By MATT CHANDLER
mchandler@bizjournals.com | 716-541-1654

For all the benefits of technology, one of the most tangible could be the flexibility it gives employees to work from just about anywhere. Thanks to smartphones, the iPad, WiFi and Internet-based phone service, the traditional office setting has gone virtual.

Aside from employees being able  to check email and voicemail at night and on weekends, are more companies using technology to streamline operations and enhance employee satisfaction by allowing some, or all, to work from home?

The answer appears to be yes.

With fewer office-based workers, businesses not only conserve  resources but in some cases operate within a smaller office footprint while boosting morale and productivity.

William Collins is co-founder of Travers Collins and Co., Buffalo. He says virtually all of his 40 employees have taken advantage of a flexible structure that allows them to work from home, when necessary.

"We have a culture of treating our employees with respect and treating them like adults," he said. "We expect them to get the job done. And whether they are getting it done at their office here or they are getting it done at home, that's OK with us, as long as they are getting the work done."

According to Collins, the approach can be financially beneficial, as well.

"I think it helps us in the areas of retention and job satisfaction," he said. "More importantly, I think it eliminates distractions that keep employees from doing their best.

"If someone is working here and they are concerned about some other aspect of their life that is going on at that moment, that is going to impact how well they can do their job," he said. "(For example) here is an email I got this afternoon from one of our senior vice presidents. 'I had to come home to meet the plumber to fix my sump pump. I'm going to stay here and work from home the rest of the day instead of going back and forth.' "

Do managers worry that such freedom will lead to workers taking advantage of the system and possibly hurt productivity? It depends on the business.

Collins said it comes down to hiring the right people. He added that he could not recall a single instance of a Travers Collins employee abusing the privilege of working from home.

Joel Colombo, president of 360 PSG, meanwhile, said his business has built-in safeguards to prevent abuse. The Web-design company has 20 employees who work on computer systems, and every movement is logged, recorded and visible not only to Colombo but to the customer. Whether an employee is working on a computer at home or in the office, productivity is a measurable matrix.

Colombo said for his company, the option of working from home becomes a practical one, as well.

"We are a growing company in a smaller space, so it creates a lot of commotion during the day," he said." So sometimes, working from home for just half the day can create some freedom that is beneficial."

If occasional freedom from the office is healthy, it's clear that Ben Shepard, 360 PSG's director of creative services, has taken the concept to a new level.

He oversees the creative team while working entirely from his home office. That in itself is a unique work-from-home scenario but consider this: Shepard's home is more than 700 miles away in North Carolina.

Said Colombo: "He manages his team using Skype and has morning huddles with them and communicates with them daily. We see his cat sitting on his shoulders every now and then ... but in all seriousness, having him working from his home is a great starting point for expansion for us."

Shepard, meanwhile, said his move from Buffalo to North Carolina was "pretty seamless," and he credits technology for making his unique job situation possible.

"Project management and the ability for me to track whatever metric we want to is pretty much the same," he said. "Everything is online, and for me not much changed."

Still, there may be some drawbacks to working from home.

"In Ben's case, if we are doing some of the team-building things locally or we are all getting together as a staff, he misses out on that," Colombo said. "But I think having him in Raleigh definitely opens some doors for us, so we see it as an overall advantage for us."

Another challenge of working from home involves people staying focused and on task. Shepard said even in his remote location, that isn't an issue.

"From a discipline side, I've always been a fairly meticulous, organized person. So for me, working in a more isolated setting really wasn't a problem from that sense," he said. "The one thing I have had to adjust is that I have to go out of my way to engage myself with my team at times other than in management situations if I want to develop with them personally."