The Traffic and Virtualization

How does an average 12 km of urban traffic jam sound to you? Nowadays I spent roughly one and a half hour to go to the office, which is 22 km west from home, on my motorbike. Most of the time if not always- I had to endure more than halfway in a very heavy traffic jam. Although there is alternative route which is abut 27 km long with less traffic, but the time count is just about the same.

In total, the time needed to travel from home to office vice versa is normally 3 hours. I wear t-shirt each time I travel to work since it gets hot and I get sweaty, and by the time I arrive I change to the appropriate work clothing.

Truth is, spending 3 hours going back and forth in heavy traffic jam to get to office and back home to me is a waste of gas, energy, health, and time. And in my case, I am experiencing a steady decline of health and performance, regardless of my considerably healthy lifestyle and sleep pattern.

For broader picture of this issue, here's a news release from KBN Cakung, stating the losses because of heavy traffic jam. In 2007, Kompas has reported a 43 trillion rupiahs loss annually.

Office virtualization is one alternative solution which I believe can cut costs, increase efficiency and prolong the staffs’ health. Here’s an interesting article I read the other day about the need for office virtualization.

Basically the requirements for successful virtualization are:

- Establish Trust, between company and staffs.

- Establish Connectivity using all means of available telecommunication technologies: internet, telephone, mobile, etc.

- Establish Work Schedule and self discipline.

I think with good preparation, virtualization will be a rewarding new experience for the company, as well as for the employees. And in distant future it will become the next work culture, if not already.