I am not one to spend a lot of time talking about “going Green” here on Home Office Warrior. To be honest, I think there are some who do the “Green” post and even start “Green” blogs for the sole reason of taking advantage of a popular topic and niche. And please understand, I see no problem with that. In fact, we are in the process of the initial planning phase of our own “Green” blog too.

What really got me to thinking about all of this was a recent article which predicts $7 gas in two years. And what that possibility really means for those commuting to work every single day. My commute takes me a matter of seconds. I only have to walk down the stairs to my basement office. No driving, no paying for gas, no wear and tear on my car. And, for those concerned about the “Green” factor, no carbon signature either.

Why is it that employers are not stepping back and looking at what their employees are facing with the cost gas and commuting to and from work? Is it the fact the employers are not having to pay out of their own pocket for the cost of the commute? Forgot about the politics. Forgot about the “Green” factor. Lets look at the economic impact only. I really think that is key in all of this. If the employers were actually facing first hand the economic consequences of $7.00 gas, they might just see how telecommuting or teleworking would benefit them too.

Let me be one of the first to say, whether employers believe it or not, $7.00 gas, even $4.00 gas will have a significant economic impact on their own pocket books. Just for a moment, lets step back and look at this from an economic view only. Each day the price of gas increases, the employees commuting to and from work see their take home pay decrease. Not that the employers are withholding the cost of gas out of their check each pay period. But, the impact is the same. The employees are having to fill their gas tanks up just as often, but at a higher and higher cost each day. Their actual disposal income is decrease right along with the increase in the cost of commuting.

How does this have an economic consequence on employers you ask. Easy, what is the one BIG distraction most of us have each and every day. Money, right? And if I was driving to and from work each and every day of my work week. Spending god knows how much on gas. And seeing my actual disposal income decrease right along with the increase in the cost of commuting, I would venture to guess I would be very distracted. Not only at home, but at work.

If employees are so distracted about money and having enough to buy those things they need, won’t that affect their productivity? I can not see how it won’t. To that end, the solution is easy as far as I am concerned. While I agree, working from home is not for everyone, nor every employer. However, if your office is made up of mainly those who work from a desk some of the time. Or travel from the office. Why not provide them the option of working from their home? Telecommuting and teleworking just makes sense. No longer will the employee be worried about the cost of gas and in turn be distracted at work and not get their work done. It has already been proven more than once that those workers who work from home actually get just as much or more done. And employees who work from home can work when they are the most productive.

Not only will workers save on the cost of commuting. They will save a huge chunk of their day by not being on the road driving to and from work. How much time is wasted every day by employees having to get their mind around working once they drive to the office in morning rush hour traffic? Telecommuting and/or teleworking would put a stop to that little problem. Again, the home office worker would be more productive as soon as they get to their home office desk and computer.

Employers, stop worrying there are tools for this:

The usual excuse I hear from those who are reluctant to allow their office workers to work from home is, “how do we keep tabs on what they are doing?” Let’s be “frank” for a moment. If you are having to keep tabs on them, fire their sorry asses. I am serious. And then step back and take a look at what you are doing or not doing that causes your employees to not feel like they have a stake in what happens in your company. If you are giving them a reason to give a crap, maybe they just might.

Instead of worrying about keeping tabs on them, give them and yourself the tools to make telecommuting and teleworking work for you business or company. Most workers are worried they won’t be able to keep up on the “water cooler” talk. Workers, take advantage of all the free stuff out there for this. Instant messaging, twitter and other social tools. And employers, set up IM groups and even twitter groups just for your employees to keep up on what is going on at the “water cooler.”

You don’t have to be sitting in the office to have a staff meeting either. However, in my opinion, staff meetings are a complete waste of valuable time anyway. You usually sit around and argue about something or give your worthless opinion about something. But, if you have to do this, use the tools available. ooVoo is a free video chat and video conferencing tool you can use to have a video conference with up to six people. Skype is another free tool you can use to stay connected with home office workers.

No longer can employers and office workers use the excuse there are not the tools available to work from home. And I only named two. There are tons of them. (And I will do a future post on some of the other tools available in the very near future).

Employers, work into telecommuting or teleworking slowly:

If you are worried it won’t work. Try it in phases. Let workers work from home 2 or 3 days a week to start with. You will know if it works and you will know if they are working by the amount of work they get done. Some of the workers will make this work and they will work from home the entire work week. And some will need to come to the office 1 or 2 days a week for whatever reason. However, in the end this is a win-win for the employer and the worker. The worker will save commuting cost and be less distracted with the bottom line issues for their household budget. The employer will find out quickly that the worker will be less distracted, less tired and more productive working from home.

Lets keep the conversation going:

Leave your comments on your own experience working from home for an employer. And leave your comments with the tools you and your employer use to make it work. The comments you leave will be worked into that future post I mentioned above.