7 Things the Boss Should Know About Telecommuting 156
Esther Schindler writes "An article on CIO.com presents input from several telecommuting IT professionals about the benefits that working from home brings to the enterprise. They suggest some processes that help remote workers interact with other team members, and discuss the irritations that twist telecommuters' shorts in a knot. In short, it's what employees truly want the boss to know about telecommuting. Two sidebars also discuss tips for telecommuters who don't want their careers to stall because they're 'out of sight, out of mind,' and the out of pocket expenses that the company and telecommuter need to divvy up."
7 Things My Boss Shouldn't Know ... (Score:5, Funny)
7. I have "Take This Job And Shove It" looping in iTunes.
6. Sometimes I follow links in Google that don't show up at the office when my "Safe Filer" is "On".
5. I work so hard at home that I need a break every hour.
4. Comedy Central replays the same stuff all day long.
3. My desk at home is very clean (in direct contrast to the pig sty in my office).
2. My cats are excellent proofreaders.
1. I'm naked.
Telecommuting = positive social change (Score:4, Insightful)
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
From past experience I can state that taking care of kids is a full time job - don't know that I could work also...
It depends on the age of the kids. By the time mine were about 11 they were happier for me to stay out of their way; I just needed to be around if things went wrong. And in the 2 hours a day I saved on commuting I could actually spend some quality time with them. Of course, during term time it was mainly a matter of taking them to school in the morning or collecting them in the evening, which was a lot more practical 15 minutes from the school instead of 75 minutes.
Re:Telecommuting = positive social change (Score:5, Insightful)
I'm reading the article (yeah I know) and I have to say that management is probably most resistant to telecommuting because of the fact that if they cant physically see the employee is only taking 20-25 minutes to complete a task they expect may take an hour that they cant see the employee sitting around doing nothing and pile yet more work onto them.
I read somewhere that employees now are doing 2-3x as much work as employees had to do 10, 20, 30 years ago... Its not exactly fair since workload goes up that much but the wages do not reflect that. We could have much less unemployment if instead of hiring people in high stress situations that they actually hire 2 people to do the work of 2 people. They'd get things done faster and presumably with less errors than the 1 person trying to do the work of 2 people.
Basically, resistance to telecommuteing is a result of not being able to unilaterally pile more work upon their employee which they could do if they were physically present in the office.
Re: (Score:2)
I'll back this up from the alternate viewpoint - I have two small children (1 & 2), and even when my wife is home it's just impossible to get anything done with them around. They don't understand "Daddy's not here, he's working, even though you can see him..." very well.
full time job? (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Microsoft, in general, is pretty good about letting people work from home. Many jobs do not require constant meetings, or in-person discussions on a daily basis.
However, there are some teams at Microsoft that have their heads shoved pretty deep up their butts. Mandating that people be at work, regardless of if they have meetings or not, but then granting exceptions to
Re:Telecommuting = positive social change (Score:5, Interesting)
Companies probably aren't primarily concerned with the social implications of work habits. To some extent, yes. But it's got to have a cost benefit attached to it or they simply cannot do it.
I think there is something to be said for this and many people that I work with do this to some extent but only on a very informal and infrequent basis.
I think it would be interesting to implement a rolling work schedule where you only come to work on one or two days a week and work the rest at home.
I personally find that when I do work from home my productivity is rather insane in comparison. I might only work 4 hours on some days, but I'll finish an entire week of work in that time and then spend the remaining 4 hours of the work-day observing the work in action (reading logs) while I watch a movie. A heck of a lot better than it might be at work.
Re: (Score:2)
This may be true for middle-to-small corporations, but I find that the really gigantic corporations I've worked for don't need a positive cost-benefit for everything. They give to charities, encourage employees to take company time on occasion for volunteer work, and the one I'm contracting to now even owns one of the w
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Another point that didn't seem to come up anywhere is the cost of commuting. Perhaps it's so obvious that people assume it doesn't bear mentioning, but I think it represents a significant, and understated, part of the cost/benefit equation.
