Slacker Manager has a weak post on telecommuting, 8 Tips on How to Work From Home: 28 Years of Experience, by David Zinger
.
It’s really more like eight thoughts. Only two seem like tips to me — the rest are observations or benefits based on his experience (samples: “Enjoy it. Especially if you are a parent as you will get more time with your children,” and “Relish the amount of uninterrupted time you can often have working at home as opposed to an office with tons of people coming and going and popping into your cubicle.” Also, the parking is free).
His two tips:
Deal with the isolation by setting up lunches or working at a place with WiFi;
Create a routine to keep some balance between work and life;
They’re fine for what they say. But telecommuters need tips on other things, like how to deal with the out-of-sight, out-of-mind factor in office politics. For instance, you need to be more active on email threads and company blogs than you might be, and on conference calls you have to have things to say. You also need to schedule some time in the office, if you’re a full-time telecommuter.
Also, a basic tip if you have kids and your spouse also works: hire an au pair/nanny/full-time sitter, or send them to a child care. You cannot expect to work full-time from home while raising small kids.
These might be useful tips, if gas prices and real estate costs continue to vex employers. USA Today said recently that more companies are looking at part-time telecommuting
for employees. The Telework Exchange says that 95 percent of employees have an interest in some form of telecommuting. It also offers a set of resources for those thinking about telework, like a commuting costs calculator (registration required).
