The World Wildlife Fund (not World Wrestling Federation!) have released a new paper on the opportunities presented by teleworking and video conferencing.
In their opening statement, WWF state that they believe virtual meetings and telecommuting have the opportunity to to save more than 3 million tonnes of CO2 – equivalent to about half of the current US CO2 emissions. This paper extends on the WWF’s overall position on the top 10 ICT initiatives they propose would reduce the most carbon.
In their paper WWF propose four different scenarios modelled as “future worlds” which would present varied opportunities for carbon savings:
The key findings of the paper include:
- Teleworking has the potential to deliver greater greenhouse gas (GHG) savings than virtual meetings
- The Smart world scenario would achieve maximum benefits where IT, users and policy makers work together to deliver solutions + policies
- A laptop with a webcam, wireless internet access & appropriate software represent the key technical requirement for teleworking
One of the most interesting insights, and something I see & hear from customers when I talk with them about teleworking, is that it isn’t necessarily the technology that inhibits these types of initiatives – its the organisational change and the cultural barriers. In the past two years the technology has matured and is lower cost than ever before – but some customers I speak with tell me their organisation just won’t ‘handle the change’. Typical concerns I hear for teleworking include:
- Cultural attitude to work: e.g. ‘Mary isn’t working, she is sitting at home watching television / on a beach’.
- Organisational change: e.g. training users to utilise the technologies appropriately.
- Organisational policies: for example, ‘work hours being set between 9-5 - if you aren’t sitting down working during those times then its not acceptable’. There is obviously a need to be able to contact people during a set of work hours as most workers need to interact with other people and customers, however flexibility & the right internal policies can result in more work being done, not less. As pictured below, a study from the paper indicates increased productivity from virtual meetings:
If you are a visual person, supporting the paper is an interesting scenario & time-based calculator for some European & Asian areas and the US:
Overall the paper provides some good research for anyone planning a business case for teleworking and virtual meetings. Checkout the entire paper HERE and the planning calculator HERE.
