The study is not only an excellent illustration of the tangible benefits of promoting telecommuting, but also how IT can promote productivity and collaboration.

The results of the study make a compelling case for deploying “collaboration technology” and promoting telecommuting. The bottom line is that telecommuting creates value through benefits such as increased productivity, employee satisfaction and reduced carbon emissions.

A quick overview of the study:

• The objective of the study was to “evaluate the social, economic and environmental impacts associated with telecommuting at Cisco.”
• The study was global and consisted of surveying Cisco employees
• Key measurements of the study included:
– Weekly commuting patterns
– Round-trip commuting patterns
– Weekly telecommuting patterns
– Collective impacts of telecommuting such as greenhouse gas emissions and distance traveled
– Importance of telecommuting to Cisco “telecommuters”
– Comparison of work patterns (home vs. office)

A summary of the results:

• The positive aspects cited by the survey respondents (in priority order):
– More flexible work schedule
– Reduced commuting time
– Better quality of life
– Saving money
– Higher productivity
– More control over life
– Reduced stress
– More time to spend with family

• The overall benefits expressed by the telecommuters:
– Equal or improved ability to communicate and collaborate with coworkers when working from home (over 82 percent)
– The timeliness of their work output improves when working at home (over 74 percent)
– The quality of work improves when working at home (over 67 percent)
– Survey respondents do not experience broadband connection issues/limitations (over 83 percent)

The bottom line is that telecommuting benefits Cisco and its employees with a tangible savings of more than $10 million in fuel costs and more than 47,000 metric tonnes of CO2e per year.

Promoting telecommuting results in improved productivity and quality of life along with tangible benefits such as reduced fuel use, reduced need for office space and reduced carbon emissions.

The impact that increased telecommuting and the use of collaboration tools (such as Cisco TelePresence) will have on work patterns and urban/suburban life is just beginning to be understood.

On a personal note, DOMANI promotes telecommuting and I expect that after this blog is released, there will be a renewed discussion to further promote our internal program.

Gone are the days when everyone had to be in the office to be considered “productive” and working.

A question for everyone, does your company promote telecommuting? If so, how does it work for you?