Telecommuting Best Practices Prior and During the COVID-19 Pandemic
Keywords:
Best practices, Covid-19, Telecommuting, Telework, Work from home
Abstract
Telecommuting, a work practice where work tasks are conducted away from a central
office, was introduced in mid-1970’s. While the telecommuting practices were steadily
rising during the succeeding decades, they were not brought to prominence till recently.
The Covid-19 pandemic and the lockdowns all around the world put many companies and
employees in a position to implement work-from-home (WFH) practices, where most of the
actors where not completely prepared. The experiences from these “forced” experiments
range from completely positive to highly negative. Emerging studies suggest that the
positive experiences motivate the companies and individuals to practice telecommuting
even after the pandemic ends. In this paper we examine evidenced positive and negative
aspects of telecommuting prior and during the pandemic in order to develop a list of best
practices that could help companies and employees get the most out of the WFH as long
as the pandemic lasts and after it ends. The areas of concern important for telecommuting
we observe, include but are not limited to technology use, personal traits, working
schedule, workspace, communication and management issues, work-life balance,
socialization and wellbeing etc. The 7 best practices we pinpoint in our research address
issues in one or more of the telecommuting areas of concern.
Downloads
Download data is not yet available.
References
1 Allen TD, Golden TD, Shockley KM. How effective is telecommuting? Assessing the status of our scientific
findings. Psychological Science in the Public Interest. 2015 Oct;16(2):40-68.
2 Green N, Tappin D, Bentley T. Working from home before, during and after the Covid-19 pandemic:
implications for workers and organisations. New Zealand Journal of Employment Relations. 2020
Jan;45(2):5-16.
3 Mateyka PJ, Rapino M, Landivar LC. Home-based workers in the United States: 2010.
4 Barrero JM, Bloom N, Davis SJ. Why working from home will stick. 2021
5 Felstead A, Henseke G. Assessing the growth of remote working and its consequences for effort, wellbeing
and work‐life balance. New Technology, Work and Employment. 2017 Nov;32(3):195-212.
6 Gallup I. State of the American workplace. Retrieved from Gallup. com website: https://www. gallup.
com/workplace/238085/state-american-workplace-report-2017. aspx. 2017
7 Eurofound IL. Working anytime, anywhere: The effects on the world of work. Luxembourg, Geneva. 2017.
8 Kniffin KM, Narayanan J, Anseel F, Antonakis J, Ashford SP, Bakker AB, Bamberger P, Bapuji H, Bhave
DP, Choi VK, Creary SJ. COVID-19 and the workplace: Implications, issues, and insights for future
research and action. American Psychologist. 2021 Jan;76(1):63.
9 Felstead A, Reuschke D. Homeworking in the UK: before and during the 2020 lockdown. 2020
10 Dubey AD, Tripathi S. Analysing the sentiments towards work-from-home experience during covid-19
pandemic. Journal of Innovation Management. 2020 Apr 28;8(1):13-9.
11 Karanikas N, Cauchi J. Literature review on parameters related to Work-From-Home (WFH)
arrangements. 2020
12 Narayanan L, Menon S, Plaisent M, Bernard P. Telecommuting: The work anywhere, anyplace, anytime
organization in the 21st century. Journal of Marketing & Management. 2017 Nov 1;8(2):47-54.
13 Kizza, J. M. (2013). Ethical and social issues in the information age. London, England: Springer-Verlag
- as cited in Allen, T. D., Golden, T. D., & Shockley, K. M. (2015). How effective is telecommuting?
Assessing the status of our scientific findings. Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 16(2), 40-
14 Avery C, Zabel D. The flexible workplace: A sourcebook of information and research. 2001
15 U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM), Status of Telework in the Federal Government - Report
to Congress - Fiscal Year 2019, March 2021
16 Reynolds, B.W. 100 Top Companies with Remote Jobs in 2015. FlexJobs Job Search Tips and Blog.
FlexJobs.com, January 20, 2015. https://www.flexjobs.com/blog/post/100-top-companies-with-remotejobs-
in-2015
17 Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM). Leave and flexible working - 2019 Employee
Benefits Survey https://www.shrm.org/hr-today/trends-and-forecasting/research-andsurveys/
pages/benefits19.aspx
18 The Slash Workers. And.co. 2016 [2021 Jun 18]. Available from: https://www.and.co/slash-workers.html
19 Ozmek Adam, Report: Freelancing and the Economy in 2019 | Upwork,” Upwork.com,
https://www.upwork.com/press/releases/freelancing-and-the-economy-in-2019 . 2019
20 Carpenter, Julia. The downside of working from home CNN, January 24, 2019. Available from:
https://edition.cnn.com/2019/01/24/success/remote-worker-bias/index.html.
