This chapter reviews current research on telework. We first examine the literature on telework and job performance, job attitudes, and professional isolation, before reviewing the outcomes of telework on employee well-being as characterized by stress and work-life balance. We then turn our attention to factors that contribute to a successful telework experience: characteristics of the job, characteristics of the employee, and characteristics of the employee's manager(s). We also identify the key role of technology support in influencing many of the established outcomes of and contributors to telework. Finally, we discuss the gaps in our knowledge of telework's repercussions for employees and organizations. We conclude by identifying the implications of what we do know for theory and practice. To maximize positive outcomes, we recommend evidence-based guidelines for organizations with regard to 1) selecting and preparing employees for telework, and 2) managing their use of this flexible work practice.Flexible work practices refer to mutual arrangements made between employers and employees that vary the hours and location of work, often with the dual aim of improving employees' work-life balance and meeting the organization's needs (Thompson, Payne & Taylor, 2015). Telework is one such arrangement, which involves working away from the office for a portion of the work week while keeping in contact via information and communications technology (ICT) (Allen, Golden & Shockley, 2015). It can be used simultaneously with other flexible work arrangements, such as flexible hours and part-time work. Telework is usually conducted from a location of the employee's choosing (e.g., home) and can thus be differentiated from remote work, which more often takes place at different business units or while travelling for business purposes.One acknowledged difficulty in drawing any firm conclusions about the impact of telework is that studies of this work arrangement appear in numerous disciplinary literatures: management, human resource management, industrial relations, psychology, family studies, sociology, information systems, logistics, and operations, for example. For the purposes of this chapter, which is attempting to identify individual-level factors that facilitate or hinder the telework experience, we will be drawing upon each of these literatures but focusing primarily upon those relevant to interpersonal processes rather than organization-level systems.
Outcomes of TeleworkOutcomes of telework manifest themselves in a number of different ways. We will first examine work-related outcomes in the form of job performance, job attitudes, and professional isolation. Following this, we will review the effects of telework on well-being, in the form of stress and work-life balance.
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