Features

The Power of Partial Telecommuting

Why is Telecommuting Good?

With so many reasons why telecommuting is a problem, who would ever want to offer a program? It’s easy to see why telecommuting can be scary to game companies. Imagining un-showered employees working whenever they feel like it, missing phone calls, being on the outside of all the cliques, and becoming just a paycheck would be scary, if it were true.

Fortunately, the reality is typically quite different. Telecommuters who know how to telecommute work hard to ensure that telecommuting works for both the company and the employee. There are many benefits to any game company in providing a telecommuting program, some of which include:

Commuting Distance
Telecommuting is expanding the distance an employee can live from their job. It’s not uncommon for urban commuters to travel one hour or more to work in the morning. That’s two-plus hours a day spent in transit, or ten hours a week. This is unproductive time for both employee and employer. Most people would prefer to spend those ten hours working rather than sitting in traffic, burning up high-cost gas, putting wear and tear on their vehicles, or dealing with the schedules and travel issues of public transportation.

Talent Attraction
There are superstar level workers who are looking for game companies that allow partial telecommuting. The existence of a partial telecommuting program not only is a key benefit to some employees, but also demonstrates that the company is both progressive and flexible.

Recently a colleague of mine had to choose between two game companies that were heavily recruiting him. One company was close by, but wouldn’t allow telecommuting, while the other company was much further away and would allow him to telecommute 3 days a week. Both companies had a desperate need for his unique skill set (he was in the superstar realm), but because telecommuting was an important factor in his life, he chose the company that was much further away.

In an industry whose products go from “decent” to “legendary” based on the staff they hire, it’s important for companies to know that for some candidates, telecommuting can make or break deals.

Companies that offer partial telecommuting should be proud of that, and find a way to communicate that to applicants. People on the job hunt who value telecommuting will most likely put companies who offer it at the top of their application lists.

Employee Happiness
The benefits of employee happiness can be difficult to track, but few would dispute that happy employees are preferred over unhappy employees. The problem is that many companies end up thinking, “Shouldn’t my employees be happy with our company with or without telecommuting?” Sure, they may love your company, but for many, telecommuting has a dramatic impact on their quality of life beyond how a company’s environment can affect it.

There really isn’t any other company benefit that can match being able to eat lunch with your family instead of hitting a burger joint, or taking your dog for a walk at lunch instead leaving it alone in the house while you’re at work. These kinds of results from telecommuting dramatically reduce stress on the employee and their families, resulting in much happier and consequently, more productive employees.

Happy game-related employees who appreciate telecommuting are going to be motivated to make telecommuting work. That in turn means that they have to work harder than most, communicate better than most, and be pro-active in knowing what‘s going on at the company. Make no mistake; successful telecommuters don’t disappear from the company view, in fact, if they do fade into the background of the company, the employee needs to learn techniques on how to telecommute effectively.

The key to understanding the magnitude of “increased happiness” for a telecommuting employee is simple. A colleague of mine who recently began telecommuting to avoid a 3+ hour commute per day summed it up perfectly. When asked what he thought about telecommuting, he said “The quality of life difference is amazing.” An employee who has a high quality of life is going to work to protect that benefit.

While statistics may be difficult to generate from having a “happier” employee, it’s difficult to overestimate the impact a very happy, highly motivated employee has on a company. Happy employees are usually very loyal, and are more likely to be looking out for the company’s interests.

Flexible Employees
The cliché, “One hand washes the other” has a lot of weight in telecommuting. The flexibility extended by companies is often rewarded with added flexibility on the part of an employee. For example:

A critical bug in the game pops up and needs to be resolved by the next day. The best person to resolve the issue is Joe, a single dad.

Non-Telecommuter response:
“I have to pick up my son, I can’t stay to fix this, sorry!”

Joe would love to help, but as an onsite employee, just can’t. People have unavoidable family responsibilities, and the problem would have to fall to someone else on the team who was available.

Telecommuter response:
“I have to pick up my son, but once he goes to bed, I’ll work all night if need-be to make sure it’s fixed before anyone comes in tomorrow.”

Joe as a telecommuter has the ability to balance work and family responsibilities by being able to put an extreme amount of effort when needed, above and beyond what most other employees could offer. Without the company’s flexibility, this wouldn’t be possible.

Keep That Talent
If telecommuting makes such a difference in the quality of life for people, it’s going to be difficult for those shiny happy people to look elsewhere for a job. The opposite is also true, where game companies that don’t offer telecommuting can easily lose employees for companies that do offer it. The worst time to realize you need a telecommuting plan is when your valued employees give their notice.

Crunch Management
Crunch time is dreaded by almost everyone in the game industry. It puts an enormous amount of stress on the employee, and especially their relations with their families. It disrupts the rhythm of their households, affecting not just the employee’s schedules, work-load and stress levels, but those of everyone in their family. Long or restrictive crunch cycles can easily lead to employees looking for other jobs. Anyone who’s been through a brutal crunch has probably heard teammates remark “I can’t do a crunch like that again,” or “My spouse is really angry that I can’t help out with the kids.”

The bad side of crunching is that it’s an almost unavoidable part of being in a game company. The good side is that it’s got a lot of potential solutions. One such solution is to allow partial telecommuting. The difference in stress-levels of employees once they telecommute will be surprising to most companies. With partial telecommuting, crunch has a much lower impact on the rhythm or routines of an employee’s household.

Savings
Both employee and company can save money through partial telecommuting. The employee saves money on travel expenses such as gas, car wear and tear, parking or public transportation, as well as possibly saving on food expenses. The company can save money on rent by having a smaller office, desk-sharing, or even using a conference room and laptops for the days telecommuters are onsite. A minor savings would also be that food during crunch and drinks provided by the company would be reduced by having more employees offsite.

Next: Making It Work

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