21 Gajendran RS, Harrison DA. The good, the bad, and the unknown about telecommuting: meta-analysis
of psychological mediators and individual consequences. Journal of applied psychology. 2007
Nov;92(6):1524.
22 Raffaele C, Connell J. Telecommuting and co-working communities: what are the implications for
individual and organizational flexibility?. Flexible work organizations. 2016:21-35.
23 Tkaczyk C. Marissa Mayer breaks her silence on Yahoo’s telecommuting policy [Internet]. Fortune.
Fortune; 2013 [cited 2021 Jun 18]. Available from: https://fortune.com/2013/04/19/marissa-mayerbreaks-
her-silence-on-yahoos-telecommuting-policy/
24 Kniffin KM, Narayanan J, Anseel F, Antonakis J, Ashford SP, Bakker AB, Bamberger P, Bapuji H, Bhave
DP, Choi VK, Creary SJ. COVID-19 and the workplace: Implications, issues, and insights for future
research and action. American Psychologist. 2021 Jan;76(1):63.
25 de Haas M, Faber R, Hamersma M. How COVID-19 and the Dutch ‘intelligent lockdown’change
activities, work and travel behaviour: Evidence from longitudinal data in the Netherlands. Transportation
Research Interdisciplinary Perspectives. 2020 Jul 1;6:100150.
26 Bick A, Blandin A, Mertens K. Work from home after the COVID-19 Outbreak.2020
27 Gartner. Gartner HR survey reveals 41% of employees likely to work remotely at least some of the time
post coronavirus pandemic. Newsroom. Retrieved from https://www.gartner.com/en/newsroom/pressreleases/
2020-04-14-gartner-hr-survey-reveals-41--of-employees-likely-to- . 2020
28 Ozimek A. The future of remote work. Available at
https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3638597. 2020 May 27.
29 Dewi I, Adiarsi GR. Leveraging the COVID-19 crisis in making work-from-home a mainstream practice
in the oil and gas industry. International Journal of Multicultural and Multireligious Understanding. 2020
Jul 10;7(6):305-16.
30 Lavelle J. Gartner CFO survey reveals 74% intend to shift some employees to remote work permanently.
[cited 2021 Jun 18]. Available from: https://www.gartner.com/en/newsroom/press-releases/2020-04-03-
gartner-cfo-surey-reveals-74-percent-of-organizations-to-shift-some-employees-to-remote-workpermanently2
31 Green CR. Examining the effects of negative work outcomes on telecommuting (Doctoral dissertation,
Middle Tennessee State University) 2019
32 Varty CT, O'Neill TA, Hambley LA. Leading anywhere workers: A scientific and practical framework. In
Anywhere working and the new era of telecommuting 2017 (pp. 47-88). IGI Global.
33 Anderson AJ, Kaplan SA, Vega RP. The impact of telework on emotional experience: When, and for
whom, does telework improve daily affective well-being?. European Journal of Work and Organizational
Psychology. 2015 Nov 2;24(6):882-97
34 Masuda AD, Holtschlag C, Nicklin JM. Why the availability of telecommuting matters: The effects of
telecommuting on engagement via goal pursuit. Career Development International. 2017 May 8.
35 Kaduk A, Genadek K, Kelly EL, Moen P. Involuntary vs. voluntary flexible work: insights for scholars and
stakeholders. Community, Work & Family. 2019 Aug 8;22(4):412-42.
36 di Domenico M, Daniel E, Nunan D. ‘Mental mobility’in the digital age: entrepreneurs and the online
home‐based business. New Technology, Work and Employment. 2014 Nov;29(3):266-81.
37 Gajendran RS, Harrison DA, Delaney‐Klinger K. Are telecommuters remotely good citizens? Unpacking
telecommuting's effects on performance via i‐deals and job resources. Personnel Psychology. 2015
Jun;68(2):353-93.
38 Wheatley D. Employee satisfaction and use of flexible working arrangements. Work, employment and
society. 2017 Aug;31(4):567-85.
39 Basile KA, Beauregard TA. Strategies for successful telework: How effective employees manage
work/home boundaries. Strategic HR review. 2016 Jun 13.
40 Bloom N. The bright future of working from home | SIEPR [Internet]. Stanford.edu. 2020 [cited 2021 Jun
23]. Available from: https://siepr.stanford.edu/research/publications/bright-future-working-home
41 Eddleston KA, Mulki J. Toward understanding remote workers’ management of work–family boundaries:
The complexity of workplace embeddedness. Group & Organization Management. 2017 Jun;42(3):346-
42 Hope J. Working from home? Follow these tips for successful remote work. The Successful Registrar.
2020 May;20(3) https://doi.org/10.1002/emt.30655
43 Boccabella D, Bain K. The age of the home worker-part 1: Deductibility of home occupancy expenses.
Austl. Tax F.. 2018;33:827.
