Information And Communications Technology And The Congested Nature Of The Transport System Means A Boost For Working At Home

Hardly any workers in fact like commuting. I know that I surely don’t. It’s a complete and utter waste of time and is damaging to the environment one way or another. OK we all know somebody whose office is a few hundred yards from their home and they run to work and run home again and enjoy every minute of it but, , this sort of lucky commute usually happens to someone else , doesn’t it?

Not all of us like sitting in an office either. The office environment can be pretty distracting if you want to really get your head down and do a difficult bit of work. Distractions are everywhere as you often feel the need to have a bit of a catch up with your colleagues , check out the new coffee machine, tidy your corner of the office up, stroll around a bit etc and before you know it it’s coffee break time and you go off to the canteen for beverages and biscuits. And it’s eleven fifteen and you haven’t done a tap !

The traditional office environment is, in my opinion, something of an endangered species. For one thing premises are not always owned by the company . Gone are the days when a company would own a large office outright as more offices are rented these days, thus incurring a monthly cost. Also business rates are much higher than in previous decades , so are heating or refrigeration costs. Fuel costs are up, health and safety requirements are tighter, the list continues . It all adds up to the plain fact that running a modern office with a number of workers all in the same premises isn’t cheap

With the arrival of new technology and our ever increasing communications infrastructure a number of other ways of working must definitely be considered by companies having to cut costs. A Home Based Franchise, for instance, or a small home based business will obviously be well set up for operating without the need for the shared office environment so it’s logical to think that if a large or medium sized business was to shed some of its office space then it would be able , through the use of technology, to distribute its’ workforce , provide more flexible working and save a fortune on expensive premises to boot! Why don’t more companies take up this mode of working when the advantages of doing so are obvious?

One reason is the corporation mindset. Traditional managers have a “bums on seats” type of mentality that says “you must be somewhere that I can see you, should I choose to do so, at any time”. It’s a form of insecurity and is frequently displayed by managers that have a limited ability to delegate and are profoundly distrustful of their staff and are insecure about their position in the organisation. More staff, visible at all times and prepared to be at the managers’ beck and call, means more status in this kind of managers’ way of thinking . It takes a special sort of attitude for a manager to say that he or she doesn’t mind where the work gets done as long as it gets done! A structured political company structure does not nurture this sort of attitude as it may well be more important climbing up the company ladder than ensuring that the health of the company is put first .

Government legislation is pointing the way towards more flexible working practices including flexible hours and home working. It’s an idea that is coming into its own these days, as amongst other things, parental obligations have formed a substantial part of recent political campaigns. A company may well have to accept that paternal parental leave is part of a workers package , these days , and if they can supply the necessary technical and communications infrastructure then a new father , working at home, can play a significant role as part of the company’s’ workforce. It’s that or kiss the new daddy goodbye for six months!

If you really want to get out of the office, but your boss wants to see you seated in your chair behind the desk, where he can see you from nine to five , then you may want to buy into a Franchise For Sale opportunity that is a Home Based Franchise. It makes some sense to think that Franchises don’t have the luxury of an office but then they also don’t have the expense of the office, and business begins when you decide it does. Franchises therefore have an obvious advantage over office based jobs in that there is no commute to work and if the business is a Home Based Franchise then there is really no need to maintain premises. Maybe it’s time to sincerely consider the Franchise For Sale market as the true contender to the traditional office based work place !