The evolution of technological complexity that makes it hard to match up a sophisticated enterprise with talented workers has produced a culture in which people tr
Re: (Score:2)
I always thought that this was done to avoid suspicion.
Not just social benefites... (Score:5, Insightful)
The only problems I see are those interests that want us consuming as much fuel as possible. Obviously oil companies wouldn't want a state like California to cut it's fuel consumption in half. That would be a huge revenue hit. The state might also dislike the reduced revenue from fuel taxes as well. I would think that the reduced cost of road infrastructure would off set that though.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Plus, many managers like in-person management because they like being in
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Couldn't possibly agree with you more. Note that there are also considerable environmental benefits too. The morning and evening rush hours are the dumbest things on the Planet. The technology now exists working at home
University of Telecommuters (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2, Informative)
Re: (Score:2)
maybe without the trust fund...
Either way I would hate to work with you or employ you, or anyone else who describes themselves as lazy unless I'm partying.
also good for cleaning up the air (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
You're likely to have lots of time to spend with your kids, since any job you can do at home can just as easily be done by someone in Bangalore, India. I suppose whether that represents significant beneficial social change
Personal Benefits (Score:5, Interesting)
1. I don't have someone stopping by my cube every 30 minutes interrupting my concentration for casual conversation. That is very annoying. At home I don't have this distraction and I'm able to get more work done.
2. Since I started working from home two days a week, I have save myself 2 hours of driving time a week. Less gas, less wear and tear on the car, and a lot less frustration dealing with traffic! That means a happier employee.
3. I can curse and scream as loudly as I please when somebody does something stupid. It's a great stress reliever. In the office, well. The HR department would have issues if they heard what I wanted to say half the time!
4. Comfort! Cube farms suck. If I'm comfortable you know I'll be more productive. I can sit out on my porch in the warm weather and enjoy FRESH AIR AND SUNLIGHT while I work with my laptop. It is a huge, HUGE plus over florescent lights and stale office air.
5. I save money on laundry. (o:
Overall, I'm a lot happier and more productive when I'm at home working.
On the flip side, it is useful to be in the office once in a while too. Meetings in face to face can be more productive and it can be easier to get things done. Other than meetings though, I really don't see the point. Offices are just too depressing and distracting.
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
Meetings in face to face can be more productive and it can be easier to get things done.
You really think so? I find that face-to-face meetings are a much more difficult medium to exchange ideas in rather than than e-mail or, when rapid response is required, using IMs or video conferencing software. When discussing in person ideas are often broken before being fully expressed or parties can be subtly influenced by social and conversational constraints. I know that I'm at least much more likely to express disagreement in written form rather than in conversation. Usually, also, I find ideas
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
Face to face meetings are necessary, but productive? They can be productive, especially on
Re: (Score:2)
Seriously though, meetings can be helpful if there is an agenda and people stick to it. "We are meeting to discuss X and Y." So talk about X and Y. Keep the extra chatter out. I really don't want to waste my time hearing about what happened on The Simpsons this week. I also don't want to watch someone change a diaper (yes, that actually happened, it was gross and it really pissed me off).
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
It's easier to pick up meaning that you'd miss in written correspondence, or even phone conversation. You're more likely to ask a good question and the back and forth nature of conversation makes it more likely that ambiguities will be cleared up.
Amen! It's very handy to be able to note when someone in sales/management/marketing's eyes start to glaze over when you're explaining some technical detail. Then you can backtrack and re-explain so everyone understands, w/o having to respond to somebody's "I didn't understand your comment about X" message two or three days (or weeks!) later. It's also handy when your bogometer goes off and you can glance over at someone else on your team and see if they're likewise wary. I also find they're much quicke
Re: (Score:3)
I would be a bit curious, actually, to know whether /.'ers think that meetings can be productive. Perhaps my own experience or preferences are not the norm (or perhaps they are?).