44 Dahlstrom TR. Telecommuting and leadership style. Public Personnel Management. 2013
Sep;42(3):438-51.
45 Makarius EE, Larson BZ. Changing the perspective of virtual work: Building virtual intelligence at the
individual level. Academy of Management Perspectives. 2017 May;31(2):159-78.
46 Piszczek MM. Boundary control and controlled boundaries: Organizational expectations for technology
use at the work–family interface. Journal of Organizational Behavior. 2017 May;38(4):592-611.
findings. Psychological Science in the Public Interest. 2015 Oct;16(2):40-68.
2 Green N, Tappin D, Bentley T. Working from home before, during and after the Covid-19 pandemic:
implications for workers and organisations. New Zealand Journal of Employment Relations. 2020
Jan;45(2):5-16.
3 Mateyka PJ, Rapino M, Landivar LC. Home-based workers in the United States: 2010.
4 Barrero JM, Bloom N, Davis SJ. Why working from home will stick. 2021
5 Felstead A, Henseke G. Assessing the growth of remote working and its consequences for effort, wellbeing
and work‐life balance. New Technology, Work and Employment. 2017 Nov;32(3):195-212.
6 Gallup I. State of the American workplace. Retrieved from Gallup. com website: https://www. gallup.
com/workplace/238085/state-american-workplace-report-2017. aspx. 2017
7 Eurofound IL. Working anytime, anywhere: The effects on the world of work. Luxembourg, Geneva. 2017.
8 Kniffin KM, Narayanan J, Anseel F, Antonakis J, Ashford SP, Bakker AB, Bamberger P, Bapuji H, Bhave
DP, Choi VK, Creary SJ. COVID-19 and the workplace: Implications, issues, and insights for future
research and action. American Psychologist. 2021 Jan;76(1):63.
9 Felstead A, Reuschke D. Homeworking in the UK: before and during the 2020 lockdown. 2020
10 Dubey AD, Tripathi S. Analysing the sentiments towards work-from-home experience during covid-19
pandemic. Journal of Innovation Management. 2020 Apr 28;8(1):13-9.
11 Karanikas N, Cauchi J. Literature review on parameters related to Work-From-Home (WFH)
arrangements. 2020
12 Narayanan L, Menon S, Plaisent M, Bernard P. Telecommuting: The work anywhere, anyplace, anytime
organization in the 21st century. Journal of Marketing & Management. 2017 Nov 1;8(2):47-54.
13 Kizza, J. M. (2013). Ethical and social issues in the information age. London, England: Springer-Verlag
- as cited in Allen, T. D., Golden, T. D., & Shockley, K. M. (2015). How effective is telecommuting?
Assessing the status of our scientific findings. Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 16(2), 40-
14 Avery C, Zabel D. The flexible workplace: A sourcebook of information and research. 2001
15 U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM), Status of Telework in the Federal Government - Report
to Congress - Fiscal Year 2019, March 2021
16 Reynolds, B.W. 100 Top Companies with Remote Jobs in 2015. FlexJobs Job Search Tips and Blog.
FlexJobs.com, January 20, 2015. https://www.flexjobs.com/blog/post/100-top-companies-with-remotejobs-
in-2015
17 Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM). Leave and flexible working - 2019 Employee
Benefits Survey https://www.shrm.org/hr-today/trends-and-forecasting/research-andsurveys/
pages/benefits19.aspx
18 The Slash Workers. And.co. 2016 [2021 Jun 18]. Available from: https://www.and.co/slash-workers.html
19 Ozmek Adam, Report: Freelancing and the Economy in 2019 | Upwork,” Upwork.com,
https://www.upwork.com/press/releases/freelancing-and-the-economy-in-2019 . 2019
20 Carpenter, Julia. The downside of working from home CNN, January 24, 2019. Available from:
https://edition.cnn.com/2019/01/24/success/remote-worker-bias/index.html.
21 Gajendran RS, Harrison DA. The good, the bad, and the unknown about telecommuting: meta-analysis
of psychological mediators and individual consequences. Journal of applied psychology. 2007
Nov;92(6):1524.
22 Raffaele C, Connell J. Telecommuting and co-working communities: what are the implications for
individual and organizational flexibility?. Flexible work organizations. 2016:21-35.
