Telecommuting
Telecommuting may save you from a long, frustrating commute every morning and eve- ning. It may give you greater flexibility to spend your time with your family. Your work attire may even be soft slippers and an old housecoat. Telecommuting has plenty of advantages; still, it is not for everyone. You will probably get lonely and miss socializing with colleagues. You may lose your motivation and your focus. Or your presence at home may create family difficulties and tensions rather than bring you closer together. You might use up all that saved commuting time by working even more hours. You may even want to hurl your computer out the window when it freezes or crashes in the middle of an important project.
Self-assessment
Succeeding as a telecommuter involves certain skills and ways of thinking. Consider whether it fits your lifestyle and goals. Evaluate the benefits, obstacles, and challenges you would face. Think through your personal preferences, your home office environ- ment, your economic goals, and your family support system. Ask yourself how you work, whether you need coworkers around you, how disciplined you are, what skills you bring to a telecommuting situation, and whether telecommuting can fulfill your financial goals and needs.
Your phone keeps ringing, your child keeps knocking on the door, and your neighbor has dropped by for a chat. All the distractions of a home office can cause you to lose focus on your daily routine, your work, and your life. To stay focused, make a plan for your life. Write down the answers to these questions: “What things are most important to you in life?” What are your core values?” “What do you want to achieve in your lifetime?”
To focus on your work, create a job plan that includes your mission statement. Keep your customers and stakeholders in mind. Elucidate five results you plan to achieve, and a way to measure them. For daily planning, make “to do” lists that includes: your top work priorities for the day, specific accomplishments for the next day, actions you must take to achieve them, and a reward for yourself when you do accomplish them.
Avoid Wasting Time
At a traditional office, you tend to put all your less important chores and distractions on the back burner in favor of other, more important goals. When you work at home, these routine chores, time wasters, and distractions assume more importance. These time eaters include such things as laundry, errands, another round of computer solitaire, the morning paper, coffee, a chat with your neighbor, Internet surfing, and television.
Promise yourself to avoid these time wasters and focus on a productive day. Write down the major time wasters you engage in daily, so you identify them. Work on omitting, or at least managing, two of these this week. Use a symbol or key word to remind yourself of a goal, or post a reminder near your area of temptation, for example, the refrigerator.
Get Organized
A clean, organized workspace is essential to an office that runs smoothly. You need a system for keeping things tidy. Look around your office and move the stuff you don’t need, including files you haven’t used in more than a month. Take them off your desk. Clear out your desk drawers. Rearrange storage spaces so you can use them more effi- ciently. Do the work you need to do in order to organize yourself better.
A daily structured routine is one of the keys to successful telecommuting. Carry a micro- cassette recorder or put notepads and pens wherever you might be, so you can record your thoughts and ideas. Put a pad and pencil in your purse or briefcase, by the phone, in your car, on your desk, and beside your bed. Try a waterproof board in your shower. Make a habit of gathering your notes and using them in your calendar or planning system.
Avoid Isolation
Isolation is a major problem for telecommuters, even those who enjoy working on their own. Stay connected with your colleagues, as well as the rest of the world, to avoid isola- tion. You can do this several ways:
• Use all the available modes of communication to keep in touch.
• Schedule regular meetings to keep personal contacts.
• Join professional trade organizations to keep up-to-date on your industry.
• Take classes and seminars to meet people and update your skills.
• Volunteer. You’ll feel good and you’ll stay connected with your community.
Keep Track of Your Expenses
If your employer does not furnish a company expense log or form, you will need to create a system for recording your expenses. Be sure to:
• Keep consistent records, whether computerized or paper-based.
• File daily receipts for tax deductible or reimbursable expenses.
• Log your car mileage.
Family Time and Other Considerations
The common myth about telecommuting is that if you work at home, you will have more time to spend with your family. This is not always the case. You will save commuting time and you will have more flexibility, but if you take on child care or eldercare as well as the demands of your home office, you are bound to burn yourself out. Combining your work and home life is a challenging balancing act that requires dedication and hard work. However, you can adopt some strategies that will make it a little easier.