A lot of meetings are a complete waste of time, especially ones that are regularly scheduled. But if there are problems then getting around a table to find a way forward is the best way I have found. I've seen political deadlocks that have been bouncing around for months by email be resolved within 30 minutes face-to-face. And a face-to-face project brief at the start of a project is pretty handy, too. So it all depends on the meeting -- don't write them all off, just because most are rubbish.
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
I would agree with this, except for one occasion I remember we were on a very tight schedule for the final delivery of a project. The project manager introduced something we called 'Daily Prayers'. Every morning we had a meeting *strictly time limited to 15 minutes MAX* to raise any issues and track progress. Often it just required confirmation that you are indeed still working on the bit you said you would be. It
Re: (Score:2)
Yep. When I was in the Navy, every day in port the division (all seven of us) met for about ten minutes to go over the days schedules for the division, department, and ship - and those were absolutely invaluable in get
Re: (Score:2)
We also we all have these cards with tasks assigned. So, as and when you are done with something, you can pick a new card (or trade a card with someone), which usually happens during these meetings.
A great way to touch base and keep track.
We call it agile development, even though there usually is no real "development" involved (most tasks are thi
Re: (Score:2)
You just described (without the color and competing pirates) a game called "Ninja Burger" almost exactly.
It's a fun game if you are into that stuff and like ninjas.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
Re: (Score:2)
Meetings CAN actually be helpful but often aren't. The more formal the meeting, the less likely it is to be productive.
Ideally, meeting participants should feel free to break into sub-meetings if that is what is called for. For example, in projsct planning, once the overview is determined and people have naturally gravitated to a subset of the project, those groups should discuss their part in more detail amongst themselves.
People should feel free to excuse themselves from a meeting in progress. Sometim
Re: (Score:2)
"Stand ups" where everybody gives a status update is best done in "virtual" sense (con-call, email
On the flip side, design meetings, especially when dealing with physical layout issues, can be a different issue. For example, this past week I had a 20 minute meeting with our network team to discuss rack layout, positioning and the other fun issues that arise when you are low
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Man, I do some of my best thinking when I'm doing chores around the house. When I was telecommuting full-time, I did a whole ton of chores while worrying over some problem or other, then (frequently stopping in the middle, to resume later) going and implementing the solution I came up with. Most of the time, the solution I came up with worked the first time, or the second, whereas in an office, it would take 4-5 shots before the problem was solved.
Now I work in a lab, no telecommuting for me!
I would love having this option (Score:3, Insightful)
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:I would love having this option (Score:4, Interesting)
If you work on infrastructure, you know that meetings are generally a waste, and conf. calls can be done from home. What you are left with is balancing the amount of work you do at your desk and what can't be done at your desk. If you work to ensure that >50% can be done at your desk, you have validation for working from home 2-3 days per week.
How's that?
Re: (Score:2)
Re:I would love having this option (Score:5, Insightful)
Development is not a solo effort, you need to talk to the users, the analysts, the other coders, the testers, there's a whole design process.
While you can do all this remotely via phone and video conferencing, it's nowhere near as effective as face to face, and raising the effort needed to communicate cuts out on a large amount of communication.
On top of just the job at hand, there's a whole lot of personal growth and exposure to new/different ideas/points of view that you just don't get when working from home or working solo.
My last job shut down their Sydney office and let everyone either work from home or from a serviced office. Within a month all the people I regarded as clued in had found other work, and the remainder reduced their quality to the point where I made a point of asking not to be put in teams with them.
getting back towards the topic, I think telecommuting very occasionally, like maybe one or two days a month is ok, it's like a bit of an extra holiday and can give people a bit of space when they feel their job has become a little stale.
Once you're doing it every week though you should really look at the reasons you don't like going to your work place and try to fix those problems rather than running away from them
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
Telecommuting does not work for programmers in any sort of team environment, which either is or should be most jobs.
