The Telecommuterer

Telecommuting Links: 2007-07-25

2007-07-25T17:53:45Z

Dilbert on Telecommuting (4 days worth). Funny, and as usual raises some real issues that come up in the virtual workplace (via The Portal Post)
Telecommuting to Help Saudi Women to Work - Women who are restricted from driving themselves to work are able to find jobs working from home (via Work At Home Business Opportunities and Web Worker Daily)
Busting Myths About Telecommuting
Telecommuting becoming more popular in the accounting industry (via CPA Success)

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Misrepresenting Yourself

2007-07-25T17:37:03Z

Brent Toderash writes about the temptation to lie or misrepresent yourself to your customers/clients when working from home. Because of the fear of being looked down upon because of one’s workplace (ie: home), people will refer to their one-person operations as “we” instead of “I”, will not be up front with people that they are not working in a “real” office, and will even go so far as to play a soundtrack in the background playing fake office sounds so as to give the person on the other line the impression that they are working in a “real” office.

I agree with Brent on this one - lying to one’s customers, coworkers or clients is never acceptable. However, I would qualify that as long as working from a home office does not affect your work in a negative way, there is no reason to bring this up with someone right away. As long as it will not be a distraction (ie: no crying babies in the background), treat your home office as if it were a “real” office. There is no need for misrepresentation or fake soundtracks - and there is also no need to be openly defensive about your choice of workplace. Act professionally towards those with whom you work and treat your workplace as you would any other - no one can ask any more from you.

lying, misrepresentation, office, sounds, telecommuting

Telecommuting for a Small Business

2007-07-09T11:43:46Z

Ann All of IT Business Edge recently reported on how small and medium size businesses (SMB’s) are less likely to have employees telecommute than are larger companies. According to a recent survey by Citrix Online, 40 percent of SMB’s allow employees to work from home, compared to 76% of larger companies. It seems that the main barrier in the way to doing this is technological: while employing remote workers can lead to higher productivity and job satisfaction, it also requires the expenditure of initial investment in the proper technology to support these workers. Without being able to fully and securely integrate into the office remotely, telecommuting is often not worthwhile. Correspondingly, according to the survey cited above, 43% of SMB’s have the technology framework in place to support remote workers, compared with 76% of larger businesses. As the different technologies needed for telework become cheaper and easier to implement, the percentage of small businesses supporting telecommuting should rise.

In the meantime, if you work for a small or medium-size business and want to pursue telecommuting, consider the following options:

Build up the trust - Small businesses that are not used to employees working from outside of the office will tend to be more reluctant to let you out of their sphere of influence than would be a larger corporation that has internal policy and technology built to do just that. Although the company can theoretically gain in productivity from employees working where they are most comfortable, they also risk more by giving up on direct oversight. To overcome this, give them good reason to be able to trust you in the scenario where you would be working from outside of the office. Only with this trust in place will they feel more comfortable investing in the technology needed to make it work.
Do your own research - Though a small business may be more open to change and innovation than a corporate behemoth that has dozens of people employed to set corporate policies, and thus a small business may be the ideal candidate to make the move towards supporting telecommuting, small businesses are also less likely to have extra man hours available to set up and support telecommuting policy and technology. If you feel that it is appropriate, take the initiative yourself. Research the pros and cons of telecommuting for your company and for your position. Look into the different technology requirements (you would be surprised how many free or relatively inexpensive solutions are out there that can help make the technology work for you). Present your findings to your managers. This saves them the work, shows them that it may be a very worthwhile proposition for them financially, and is an indicator that you are taking it seriously.
Start Small - There is no need to go all-in from the start. Suggest that you start telecommuting one day a week. Keep a log of how your work is going, how it affects your productivity, commute and overall job satisfaction. One day every week or two is much more palatable as it does not require that every last piece of technology be in place and allows management to see first-hand how it is affecting you.

job satisfaction, larger companies, medium size businesses, productivity, small business, smb, telecommute, telecommuting, telework

