, also called remote work or e-work (from English electronic work“electronic work”), It is a type of employment in which a good part or all of the work activities are carried out in an environment other than the office through the Internet and other telecommunications technologies.
This is a work model typical of contemporary times and the 21st century, boosted by globalization and especially by the restrictions imposed during the Covid-19 pandemic that began at the end of 2019.
There is no single, universal description of teleworking, nor are there laws and considerations that apply to all forms of employment that can be considered within this category, which includes both self-employment (freelance) and work in a dependency relationship. In general, teleworking is included as any job that can be carried out through telecommunication technologies, whether it is telephone calls, videoconferences, online task managers, among others.
Thus, what previously seemed reserved for the dynamics of outsourcing or outsourcing in the business world, has become, thanks to an increasingly decentralized economy, an increasingly common employment option.
This is especially common among young professionals trained in the use of ICT, who seek to enhance their immediate benefits by working for first world companies and residing in third world countries. Also in startups and business models that do not have the resources or the need to rent premises or an office.
People who telework are usually called teleworkers.
See also: E-commerce
History of teleworking
The notion of teleworking is of contemporary origin: Its most distant antecedents date back to the 1980s and 1990s, when the Internet proved to be a revolutionary invention. Energy and ecological pressures, as well as new technological possibilities, allowed many of a company's work activities to be resolved through tools, then novel, such as email and network file transfer.
However, During the 2000s, internet teleworking was a booming sector especially in relation to social networks, platforms that created new business positions such as community manager either content managerspaces that also occupied digital natives. To this must be added the labor market inaugurated with the Internet, which made available to employers a set of professionals from emerging countries willing to work remotely for a salary that would be lower than what local workers demand.
In this context, The Covid-19 pandemic declared in 2020 and the confinement measures that accompanied it, highlighted the virtues of the digitalized work model. Thus, they gave a notable boost to telecommunications software and online work management tool companies.
Since then, teleworking not only became popular, but is even being considered a useful variable, especially in the case of people whose commute to the office is slow, expensive and laborious.
Teleworking modalities
Although there is no universal classification for teleworking modes, a distinction is usually made between:
- Interactive or real-time teleworking when the worker's terminal and the company's network have a direct and active connection, and the work is carried out within the established working time. For example, a simultaneous online translator over the Internet who receives through a streaming the audio that must be translated into another language.
- One-way teleworking when the worker's terminal is connected to the company's network, but there is no direct supervision over the work done, but rather the worker sends the tasks carried out to the company's system at his or her time and disposal. For example, a content writer uploads articles to a company database to be reviewed at a later time.
- Disconnected teleworking when there is no connection between the worker's terminal and the company, so that the work is carried out entirely under the responsibility of the worker, after receiving prior instructions, and in the end it is delivered to the company. For example, a designer who is commissioned to create a logo and only contacts the company when it is finished.
Advantages and disadvantages of teleworking
Like conventional work models, teleworking has advantages and disadvantages, which we can summarize as follows:
| Advantages of teleworking | Disadvantages of teleworking |
|---|---|
| The employee's travel costs and times are reduced, as well as the costs of renting spaces and paying for services by the employer. | The employee must have their own technological tools that are rarely covered by the employer, such as a computer and internet connection. |
| The employee usually has greater autonomy in managing his or her time and is in the comfort of his or her home or wherever he or she has available. | Decrease in the employee's physical activity (more sedentary life), feeling of isolation (reduction in social interaction) and greater difficulty separating work life from personal life. |
| Flexible working hours and reduction in work absenteeism. | Lower margins of control on the part of the company over the work carried out. |
| Greater possibility of employment for people with disabilities or from other geographic regions. | Lack of clear legislation and legal regulations in most countries. |
Teleworking and home office
It is known as home office (in English: “home office”) or work from home to the teleworking modality in which the worker does his or her work at home. This type of dynamic can be very comfortable for the worker, since they do not need to leave home to manage their work, but at the same time it can be isolating and can invade their personal sphere with work matters, or vice versa.
He home office It is distinguished from other forms of teleworking, such as the telecentre or coworking in which different teleworkers rent an office or a space within a collective office by the hour; and itinerant work, typical of workers who carry out their work in different places, while traveling or at the tables of cafes and bars in their city.
Tips for better teleworking
The challenges of teleworking can be faced in a better way if the teleworker pays attention to the following tips:
- Establish a work routine. One of the biggest risks of teleworking is that the hours dedicated to production are dispersed among those dedicated to daily life, which destructures the workday and undermines the worker's concentration. To remedy this, it is ideal to design a clearly differentiated workday, which always starts at the same time and has its own spaces: a desk or workspace, different clothes than those worn at home, etc.
- Invest in ergonomic furniture. Chairs and tables at home are not necessarily designed to be spent sitting for hours on end, and can therefore threaten posture and body health. For this reason, it is necessary to invest in a chair suitable for work, with lumbar support and armrests, which allows the spine to be properly positioned during the work day. The same goes for the rest of the furniture and lighting in the space.
- Control distractions. Since the home is an environment designed for rest and family life, it is common for distracting elements to abound. The same can happen when working in a cafe or bar. Therefore, it is important to control exposure to distractions that could make work time less efficient, and cause it to extend beyond what it should. Once the work day has started, other elements should remain in the background.
- Establish your own communication methods. Isolation, in the long run, is the biggest drawback that teleworking presents, which is why it is always important to have spaces for social interaction, both in the personal and work spheres. Video calls can be tiring and do not replace personal connection, so both employer and employee must make an extra effort to overcome distances and maintain a minimum of social interaction that allows workers to remain motivated at work.
Continue with: Workaholic
References
- “Teleworking” on Wikipedia.
- “Teleworking” in the Language Dictionary of the Royal Spanish Academy.
- “What is teleworking?” at Fundación Caminando Utopías (Argentina).
- “Everything you need to know about teleworking” in the Ministry of Information and Communications Technologies of Colombia.
- “What is teleworking?” (video) at CFG Global.
