Telecommuting | Working at Home

A new alternative for employers and displaced workers

Forced to develop specific guidelines for telecommuters, employers find themselves at a loss on how to manage the distance worker. Employees face the challenge of integrating their professional life into their personal space, often space previously used by family members. More challenging, perhaps, is that not every job, not every worker, is suited for working at home. So regardless of whether working at home is by choice or by necessity, possible negatives can be replaced by positives with good planning and follow-up.

Implementing discipline while maximizing technology at home is probably the most difficult hurdle to overcome. If you were offered the opportunity to telecommute would you be doing yourself a disservice? On the other hand, would you finally get the recognition you deserve because many of your competitors in the office would not be able to cope as well as you with this change?

While it may be realistic to be concerned about distractions home-based workers face we often overlook the continual distractions from chatty colleagues, time spent looking for misplaced information, and meetings that don’t produce results, that office workers face. Being at home may mean an employee moves laundry from the washer to the dryer while waiting for a document to download, but it can also mean grabbing a cup of yogurt from the fridge instead of taking 40 minutes to go to the café next door.

If you are the employer, consider these tips for making a smoother transition from employees in your building to productive members of your team outside of the company zip code:

• Create guidelines and appropriate budgets for employees to help them set up their home office with appropriate equipment and supplies.

• Provide training on how to use technology more effectively to increase communication and manage information. Ensure employee competency in electronic back-ups when necessary.

• While working from home has some distinct advantages, lack of face-to-face contact can also be lonely and frustrating. Provide forums for required interaction to keep employees in touch. A great tool to facilitate this action is GoToMyPc.

• Be clear about what behavior is acceptable and what is not. For example, letting a child answer the phone may not be, while taking 20 minutes to run to school to pick up a child may be, provided you put in the extra time in the evening.

• Establish Telecommuting policy guidelines such as a requirement for full-time childcare in the home of the telecommuter.

• Finally, if you are concerned about Anthrax scares, provide employees guidelines for opening packages if they are receiving mail at home, Consider having employees come to the office to get mail on a regular basis.

If you are the employee:

• If possible, separate your workplace from your normal living space. It will be easier to focus on work, and you can physically leave your work at the end of the workday.

• Talk with your family/housemates about their concerns about your home office. Review the situation periodically to see what’s working and what’s not.

• Create a separate filing system for your professional life. If you don’t have a file cabinet, use portable file boxes to organize all your physical papers. Create a file index (www.thepapertiger.com) so you can find what you need quickly.

• Learn all the features of your e-mail system. It will improve your ability to communicate, increase your productivity and impress your colleagues.

• Develop specific ways to keep in touch with colleagues, based on their situation. While e-mail may be perfect in some situations, having lunch once a week may be more appropriate and productive. I highly recommend the use of Radmin.

Radmin includes full support for Windows Vista (32-bit and 64-bit), file transfer, multi-user text and voice chats, Windows security, Kerberos authentication, 256-bit AES encryption for all data streams, telnet access, multiple monitors support and unique DirectScreenTransfer™ technology.

Radmin utilizes the ever-present TCP/IP protocol - the most widespread protocol used in LANs, WANs and the Internet. This means you can access your remote computer from anywhere in the world. Radmin is deployed on thousands of corporate PCs worldwide.

Here are some of the corporations currently using Radmin:

· Coca Cola North America

· Procter & Gamble Co

· Dell, Inc

· United Parcel Service of America, Inc

· Children`s Healthcare of Atlanta

· Bank of New York

· The Boeing Company

· AT&T Corp

· Toyota Motor Corporation

· Hewlett-Packard Company

· IBM Corporation

· BMW South Africa

· KLM Royal Dutch Airlines

RADMIN: Remote Control Software. Try it Free!

Employees, who have the option to telecommute, and feel safer as a result, will produce better work and provide more value for the company. While working from home requires discipline, planning, and commitment, it can be very rewarding for employers and employees. The key to success is regular communication among family members, colleagues, and supervisors. If you want to know how the arrangement is working, ask!

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Your proposal should:

* State what potential advantages working from home would have on the company

* State what schedule you would like (i.e., telecommute 1-3 days weekly)

* Describe your alternative work site

* Explain how you would communicate with your supervisor, and co-workers

* Explain how you would be more productive as a telecommuter

* List what equipment you would need from your employer, and what equipment you already own

* Let your employer know how your dependent(s) (if any) need for care would be met

* Address any concerns that your employer might have

* Schedule to meet with your employer after performing your proposed arrangement to review your performance and to discuss whether this work from home arrangement is working or not.

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Following is a sample telecommuting proposal

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September 1, 2004

TO: Mary Lou, Supervisor

From: John/Jane Doe

RE: Telecommute Proposal

I am writing to express my desire to perform my job as Medical Transcriptionist in a work from home capacity beginning October 15, 2010. I've spent hours researching the subject, and I am excited about sharing the information I've gathered with you.

What are the benefits of telecommuting?

There are many benefits of working from home. Besides increasing productivity, working from home:

* Cuts the cost for office space

* Reduces stress and commuting time

* In case of emergencies I can take care of whatever problem arises and then work later on in the day instead of calling sick

* I can still work during harsh weather conditions

* Working from home can boost morale and help employees stay on the job.

* Improves the work/life balance

* Increases employment of women

* Increases employment of disabled workers, etc

These are only a few of the benefits that working from home can offer this company. Please give me the chance to prove these tremendous benefits to you.

A computer, printer, FTP, DSL or cable modem is all that I need to perform my job, and these are things that I already possess in my home office, and will use.

However, as a telecommuter I would need a subscription to the GoToMyPC software (http://www.GoToMyPC.com) so that I can access my work computer from anywhere. I would expect the department to support me in acquiring this, and in making monthly payments to my DSL account.

Telecommuting programs have been working for companies like Virgin Atlantic, AAA, Cigna, Carnival Cruise Line, etc, and can definitely work for this company.

I would like to telecommute two days a week starting 10/15/04 for a period of at least six months. After six months, once this is working out, I would like to telecommute three days a week, with the possibility of doing this full time after another review of my performance.

I do have dependent care needs that will be met by a part time babysitter.

I know that you're probably having concerns about off-site performance. If this is a concern for you, I assure you that you can monitor my productivity and performance off-site better than workers on-site.

How? Well, let me introduce you to Odesk Team. Odesk provides visibility into virtual cubicles of employees and remote workers.

Odesk (http://www.odesk.com) offers web-based applications that create a complete view of each person, including a web cam to capture and see what they're working on. So with the click of a mouse you can see work I've done in the past, you can verify logs, review work, etc.

After telecommuting for six months, on 04/15/05 we can sit down in a meeting to review my performance. At that time we can determine whether or not I should continue.

Enclosed please find several articles on telecommuting, names, telephone numbers, etc.,of managers and employees that are enjoying the benefits of telecommuting.

I know that I possess the skills and personality necessary to succeed as a telecommuter,and will prove that to you.

I am really looking forward to this and believe with all my heart that this will be atremendous benefit to the company, and all involved. Thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely, John/Jane Doe

There's no reason why telecommuting should be avoided. It can provide numerous opportunities that were formerly unavailable. In some instances you may be able to take your skill as a telecommuter and even do some very lucrative freelancing.

Here's a helpful link with more information about telecommuting jobs

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