Working From Your New Home: Telework - Telecommute - Home Office -

Once you decide that you are going to buy your first home, you have to think about employment. You can’t buy a house without a job unless an owner is willing to finance your purchase (because then he can keep the house and your down payment if you default.)

Although it is a good idea to hunt for work while you are house-hunting, just in case you can’t take your job with you, there may be a possibility that you can move somewhere affordable and keep your job. If your employer has remote facilities or major clients in another town, you may be able to transfer and relocate. Or, if your job is tele-workable, you may be able to work from your new home.

I call it “telework”. Why? Because it is work. The attitude that many people have towards telework is sufficient to demonstrate why opportunities are still so limited. I get really tired of the comments I hear all the time:

Oh, you work from home, you can mow the lawn anytime.

I had a really tough day at the office, you work from home, you have it easy.

It reminds me how, not so long ago, people thought that stay-at-home mom’s had a life of luxury, too. That is just ridiculous. And that is exactly what most managers are worried about. Are you going to be available, reliable, punctual? Are you going to be available for meetings, clients, vendors, your colleagues? Are you going to be productive? Are you really putting in 40 hours?

Or are you one of these?

If you are not serious, forget about telework. You’ll lose your job and ruin it for others. If you are serious about your job, there is no difference between working in a cubicle and working in a home office. At least, there shouldn’t be. If you want to succeed at telework, you need to have more than a little integrity.

But, yes ... your pets will be glad to have you home, and will be very supportive. If I forget to take my afternoon break for 10 minutes, my girls are happy to remind me that it is snack time - they will sit on my desk until I get up and take a break! Step out to the yard, get a breath of fresh air, and get the mail. Why not?

A very interesting article appeared in June 2007 about legislation to make telework Federally mandated in government agencies (scroll to bottom of page). I hope that Legislators will follow-up by providing the data requested by the U.S. Senate subcommittee on Homeland Security. It seems to me that the data should be fairly easy to collect to support this initiative. If you are interested in the type of data that could be used to advocate for telework programs at the Federal or State level, go to the bottom of this page.

May occupations can telework

Telework is probably feasible if you sit in front of a computer all day, if you are on the phone all day, or if you travel a great deal for your job. Teleworking may include regular weekly visits to a centralized office to get mail or participate in meetings, but meetings can often be handled without a commute via new conferencing technologies (webinars and teleseminars). You can also telework by using software that enables you to control your office computer from a remote location. A few samples of potentially full-time teleworkable positions, as they come to mind...

Sales * Procurement (purchasing) * Training and teaching (online) * Educational design * Administration of remote or decentralized operations * Conference administration * Inspection * Research * Investigation * Manufacturing project management (liaison between client and factory) * Call center work (telemarketing, receiving/routing calls, operator assistance) * Programming or any type of website development work or web management * Drafting, drawing, illustration * Technical writing, academic writing, or any type of writing, editing, proofing * Accounting, finance * Legal documentation * Transcription * Technical assistance or any kind of telephone-based or web-based live assistance * Marketing, advertising * Product development and design * Database management * E-business management * Service oriented businesses managed by a central call center like house cleaning, painting, landscaping, etc.

Telework Tips

I have some great tips and examples on how to plan in advance to get your boss comfortable with telework (so you can consider the possibilities of moving to a cheaper area to buy a house without changing your job). Since your journey to home ownership might take about a year, you have just enough time to plan ahead. Check out my book for lots of details: The Cat Lover’s Guide to Finding Your Own Home (click here to get the complete, full color e-book now).

I read a few books when first thinking about teleworking. The Dziak book (below) listed 10 Teleworking Traps right inside the front cover, and I seem to remember that book being the most useful. Note that I do not agree with everything that these authors suggest, particularly where telework is used as a hierarchical perk instead of instituted across the board as a matter of social responsibility; and when pre-assessment or ongoing functions are micro-managed (as is the case with some State programs). This is a negative focus for personnel management. However, the existence of these perspectives does provide some insight on issues of mutual trust and respect.  Technology has dramatically changed since some of these books were written ten years ago, so I’d suggest getting more up-to-date books. I read books that were written by researchers and managers, as well as those written for the teleworker, because, as an employee, I wanted to know what my bosses might be thinking. In order to overcome objections, I had to know their mindset.

These books are in date sequence - I suggest looking for newer texts in these subject areas, but I’m listing these so you can see the breadth of the subject area:

• Duarte, D. and Tennant Snyder, N. (2001). Mastering Virtual Teams. 2^nd ed.
• Johnson, N. (2001). Telecommuting and Virtual Offices: Issues and Opportunities
• Dziak, M. (2001). Telecommuting Success: A Practical Guide for Staying in the Loop While Working Away from the Office
• Jackson, P. and van der Wielen, J. (1998). Teleworking: International Perspectives, From Telecommuting to the Virtual Organization
• Kugelmass, J. (1995). Telecommuting: A Managers Guide to Flexible Work Arrangements.
• Kostner, J. (1994). Virtual Leadership: Secrets from the Round Table for the Multi-Site Manager

Top 10 Telecommutning Traps (Dziak, 2001, modified by me!)

