More than a third of managers feel that, if allowed to work from home, staff would use working hours for personal activities, such as taking a longer lunch. And 30 per cent believe employees will use the time to arrange their social life.

However, two thirds of employees believe that working from home would actually allow a more flexible approach to work, enabling them to be more productive, and that they would end up working longer hours.

Port St Mary-based Leo Cussons runs the workconnexions.com website designed to help employers and independent contractors to get together. He recently discussed working from home on his blog. 'The key to doing pretty much anything in life is having a degree of happiness. Happy employees will do anything, as long as they can stay in that state,' he wrote. 'The reverse of this does not bear thinking about. This ultimately changes the relationship that employees have with their employer.'

The research reveals that, when it comes to attitudes towards teleworking, nearly one in five employees would like the opportunity to work from home two days a week and that more than half believe it is an acceptable option for any level.

Psychologist and employee productivity expert Dr David Lewis said: 'Managers must understand that every individual has a different style of working. So, by allowing your staff to work how they feel best able to achieve results can only benefit their wellbeing and, most importantly, increase their productivity and ultimately customer service. It comes down to a matter of trust. If you trust and respect your employees to get the job done, they will trust and respect you in return and do the best they possibly can, regardless of whether they are in the office or not.'

I agree with what Dr Lewis says about trust. But trust is earned, especially in business. Just this week I was dealing with a candidate who wanted to only work from home. This is normal practice at Strive because we are a virtual organisation. But the thing to remember is I have known and worked with each of our senior consultants for seven years or more. I trust them, and that is why it works so well. It takes time to build a good working relationship and that just can't be rushed; so said candidate didn't get a look in.

The research shows reduced overheads, increasing productivity and staff retention are the core business benefits that stem from teleworking. However, firms are also starting to recognise that their environmental responsibilities can also be addressed, with teleworking helping to decrease the ever-burgeoning congestion problems and cut carbon emissions.

While many employers are still labouring under the misconception that technologies to enable home-working are unreliable and slow, this is simply not the reality and Strive is living proof!

'With high speed broadband currently accounting the majority of all household internet connections, and a wealth of telecommunications technologies, such as IP telephony, now an affordable business standard for seamless connectivity to the office, the technology to enable home working is now more sophisticated than ever,' said Mitel managing director Graham Bevington.

Virtual teams use instant messaging to communicate, have the ability to set up video and conference calls and share documents from the network, so there is no need for employers to panic that people working from home or outside the office cannot contribute to the business as a fully functioning member of the team.

But working from home is not always for everyone. Neil Scott wrote on workconnexions.com: 'I have never worked from home. Don't you have to be a very disciplined type of person to make a success from home?'

And another blog commenter, Lotus said: 'I like my home to be a sanctuary from work. Besides I love working with other people and I would get so lonely at home all day on my own.'

I can see both sides of the argument. I love the convenience of working at home, but as an employer, especially of a new or inexperienced team, you have to be on hand to coach and guide them.


>>Sherrilynne Starkie is the managing partner at Douglas-based Strive Public Relations, a virtual communications consultancy serving the Island's tech sector. She provides her views on business and technology, and the business of technology, each week in Tech Talk. Visit her business blog, Strive Notes for frequent updates. www.strivepr.com