1) Work with your family – Tell your family you are setting aside certain times for work and will be available at other times, and for emergencies. Tell them why your work is important, and what you need and expect from them. Ask about their concerns and feelings, and listen to what they need from you. Agree to a compromise that will make you all happy.
2) Minimize distractions – Others can distract you, but you can also distract yourself. Separate your office space from your bedroom, so work does not invade your sense of personal space. Do not put your office in a high-traffic area where you will be constantly interrupted. Make clear rules about interruptions. If a family member constantly interrupts you, have a talk and clear up the problem right away.
3) Minimize stress – You will feel stress when you are under deadlines, if you feel isolated or disorganized, or if you are bombarded with demands from all directions. Don’t take on too much. Delegate chores. Deal with conflict right away. Talk openly, and listen.
4) Provide for the kids – If you keep your children home with you, make important phone calls during naps or when they are not in the room. Keep toys and games handy in a box in your office, which should be childproofed. Give them a desk for activities, or even a VCR for movies. Talk with them openly about what you do. Con- sider child care issues, and ensure that your children have appropriate care. See if affordable child care is available.
5) Relate to your team – It is important to maintain a sense of trust, integrity, reliability, and consistency in your working relationships. Be honest and forthright in all you do. Because e-mail and voice mail messages can be misinterpreted, be careful with sar- casm and joking in your communications. To maintain people’s confidence in what they tell you, refrain from gossip. Find at least three ways to show that you are reli- able. Pay attention to what people tell you about your performance or your interactions with other people.
6) Keep in touch with your colleagues – Because everyone is so busy, people may not take the initiative to keep in touch. Take the responsibility of initiating that contact. Keep your manager up-to-date on your activities. Immediately communicate any concerns or questions. Get to know your co-workers and stay in touch with them.
You and your co-workers are interdependent. Identify which people have helped you in the past. Recognize and thank them for their effort in an appropriate way. Ensure you are accessible by phone and e-mail. Get a second phone line, return calls promptly, and use call forwarding. Keep informed through your business contacts. Remember birthdays and acknowledge people’s successes.
7) Work with your external partners – While you may feel isolated at times, you are certainly not alone. Besides your family and co-workers, you have another network of people. In your home office, you may need the services of an accountant, office manager, printer, researcher, public relations/marketing consultant, graphic designer, equipment technician, or administrative assistant. You will need to negotiate the details of a contracting agreement with your on-line service provider. Get it all in writing, including who will do the work, exactly what product or service is to be provided, the time it will take, how and when payment will be made, and what performance incentives or penalties are in place.
8) Technology tips – Technology changes so quickly, and so many gadgets and gizmos are available that you may become overwhelmed by all your choices. To make choosing easier, narrow your choices down by carefully deciding your specific needs and requirements. Follow this process to make decision making easier:
- Decide on your specific requirements.
- Make a “spec sheet” for the item you need. Think about how much you will use it, how it will work with the technology you already have, and what constraints may exist.
- Research the options. Discuss your specific requirements with a knowledgeable sales rep. Find out what is working for others in your field.
- Test your options. Try out the equipment in the store.
- Find out if you can conduct a trial run of the equipment that you are considering, with the option to return it if performance is unsatisfactory.
Implementation
If you are thinking about becoming a telecommuter or just starting out, decide the steps you need to take to make the transition. Note: The book contains work- book materials for making this assessment.] If you are already a telecommuter, assess your own practices and highlight areas you need to work on or improve. Focus and sharpen your skills as a telecommuter. Run through a telecommuter’s checklist that includes:
- Your potential for telecommuting success.
- A checklist for negotiating with your employer. Your agreement should cover terms and conditions, expectations, and plans for communications and equipment.
- Family agreements.
- Office location and layout.
- Equipment, furniture, supplies, and technological resources.
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