1. Some workers take on more than can be completed in a day. While this may be ok initially to prove yourself, if work is completed with mediocre results, you may lose the opportunity to telework.
 

2. A disorganized home office is inefficient. I recommend the Building Excellence exercise, which is cheap, fun, online, and can teach you a little bit about being productive from a remote office - whether it is in a hotel room, or in your own home.
 

3. Good neighbors ask you to walk the dog, feed the cats, or supervise a repair man, or even babysit - while you are home. You aren’t home. You are at work. But maybe you can help before or after work, or on your lunch break if you have time.
 

4. Some workers spend too much time adding bells and whistles to presentations, or surfing the internet for new gadgets. If you wouldn’t normally do that in the office, do not do it in a home office. Focus on productivity. Clean, concise, simple.
 

5. This is kind of repeat.. but Dziak warns about spending too much time on software challenges. I’d like to modify this Trap. Be VERY careful about what you download into your ‘work’ computer. In fact, if you want to deduct your home office, you cannot do personal work in that space so don’t download anything unless you have to have it for work. Backup your data. You can always reinstall programs. I file everything on an external hard drive. Get technical support if it is available. Consider having a backup system.
 

6. Figure out some way of tracking projects and setting priorities on a schedule. Use a calendar on your desk or a bulletin board, if the visual reminder is helpful. I find that I need to have a visual calendar - having it all in the computer is like having it in a drawer somewhere - I’ll forget about it.
 

7. Gadgets -do you really need them? Do they help productivity or enable others to interrupt you? If your boss doesn’t use your cell phone to reach you, turn it off.
 

8. Switch off the computer at the end of the day. Do not take your work ‘home’. Do not store any ‘home’ stuff in your office. Create a comfortable, functional working environment. Your home ‘cubicle’.
 

9. Unfinished laundry and dishes should not be a temptation. Work is your priority. Don’t try to multi-task or integrate your home and work life or your work may suffer. If your work suffers, you may lose the opportunity to telecommute.. In spite of what Dziak says here, though, I think a lunch break is enough time to eat a sandwich and throw the laundry in the dryer. Just watch the clock, don’t lose track of time. Another Trap is working through your lunch break. It happens to me a lot, but I still recommend taking your breaks so you don’t feel too stressed.
 

10.  Be careful of anti-social behaviors. Don’t go off track. My personal rule is that any problem that can be solved in one quick phone call should not wait for an email. Any problem that takes more than 2-3 emails, requires a phone call. Keeping in touch by phone is the BEST way to keep your personal connections with your colleagues, vendors, supervisors, etc. As the phone company used to say - Long distance IS DEFINITELY the next best thing to being there.

Advocating Telework at the Federal and State Level:

Legislation:

Gupta, A. (2007). Lawmakers weigh proposal to expand telework eligibility

Suggested data:

- report commuting data (mileage) and cross reference that with emissions to provide evidence as to some basic savings with regard to air pollution and the environment

- report statistical data comparing accidents (available from law enforcement) during peak versus low commuting times in  geographic traffic segments to provide useful 'cost' data. Meaning, cost to government for emergency services and law enforcement, as well as the environmental cost of the time commuters spend burning fuel in traffic waiting for an accident to be cleared, or for a road to be cleared of heavy snow or ice.

- report data that demonstrates the structural capacities of high-commute structures and how their longevity might be impacted by a reduction in load. That would also be a savings to government.

- report data that compares levels of crime in areas where population density is increasing around centralized complexes. For example, how many 'parking lot' crimes are committed in in industrial areas, particularly crimes against women during early morning and evening hours before and after shifts? For example: hospitals, colleges, government agencies, and corporate complexes with or without a secure parking garage.

I think that there is plenty of evidence to support a Federal mandate for governmental agencies to begin telework programs at all levels. In the State of Washington, the Governor has mandated some programming, but the likelihood of implementation is extremely limited: Washington State agency programs are limited to 1-day per week maximum, and implementing the program is up to the supervisors discretion. Supervisor discretion means:

• no documentable trial is required to say 'no' such as provided for in the 2007 legislation,
• the program design assumes that the employee will need excessive oversight - a negative assumption in employee management; 
• there is no opportunity to increase telework scheduling if warranted. In other words, the program is not designed to evolve, even though it is extremely obvious that increasing populations, commuting times, pollution and congestion are already major concerns. Last,
• there isn't a provision for training for telecommuters, and certainly there are some 'best practices' that can be taught.