Telecommuting -- substituting the computer for the trip to the job -- has been hailed as a solution to all kinds of problems related to office work.

For workers it promises freedom from the office, less time wasted in traffic, and help with child-care conflicts. For management, telecommuting helps keep high performers on board, minimizes tardiness and absenteeism by eliminating commutes, allows periods of solitude for high-concentration tasks, and provides scheduling flexibility.

In some areas, such as Southern California and Seattle, Washington, local governments are encouraging companies to start telecommuting programs in order to reduce rush-hour congestion and improve air quality.

But these benefits do not come easily. Making a telecommuting program work requires careful planning and an understanding of the differences between telecommuting realities and popular images.

Many workers are seduced by rosy illusions of life as a telecommuter. A computer programmer from New York City moves to the tranquil Adirondack Mountains and stays in contact with her office via computer. A manager comes in to his office three days a week and works at home the other two. An accountant stays home to care for her sick child; she hooks up her telephone modem connections and does office work between calls to the doctor.

These are powerful images, but they are a limited reflection of reality. Telecommuting workers soon learn that it is almost impossible to concentrate on work and care for a young child at the same time. Before a certain age, young children cannot recognize, much less respect, the necessary boundaries between work and family. Additional child support is necessary if the parent is to get any work done. 

Management too must separate the myth from the reality. Although the media has paid a great deal of attention to telecommuting in most cases it is the employee’s situation, not the availability of technology that precipitates a telecommuting arrangement.

That is partly why, despite the widespread press coverage, the number of companies with work-at-home programs or policy guidelines remains small.

电子交通

电子交通--用电脑取代上班的往返--作为对各种各样的办公室工作问题的解决办法已受 到了欢迎。 对工作者来说，它承诺不受办公室的约束，更少的时间浪费在交通上和有助于 解决照看小孩的矛盾。 对管理者来说，电子交通有助于挽留高效率的工作者，通过省去办 公室与家之间的来回往返，大大减少工作拖拉和旷工，给予管理者独处的时间来完成需要高 度集中精神的任务，为管理者提供灵活的时间安排。 在一些地区，如南加利福尼亚和西雅 图、华盛顿，地方政府鼓励公司开始电子交通计划以减少交通高峰时的塞车和提高空气质量。 但这些益处也来之不易。 要使电子交通成功需要仔细的计划并且理解电子交通的现实状况 和流行的想象之间的区别。 许多工作者被电子交通的美好幻想所迷惑。 一位电脑程序设计 员从纽约市搬到了宁静的阿第伦达克山，用电脑保持与她办公室之间的联系。 一位经理一 周三天到办公室，其他两天在家工作；一位会计师在家照顾她生病的孩子，接通电话调制解 调器的接头，在同医生通话之余完成办公室工作。 这些是很有震撼力的情景，但也是对现 实有限的反映。 电子交通者很快发现在同一时间专注工作和照看小孩几乎是不可能的。 在 某个年龄之前，小孩子不可能意识到，更不可能尊重工作与家庭之间的界限。 如果家长要 完成工作，。 管理阶层必须把现实同神话分开。 虽然传媒对电子交通 投入了极大的关注，但在很大程度上，是员工的实际情况而不是技术的可能性促成电子交通 的安排。 这就是为什么尽管有广泛的报导，具有在家工作项目或行动纲领的公司数目依然 很少的部分原因。