23 Tkaczyk C. Marissa Mayer breaks her silence on Yahoo’s telecommuting policy [Internet]. Fortune.
Fortune; 2013 [cited 2021 Jun 18]. Available from: https://fortune.com/2013/04/19/marissa-mayerbreaks-
her-silence-on-yahoos-telecommuting-policy/
24 Kniffin KM, Narayanan J, Anseel F, Antonakis J, Ashford SP, Bakker AB, Bamberger P, Bapuji H, Bhave
DP, Choi VK, Creary SJ. COVID-19 and the workplace: Implications, issues, and insights for future
research and action. American Psychologist. 2021 Jan;76(1):63.
25 de Haas M, Faber R, Hamersma M. How COVID-19 and the Dutch ‘intelligent lockdown’change
activities, work and travel behaviour: Evidence from longitudinal data in the Netherlands. Transportation
Research Interdisciplinary Perspectives. 2020 Jul 1;6:100150.
26 Bick A, Blandin A, Mertens K. Work from home after the COVID-19 Outbreak.2020
27 Gartner. Gartner HR survey reveals 41% of employees likely to work remotely at least some of the time
post coronavirus pandemic. Newsroom. Retrieved from https://www.gartner.com/en/newsroom/pressreleases/
2020-04-14-gartner-hr-survey-reveals-41--of-employees-likely-to- . 2020
28 Ozimek A. The future of remote work. Available at
https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3638597. 2020 May 27.
29 Dewi I, Adiarsi GR. Leveraging the COVID-19 crisis in making work-from-home a mainstream practice
in the oil and gas industry. International Journal of Multicultural and Multireligious Understanding. 2020
Jul 10;7(6):305-16.
30 Lavelle J. Gartner CFO survey reveals 74% intend to shift some employees to remote work permanently.
[cited 2021 Jun 18]. Available from: https://www.gartner.com/en/newsroom/press-releases/2020-04-03-
gartner-cfo-surey-reveals-74-percent-of-organizations-to-shift-some-employees-to-remote-workpermanently2
31 Green CR. Examining the effects of negative work outcomes on telecommuting (Doctoral dissertation,
Middle Tennessee State University) 2019
32 Varty CT, O'Neill TA, Hambley LA. Leading anywhere workers: A scientific and practical framework. In
Anywhere working and the new era of telecommuting 2017 (pp. 47-88). IGI Global.
33 Anderson AJ, Kaplan SA, Vega RP. The impact of telework on emotional experience: When, and for
whom, does telework improve daily affective well-being?. European Journal of Work and Organizational
Psychology. 2015 Nov 2;24(6):882-97
34 Masuda AD, Holtschlag C, Nicklin JM. Why the availability of telecommuting matters: The effects of
telecommuting on engagement via goal pursuit. Career Development International. 2017 May 8.
35 Kaduk A, Genadek K, Kelly EL, Moen P. Involuntary vs. voluntary flexible work: insights for scholars and
stakeholders. Community, Work & Family. 2019 Aug 8;22(4):412-42.
36 di Domenico M, Daniel E, Nunan D. ‘Mental mobility’in the digital age: entrepreneurs and the online
home‐based business. New Technology, Work and Employment. 2014 Nov;29(3):266-81.
37 Gajendran RS, Harrison DA, Delaney‐Klinger K. Are telecommuters remotely good citizens? Unpacking
telecommuting's effects on performance via i‐deals and job resources. Personnel Psychology. 2015
Jun;68(2):353-93.
38 Wheatley D. Employee satisfaction and use of flexible working arrangements. Work, employment and
society. 2017 Aug;31(4):567-85.
39 Basile KA, Beauregard TA. Strategies for successful telework: How effective employees manage
work/home boundaries. Strategic HR review. 2016 Jun 13.
40 Bloom N. The bright future of working from home | SIEPR [Internet]. Stanford.edu. 2020 [cited 2021 Jun
23]. Available from: https://siepr.stanford.edu/research/publications/bright-future-working-home
41 Eddleston KA, Mulki J. Toward understanding remote workers’ management of work–family boundaries:
The complexity of workplace embeddedness. Group & Organization Management. 2017 Jun;42(3):346-
42 Hope J. Working from home? Follow these tips for successful remote work. The Successful Registrar.
2020 May;20(3) https://doi.org/10.1002/emt.30655
43 Boccabella D, Bain K. The age of the home worker-part 1: Deductibility of home occupancy expenses.
Austl. Tax F.. 2018;33:827.
44 Dahlstrom TR. Telecommuting and leadership style. Public Personnel Management. 2013
Sep;42(3):438-51.
45 Makarius EE, Larson BZ. Changing the perspective of virtual work: Building virtual intelligence at the
individual level. Academy of Management Perspectives. 2017 May;31(2):159-78.
46 Piszczek MM. Boundary control and controlled boundaries: Organizational expectations for technology
use at the work–family interface. Journal of Organizational Behavior. 2017 May;38(4):592-611.
Published
2021-08-16
Section
Management and Business
