The American Telecommuting Association has an article on its web site, addressing the most common objections to telecommuting. As I said in a previous post:

Ten years ago I thought by now most Software Engineers would have the option to work from home. But old habits die hard, and human psychology changes much slower than technology does.

This contrast of “old-thinking” to “new-thinking” discusses those old habits.

Here are a few of the objections they answer:

  • I can’t be sure someone’s working unless I actually see them busy at their desks.
  • ‘Working at a distance’ is inefficient because of all the distractions and time-wasters at home.
  • If people start working from home, they’ll never come back to the office.
  • If some of our people start working from home, the rest of our workforce will feel slighted or mistreated.

In conclusion they say:

Today, more than ten million employees and their employers have already learned — often after years of reluctance, inaction, hesitation to make a decision, fear of the costs, and a totally human resistance to doing old things in new ways — how easy and effective it is to avoid that long trip into the office on certain days.