Development is not a solo effort, you need to talk to the users, the analysts, the other coders, the testers, there's a whole design process.
getting back towards the topic, I think telecommuting very occasionally, like maybe one or two days a month is ok, it's like a bit of an extra holiday and can give people a bit of space when they feel their job has become a little stale.
Once you're doing it every week though you should really look at the reasons you don't like going to your work place and try to fix those problems rather than running away from them
I think you vastly over-estimate the level of involvement required in most development jobs. Sure when the application is being designed and developed there needs to be a lot of face to face interaction. However, once the application is in maintenance mode there's little to no need for face time. I can read a bug out of bugzilla, look at the screenshots and fix the bug just as well from home as I do in the office. Secondly I can add another screen that looks similar to all the other screens and uses th
Re:I would love having this option (Score:5, Insightful)
Any number of open source projects would serve as excellent counterexamples of highly productive projects involving teams that collaborate closely across large distances. Most of my day job is Linux kernel development, and while I'm fortunate to have great kernel hackers in my office and in the neighborhood who I can go hang out with and ask questions, the nature of the project dictates that most of the people I work with are people I've never, or only occasionally, met face-to-face.
It certainly takes some getting used to. It's been a real test of my reading and writing skills--you need to be able to understand and explain complex technical ideas, and keep discussions going despite personality conflicts. And it'll help to have good local computer resources, a fast network connection, and a mail client that helps you handle massive mailing list traffic efficiently....
Re: (Score:2)
Speak for yourself. I work for a BIG company that writes ALOT of open (and closed) source code and have been doing so for 7+ years. I am highly productive, I get top reviews every year, I make a nice 6-figure salary, and I get to work on tons of interesting projects developing operating system code both as a developer and a technical lead. The fact that it doesn't work for you means that
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
That's ok, programming doesn't work in a team environment either.
I'd come at it from the other direction (Score:2)
Once you're doing it every week though you should really look at the reasons you don't like going to your work place and try to fix those problems rather than running away from them
If you like your office more than your home, I'd worry more about that says.
Re: (Score:2)
I have similar experiences showing that face to face is a lot more efficient than conference calls (though lousy conferencing equipment is one of the contributors to that). On the other hand, programming is a job which requires concentration, constant interruptions are a big problem. I have experience with that, too - when I'm in the office very late or very early I
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
That is a pretty sweeping generalization. Just because you are on a team does not mean that you need to be in constant communication with the other people on the team.
I agree with that statement, but...
Developers do not need to talk to users every day. Actually no one on a development team (testers, program managers, etc) ne
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
In a very small organization, you end up with your hands on the hardware a lot, but this condition dilutes in larger organization due to economies of scale. For example, the person in charge of infrastructure is not doing desktop system installs. A more junior person can do that at less cost. Even then, a knowledgeable person doing desktop installation and maintenance has figured out the value of doing that centrally as well. There comes a poi
Re: (Score:2)
Yup - and that's one factor that keeps companies from implementing telecommuting, there are too many jobs you simple can't do remotely. If only a few get to do it, the rest feel disenfranshised and morale can plummet.
Anecdote time: My wife is an accountant - at one job all she did was review reports for completeness and correctness, and either forward them to the client or kick them back to the staff. (Essentially QA work.) Since the reports were already
Re: (Score:2)
It depends. As you say, in your role you sometimes have to go fix someones desktop, but that isn't always the case. We've got several decently sized computer labs, and depending on which person on the 'infrastructure team' you are talking about would change if they can work at home or not. Planning a big install (figuring out what parts to buy, figuring out how to space them out, figuring out how much
Re: (Score:2)
I wear the sysadmin ha
Most important: (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Most important: (Score:5, Interesting)
Here in IBM, 40% of the workforce is classified as "mobile" or "at home". The difference in classification is really just the percentage of time that you travel or work at customer sites. My boss and his boss telecommute. My department consists of people scattered around the globe, some telecommuting, some not. So, there's no real hit to the career for to anyone for telecommuting. In fact, you have to justify having an office these days.
