Productivity Measurements and Telecommuting

Over the years, the improved channels of telecommunication have paved the way for an increase in number of Telecommuting jobs. Telecommuting occupations are not your typical office work and that is why, it has become a focus of productivity measures issues. There are a lot of myths that surround telecommuting and Productivity Measurements. Some say that measuring productivity is much more difficult in telecommuting rather than in regular office work.

Before going forward, let us first individually define what Productivity and what Telecommuting is. Productivity (in Economics) refers to the amount of output produced in a specific amount of time. In a factory or office setting, this can easily be computed by dividing the number of units of output with the time spent to produce them. For example, an office worker is given the task to compile kits for the participants of a lecture. He was able to compile 25 kits in 1 hour, and that becomes his productivity rate.

Quantitative data is more easily translated into productivity rates rather than qualitative data. On the other hand Telecommuting (otherwise known as working from home) is form of work where the employee works on his or her own schedule. It is called telecommuting because the time and process of commuting to and from the work place are replaced by links of telecommunication. A few of the most popular telecommuting tasks is Medical Transcription and Insurance Underwriting.

The issue that lies between Productivity measurement and Telecommuting are claims saying that Productivity measurement is harder to achieve than with regular office work. This is claimed to be the major downfall of telecommuting. Because of this, employer supposedly has no hold on the productivity of their personnel who work form home.

However, that is really not the case. Productivity Measurements are still easily achievable with Telecommuting Jobs. The rate telecommuting employee works, is the same with every project that he/she receives. A Medical Transcriptionist may complete transcription of 5 files in an hour. No matter how many hours a day a medical transcriptionist chooses to work, his or her hourly rate is still the same.

Another myth about productivity measurement and telecommuting is that an employer has no hold on how much an employee works on a set number of days. This is contradicted by the fact that employers enforce deadlines that a Telecommuting employee must adhere to. In example, an Underwriter is given 10 insurance policies to process in a span of 4 days. It is of no consequence to the employer how his or her Underwriter divides the task over 4 days as long as it is completed within the set number of days.

Telecommuting is a practice that will undoubtedly continue to grow. Despite early fears that it may not be a as easy to regulate and measure as regular office work, it has been proven that it is not so. That is the reason why employers should not shy away from hiring telecommuting personnel because they can still measure and regulate their productivity rate despite not having set office hours.