Many companies have started to cut down on office space and allow their employees to work at home. While this may sound like a “win-win” scenario for the employee and the company, there are many pitfalls. Working at home has a subculture that many people may not fully understand. One such myth is people assume you are not really working and/or have free time to run any errand that needs doing. The ability to communicate on conference calls and via email becomes even more important when you can’t walk down the hall to meet. Colleagues and bosses that use instant message expect you to respond immediately. When people hear children or animals in the background on calls, too often people start to question your productivity. Sometimes you may have to take a call on a mobile device, which means you are not looking at charts or paying close attention. The lack of personal contact with people can wear on you once you go remote. Eating too much could even become an issue when all the temptations are close by with no one judging what you eat. Many people have a hard time staying focused when working at home. There are many potential distractions when working at home, unwashed dishes, laundry, home repairs, dog needs to go out, help kids with homework and the list goes on and on.
Tips for Success
- Be prepared and listen on conference calls, this is absolutely critical to maintain credibility when working at home
- Improve your communication skills both verbal and written – that is all you use. You don’t know if someone is paying attention, you can’t read their body language, so you have to spend more time being an effective communicator.
- If you can, set up a separate workspace where you can close the door.
- Let people know when you have to take and pick up your kids, they will find out anyway.
- Establish a schedule, where you take a short break and build in some flex time to do those things like throw in a load of laundry. Flex time is when you would normally be talking to friends or discussing a problem at work face to face.
- Establish time in the morning and later in the day to do emails, catch up on corporate news, training, preparation time for the next day, etc… you may be online a bit more but you tend to be more focused to get these tasks done and people see you online and trust me they notice
- Have your computer up – this allows you to take a quick peak at email or if you have something bubbling to watch for fires. If you are able to check things quickly in the evening or over the weekend this helps you to stay on top of issues without having to turn on your computer and reduces stress in the long run.
- Remind your family, especially children that you are at work and sometimes you may be able to answer their question right away and sometimes you may not.
- I find this hard, but if you start your day with a shower and get dressed reasonably well and approach your day as a professional, you tend to stay more disciplined and focused on your job.
- Finally, don’t let work consume you because you are at home. It is easy to work after dinner or in bed and fall in that trap, especially when you are busy
The ability to work at home can be a great thing and save you money on food, gas and dry cleaning. Successful remote employees maintain discipline, understand their boss’s expectations, and know the culture. Ultimately, each person will have to figure out the right balance that works for them.