The important thing to remember is not to cut yourself off. Keep an IM session (in IBM it's Sametime) alive while you're around, keep your cell phone on if you're at a customer site, get a good speakerphone, and get the best broadband you can get (for me it's FiOS). Have weekly teleconferences with team members (or more often if needed). Set clear agendas for meetings so they don't drag on and for pity's sake, learn to use the mute button, especially if you are a mouth breather or have kids/dogs in the room.
Telecommuting can work very well if there's a culture for it.
Re: (Score:2)
For instance, I do telecom R&D and there are at least 5 times during the day when my boss walks in to brainstorm some idea or vice-versa (or do so with someone else I work with). It is wonderful to exchange ideas back and forth, and you can get a surprising amount of new ideas this way.
Also, there is something to be said about having a whiteboard to hash ideas out with your team - that's not something you can do when you telecommute - at least not easily.
I do work with a couple of people who tel
One day a week (Score:4, Insightful)
The hardest thing about working from home is trying to explain to family and friends that you are trying to work. When they know you are at home, then tend to treat is as if your on vacation, and its ok to call and small talk or pop-in.
Re: (Score:2)
And this is different from your co-workers popping by your cubicle how exactly?
As a long time telecommuter (Score:5, Insightful)
1. Background noise - Parents, shut your children up! Nothing sounds more unprofessional than hearing kids yelling in the background. This goes for barking dogs, parakeets, laundry room, the kitchen and taking a conference call from the local pub.
2. Get a dedicated phone line for office work with a vmail that has a professional greeting. No "Hi, Jim and Linda are unable to answer the phone right now..."
3. Don't milk the expenses. In fact you'd be better off not charging any expenses as it is a factor when it comes time for layoffs. Software licenses are a different matter, but you may want to consider your own license if you develop on the side.
4. Be available/no sneaking out.
5. There are no set hours. It's not 9 to 5, and being flexible for your customers across timezones puts you at an advantage over cube jockeys with a commute.
6. Avoid day trading.
7. Don't become a hermit. Meet up with the local coworkers for lunch at least once month.
Re: (Score:2)
In the interest of clarity: Are you describing what some call "flex time" where workers get credit for working whenever they work and are in the clear with management so long as they fulfill their weekly work hours? Or are you saying that telecommuting ought to be a message to one's boss that one is willing to work whenever management says to wor
Re: (Score:2)
Depends on the compensation, position, situation and ambition of the individual. In my experience, those in the latter tend to thrive professionally
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
How To Hired? (Score:1, Offtopic)
one (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Small companies are usually focused on growth, and they want to push for more lines of code, so they're less id
Re:How To (Be) Hired? (Score:2)
I normally use a mouthstick to type and a "foot mouse" to move and click.
Regarding being mod'ed down as offtopic, TFA mentioned a disabled programmer - I was following up on that person.
ISP Help Desk (Score:1)
All of global IT is telecommuting (Score:4, Interesting)
If your company deals in IT spread all over the globe, then the company's IT workers are already telecommuting. They're just living in your office space 8 hours a day. NOW do the math!
--Rob
Half true... (Score:2)
O.U.T.S.O.U.R.C.E. (Score:3, Interesting)
Telecommuting == career suicide (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Why should it be "career suicide?" In fact, how do you define "Career suicide" in the first place?
Re: (Score:2)
You best be immersing yourself in the culture of a company up to the eyeballs if you want to go that route, and telecommuting is not the way to do that. I'm not saying it's optimal; I'm not saying it's right, either - but I am saying that
Re:Telecommuting == career suicide (Score:5, Insightful)
Yours is "you probably won't get into management".
