Encouraging Productivity Away from the Office

By Chris Crum - Mon, 03/31/2008 - 1:53pm.

Does your staff have the opportunity?

A press release issued today by business communications provider Avaya showcased another example of branding a need to hook in attention.

They discuss a survey that they conducted regarding the calculation of money lost from a drop in productivity from when employees are unable to make it to the office.

They of course use this info to try and sell their product, but the survey and hook do raise an interesting point.

"Most small businesses agree that productivity suffers when an employee is out of the office unexpectedly, but few have calculated the true cost to their businesses," says Avaya.

"Most people today are already working away from their primary place of employment at least part of the time, whether it's at home over the weekend, on the train on the way to the office, or in an airport waiting for a flight," said Chuck Wilsker, president and CEO, The Telework Coalition.

"Small businesses are definitely beginning to recognize that their employees can be productive wherever they are -- as long as they have a laptop, high speed Internet and a phone and the right features to be truly productive while working from home. Having the right technology is key to creating a plan that enables employees to work remotely," he added.

This would of course differ from business to business, but perhaps it wouldn't hurt to evaluate your situation. Is it within the realm of your budget to provide laptops to employees to achieve productivity while they are away from the office?

It's probably not in your best interest to give one to every member of your staff, but to key employees? It may be worth at least considering, when practical.

Do your employees have access to resources they need in their daily routines from their homes? If not, consider if it is practical to ensure that they do.

After all, things happen and there will be times when members of your staff just can't make it into the office. And productivity is money. Plain and simple. Are you taking all of the steps you can to maximize it? Just something to think about.

News Tags: financial, productivity

About the author:
Chris is a content coordinator and staff writer for SmallBusinessNewz and the iEntry Network. Subscribe to SmallBusinessNewz RSS Feeds.

Comments

By Logical IT (SBN reader) - Thu, 04/03/2008 - 8:28pm.

eCommuting in the Noughties

Great article Chris! I'm surprised that there are not more posts on this topic! As a small business manager the need to gain full productivity when short staffed at our physical office became a major business priority and the solution that we created for our office added another category to the products and services that we were previously supplying. And the best thing is we can sell mobile office solutions with confidence because we know they work for us! Logical IT specialises in mobile office solutions for the Australian market. We provide mobile wireless broadband services, IPBX VoIP systems that allow call forwarding to mobile workstations, VPN management, traffic shaping, personnel and fleet tracking systems, mobile EFTPOS services, remote access, email management, IP cameras (so you can see what your employees get up to while your out of the office!) and internet management tools that can assess employees productivity and internet usage. We are always happy to provide information and advice although we do charge an hourly rate for in depth consulatancy on a range of IT related services and solutions. http://www.logicalit.com.au

By Chris Crum - Fri, 04/04/2008 - 8:46am.

Productivity

You're right. The importance of productivity doesn't stop when you are short-handed.

By hp laptop (SBN reader) - Thu, 05/29/2008 - 1:48pm.