Telecommuting Links: 2007-07-04

2007-07-04T06:41:20Z

Is Telecommuting for You? (Quiz) - via Work at Home Mom Revolution
The Unique Challenges of Telecommuting
Telecommuting Moves Outdoors - 9 out of 10 workers would prefer to work from outdoors; 73% consider flexibility in work location a significant factor in a job hunt; Microsoft builds an tree house office in London.
Sorting through work at home jobs - What should you look for and beware of in ads for advertising work-at-home (while avoiding work-at home scams)

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Telecommuting Links: 2007-06-25

2007-06-25T12:06:28Z

Domenico Bettinelli talks about his first week back commuting to work after telecommuting for the past fifteen years
Is Telecommuting Right for You? by Fred White - Goes over the benefits of telecommuting, as well as tips for both the worker and employer (via Chris De La Rosa)
Tips From an Expert on the Do’s and Don’ts of Telecommuting by Bill Grodnick
Three Tips to Keeping Your Home Office Dream from Becoming a Nightmare by Brandi Cummings
How to Optimize Teleworkers by Denise Dubie (via the Future of Work blog)

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Telecommuting Links: 2007-06-22

2007-06-22T07:14:08Z

Distributed Work: HSBC Gets It - Jim Ware from The Future of Work blog links to and discusses an article in the London Times Online on how HSBC has halved the number of employees who work in their main headquarters, not through layoffs, but through remote work
Working from Home a Work in Progress - Stephen Barr of the Washington Post reports on the recent US government report on the state of telecommuting in the Federal Government. Mike Gunderloy also gives commentary on Web Worker Daily.
It’s Time to Get Serious About Telecommuting - Paul Lima writes about his own telecommuting experiences, and about how telecommuting is good for the environment
The Office: A Relic of the Old World - Buckeye gives his opinion on why most people should not be working from a centralized office
Telecommuting Disadvantage #2 - Jill talks about the isolation of working at home
New Bill Includes Telecommuting Incentives - Sabra Aaron talks on Web Worker Daily about some new proposed legislation

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Virtual Job Interviews

2007-06-20T18:11:07Z

“It’s now possible to meet with recruiters without actually showing up for a job interview.” The Wall Street Journal is reporting on several companies (including HP, Microsoft and Verizon) who are starting to interview job candidates and hold job fairs in Second Life. Though not telecommuting per-say, this is enough of a change from the traditional office interview to merit mention on this blog. Read More…

hp, interviews, microsoft, recruiting, second life, verizon

Telecommuting now and in the future

2007-06-20T05:51:05Z

TECHdodo writes about an encounter with some individuals whose job seems to call out for telecommuting, yet they still live in an area with $800,000 houses and commute to work. They take pride in their teleconferencing center and call-forwarding system, but are not aware of tools like Skype and Grand Central that can do the same for much much less money. This is the norm right now - even for people who do not require so much face time and should be able to work remotely, saving themselves and their employers time and money, the concept is still foreign. Read More…

grand central, skype, telecommuting, work

More Ways to Find a Work-at-Home Job

2007-06-20T05:10:58Z

Sylvie Charrier dispenses some advice, including defining carefully what you are looking for, preparing your materials thoroughly, using work-at-home databases, freelance directories, online search tools and job boards. Read More…

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Companies Help Workers Save on Gas Costs

2007-06-19T16:12:02Z

USA Today reports on how more companies in the US are trying to help employees with transportation costs, or through other methods (ie: more telecommuting) in response to higher gas prices:

Employers are taking action as average national gas prices persist above $3 a gallon. Nearly 90% of employees drive to work, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Thirteen percent of companies offer transit subsidies, and 7% subsidize carpooling, according to a 2006 survey by the Society for Human Resource Management. Twenty-six percent allow telecommuting on a part-time basis.

The article also details workplace initiatives like providing a shared vehicle for limited employee use, flexible work schedules to help employees avoid peak rush-hour traffic and reimbursements for employees who carpool. Look to see these types of commute-friendly policy changes become more standard as commutes get longer and gas gets more expensive. Read More…

carpooling, commute, companies, gas, gas prices, rush hour, telecommuting