I don't _want_ to get in to management. I've already advanced as far as I possibly can within my company - a senior R&D programmer (having advanced litterly from the bottom - doing casual handline envelope stuffing jobs). I don't see getting into senior management as "advancing my career", I define it as "Starting an entirely different career, and one I'm not suited to, telecomuting or no telecomuting".
But in anycase, I don't believe the telecomuting would necesarily stop that - I'm pretty heavily immersed in the culture of the company - I've been here ten years, and believe I have earnt the sort of level of respect and recognition required for a move into management if that were my goal (and if I had any actual talent for it).
Maybe five day a week telecomuting might put the breaks on advancement a little (I personally do two to three), but it's more about personality than face time. You just have to be the sort of person that people notice - and ensure that when they do notice you, that there's good things to see.
Whew. (Score:2)
A supplement, not a substitute (Score:2)
My previous boss viewed telecommuting as a supplement rather than a substitute. See, we had flex time. You could stay up as late working as necessary, so long as you were in by 8am. Telecommuting was viewed as "overtime lite". He wanted us to report telecommute time separately from time spent at the office.
And 1 thing you probably shouldn't mention (Score:5, Insightful)
Re: (Score:2)
And on a different timezone with a lovely inability to speak to customers in decent English!!!!
I telecommute. Cell phone is always attached and I return calls within 10 minutes unless on a conference call. E-mail is turned around as quickly as possible. I love telecommuting, I know that it will get old eventually, but they keep sending me checks!
Re:And 1 thing you probably shouldn't mention (Score:4, Funny)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Its pretty simple (Score:2)
Most/all of the broadband data
Allotment for office equip: Printer, Router, etc. up to a fixed dollar amount
Monthly office supplies, paper, ink, etc.
Use a corporate credit card and submit expenses monthly
I do this and the only noise I get is about the high price of printer ink. But it's from their preferred retailers so screw them.
Yea but... (Score:3, Insightful)
But the number one thing they will realize, is that if you working at home works, someone working in India for 1/6 the wage will work just as well.
Don't be stupid people, if your boss is letting you telecommute, they are just beta testing offshoring.
.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
And what if your boss, and his boss, and his boss, and her boss are also all telecommuting? In some companies telecommuting is simply the normal way of doing business.
Seven contradictory things (Score:2)
- it takes a particular kind of worker to be a successful telecommuter
and
- if telecommuting is an option for one employee, it should be available to all
This sounds like it would be a problem.
Many benefits (Score:2)
Any company that even considers outsourcing should first consider telecommuting. Telecommuting DOES reduce an employee's overhead, both in time and money. In many places, an employee would much rather work for an extra hour rather than waste it in traffic. In return, they don't have to buy so much $3.00/gal. gas. As TFA pointed out, it's much easier to find good people when they don't have to move to accept the job, and if they can choose to live where they want, they don't have to demand a king's ransom fo
Quite a change from 7 years ago (Score:2)
As predicted, the jobs which don't require being in the location are gone and the posts confirm the truth.
Easier to outsource? (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
So far, I'm enjoying the time that I spend at home, and I too moved to Europe -- so I get to enjoy the culture and the cafes, even when working. With highspeed wireless internet (up to 1.8mbps with UMTS/HSDPA),
Re: (Score:2)
I feel that I mashed a bunch of ideas together... I forgot to elaborate on the above.
Some people are looking for other opportunties otherside their normal office rather than promotions. Rather than spending time around the water cooler, teleworkers can get their jobs done and still have time to pursue other interests... hobbies, contract work, etc.
Now, some might not think this
Re: (Score:2)
At the office I get a lot more interruptions from people wandering by and chatting. At home, I can actually work; it is much easier to delay response to instant messaging than face-to-face, so I can finish my current activity. I also tend to spend a lot mo
Re: (Score:2)
And to clairfy, i didnt say it NEVER makes sence, only that its rare.
STFU (Score:2)
Work at home breeds lazyness and costs in lost productivity as only lazy people do it on an ongoing basis. Get back to your office and get back to work.