如何弥补在家办公的缺陷

    每年一次， Community Options的领导人们会从35个分部所在地汇聚在一起，展开交流。这家非营利机构经营着各种创业企业，为残疾人士创造就业机会并提供住房。

    这个机构的首席财务总监在最近举行的峰会上叹息，由于客户订单给库存管理带来的难度，该机构在新不伦瑞克省新泽西花店里的鲜花很多都白白浪费了。

    Community Options的成员企业Daily Plan It的某个平面设计师将他的话听在了耳里，心想他们可以用这些未售出的枯花来制造干花。Daily Plan It出租共享办公空间，并提供文件粉碎之类的支持服务。因此，Community Options如今推出了一条干花生产线，由残疾人士包装和出售香花。

    “完全是因为人们聚在一起才想出了这个主意，”总部位于新泽西州普林斯顿的Community Options创始人和首席执行官罗伯特•斯塔克说。“因为人们可以彼此启发。”

    当今世界充满了视频会议、云计算和在线共享工作区，来自任何地方的人们都能够彼此协作，就像坐在彼此相邻的工作间里，这种图景并不难想象。

    远程办公的确减少了污染，提高了工作效率，也帮雇主削减了租用办公室的成本，同时还提高了员工的留用率和忠诚度。但无论远程技术有多么先进，没有了面对面的接触，总会有某种缺憾。

    事实上，一份新的报告发现，远程办公人员的数量在2010年出现了下降的趋势，这是近十年前开始收集相关数据以来首次出现这种情况。无可否认，远程办公带来了巨大的利益，但众多机构同时发现，虚拟协作也有其局限性。

    “我们已经尝试了云技术，感觉很不错。我们也尝试了在线语音通话服务Skype，四五个人可以同时进行视频聊天。但它跟（面对面交流）并不是一码事，”Community Options的斯塔克说。除了举办年度峰会以外，他每个季度还在每个地区举办1次见面活动。“思想的协作和交互没办法通过相互发送电子邮件来实现。”

有时当面交流比便利性更重要

    人力资源协会WorldatWork在今年早些时候发布的报告中发现，2010年每月在家办公1天以上的人数已经下降到了2,620万，而在2008年，这个数字还高达3,370万。然而，即便出现了下降趋势，远程办公人员还是占了成年劳动人口的20%。

    Once a year, leaders of Community Options come together from its 35 locations for a retreat. The nonprofit organization runs a variety of entrepreneurial ventures that create job opportunities and provide housing for people with disabilities.

    At the most recent summit, the chief financial officer was bemoaning the wasted flowers at the organization's New Brunswick, N.J. floral store, due to the inevitable difficulty in managing inventory to meet customer orders.

    Listening in, a graphic designer from Community Options' Daily Plan It, which rents shared office space and provides support services such as document shredding, thought they could use the dead, unsold flowers to create potpourri. As a result, Community Options is now launching a line of potpourri, which will be packaged and sold by people with disabilities.

    "It's all because a group of people got together and came up with this idea," says Robert Stack, founder and chief executive of Princeton, N.J.-based Community Options. "People play off each other."

    In a world of video conferencing, cloud computing, and shared online workspaces, it's easy to imagine that people can work together from anywhere, just as if they were sitting in the cubicle next door.

    It's true that telework reduces pollution, improves productivity, and cuts real estate costs for employers while increasing retention and employee loyalty. But no matter how advanced the technology, something is lost when face-to-face contact disappears.

    Indeed, a new report found that the number of teleworkers declined in 2010 for the first time since data collection began nearly a decade ago. While there's no denying that telecommuting can provide tremendous benefits, organizations are finding that virtual collaboration has its limits.

    "We've tried the cloud stuff; it's good. We've tried the Skype where you have four or five people on the screen. It ain't the same thing," says Community Options' Stack, who holds quarterly in-person meetings for each region in addition to the annual summit. "Collaboration and cross-pollination of ideas doesn't happen by me sending you an email and you sending one back."

When face time trumps convenience

    WorldatWork, a human resources association, found that the number of people who telecommuted at least one day a month in 2010 dropped to 26.2 million, down from 33.7 million in 2008, in a report released earlier this year. Even with the drop, teleworkers represent 20% of the working adult population.