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Telework
SusTel
SustainIT's SusTel (Sustainable Telework) project has provided some of the world's most comprehensive research on teleworking and sustainable development. The final report is available now along with case studies and business guidance materials at www.sustel.org
About Telework
Telework can be defined as work that is undertaken
at a distance from the employer’s main office that
uses Information & Communication Technology (ICT) to
overcome that distance. ‘Telework’, ‘ework’ and ‘remote
work’ are often used synonymously. SustainIT’s
recent SusTel (Sustainable Teleworking) report identified
three main types of teleworker:
- Alternating - who alternate between home and
office-based work in a fixed pattern.
- Mobile - here people work in a variety of locations, including
home and office, in a very flexible pattern.
- Supplementary - where people supplement office-based
work with ad hoc work from home.Telework is most often
associated
with working from home, for at least part of the working
week, but for many this is not a viable option. This may
because of a lack of space or equipment, non work-related
distractions in the home, or because of a fear of becoming
socially isolated.
Various factors, including legislation
and the desires of organisations and their employees, have
spurred a growth
in more flexible ways of working. Technological advancements
and the falling cost of enabling Information and Communication
Technology (ICT) have made it possible for a wide range
of
work-related activities to become independent of location.
Consequently the number of occupations that can participate
in remote working, or teleworking, has grown. Research
suggests that interest in remote working is high amongst
employees
in the UK and across Europe. Recent figures show that 11%
of the UK working population occasionally works from home
and 65% are interested in at least one type of telework.
Telework, or ework, offers potential environmental and
social benefits, for example by:
- Reducing the number of commute journeys
- Reducing the
number of business miles travelled each year by replacing
face-to-face meetings with telephone
and video-conferencing
- Opening up work-related opportunities to those who
are unable, or unwilling, to travel great distances
- Allowing
workers to better manage work and non-work related activities,
thereby promoting a more satisfactory
work-life balance
SustainIT is a leading authority on the environmental
and social aspects of Teleworking. Our work in this area
includes:
- Conferencing at BT - Results of a survey on the Economic, Environmental and Social. Click here.
- Conferencing at DFID - THe Economic, Environmental and Social Impacts . Click here.
- Teleworking and Transport – Results of the transport impacts of teleworking at BT. Click here.
- SUSTEL – Sustainable Teleworking - The
largest research project on the social, environmental and
economic
impacts of teleworking. The final report, case studies,
business guidance materials, and online assessment tool
are available
at www.sustel.org.
- Surveys of teleworkers for the AA, BT and other
organisations.
- Sefton Metropolitan Borough Council - local
authority teleworking scheme and category winner in the 2002 eWell-Being Awards. Click here
to read the case study.
The SustainIT research aims to address questions such as:
- What are the quantitative benefits of telework?
- How
can organisations encourage working practices that incorporate
telework?
- How can communities use remote working to
regenerate areas and improve well being?
- What will the
workplace of the future look and feel like?
- What are
the rebound effects and how can we minimise them?
- What
is the role of government in promoting telework?
- What
will be the long term impacts of more flexible ways of
working?
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