Telecommuting Works! 5 Ways to Solve Work From Home Problems
Is Your Telecommute Great in Theory, But Horrible in Practice?
Yes, telecommuting works for both employers and employees. But like anything, telecommuters face snags and drags! These solutions for work from home problems will help you create a successful home office, have better coworker relationships, and enjoy a more productive workday.
“When employers analyze their bottom line, they find that teleworking seldom provides value,” writes Howard Levitt in “Telecommuting – Why It Will Never Work” in the Vancouver Sun newspaper this weekend.
In the article, Levitt describes several problems that working from home brings. Below, I offer solutions to those problems – because I’ve been successfully working from home for four years. If you’re an aspiring telecommuter, read Work at Home Now: The No-nonsense Guide to Finding Your Perfect Home-based Job, Avoiding Scams, and Making a Great Living
And, here are several career tips for telecommuters…
Telecommuting Works! 5 Ways to Solve Work From Home Problems
1. Stay on your employer’s radar screen. “When there is a project to be assigned, managers first consider the employee immediately available,” writes Levitt. “In my experience, most teleworkers become under-utilized, in part, because employers stop assigning them meaningful work because they are not in office. Increasingly, telecommuters miss the opportunities their coworkers at the office enjoy.” As a freelance writer, I telecommute for a living – and I receive lots of article assignments even though I don’t work in office with my editors and clients! If lack of work is one of your “work from home” problems, then you need to figure out how to draw positive attention to yourself.
2. Find ways to exchange ideas with colleagues regularly. A common problem for employees who work from home is to lose touch with your colleagues – especially if new employees are hired or new projects assigned. Solutions include scheduling a weekly or daily conference call, working from the office a day a week, or attending regular employee lunches or staff meetings. The more you nurture your professional relationships, the more you’ll enjoy your work – telecommuting or not.
3. Be available at the same time every day. “Even diligent teleworkers lack immediacy and reliability when decisions are made and work is assigned,” writes Levitt in “Telecommuting – Why It Will Never Work.” “I’ve represented clients who terminated a teleworking arrangement when the employee more than once failed to answer the phone and often did not return urgent business calls for hours.” To make telecommuting work, be consistent and clear about your home office hours. Learn how to manage your work as a telecommuter.
4. Try different ways to stay motivated and self-disciplined when working from home. When you first start a telecommuting job, you’re all fired up about your office hours and productivity levels! But, the lure of the comforts of home may soon distract you – unless you discipline yourself stick to your work schedule. How? By “starting as you mean to go” or setting and sticking to your work schedule from day one. Pretend your boss has a nanny-cam, and can see every move you make. Pretend your wage or salary is directly related to your hours worked. Try different ways to overcome distractions while working from home.
5. Set career goals that are directly related to your telecommuting work. When was the last time you looked at your career goals? Even if it was just last month, it’s time to review and revise your career goals – and include a few ways to make telecommuting work for you. Solving work from home problems doesn’t have to be complicated, and it can be the best thing you do for your career — especially if you like telecommuting!
Also — it’s important to remember that telecommuting doesn’t work for everyone. I know several people who don’t enjoy it, including my husband. Some people enjoy the comraderie and structure of working with colleagues in an office setting.
Are you the shy, quiet type? Read Job Tips for Introverts – Find a Career to Match Your Personality Traits.
What do you think – does telecommuting work? How do you solve work from home problems?
Category: Career, Entrepreneur & Small Business Tips, Homebased Business Tips, Motivation Tips, Success Tips, Workplace Tips
Comments (2)
Trackback URL | Comments RSS Feed
Sites That Link to this Post
- In praise of introverts | Baltimore Post-Examiner | April 20, 2012
Another reason working at home is better than working from an office…
Employees who telecommute the majority of the work week are more satisfied with their jobs compared to those working mostly in the office because working remotely alleviates more stress than it creates, according to a new study by a communication researcher at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (UWM).
The study, conducted by Kathryn Fonner, UWM assistant professor of communication, and Michael Roloff, a professor of communication studies at Northwestern University, compared the advantages and disadvantages of each work arrangement. A paper outlining the results appears in the November issue of the Journal of Applied Communication Research, published by the National Communication Association.
The main benefit reported by participants who telework at least three days a week is the decreased work-life conflict that a flexible work arrangement allows. Alienation from workplace communication, often cited as the biggest disadvantage of telework, was reported as minimal by the study’s participants. Teleworkers reported exchanging information with others less frequently than office-based employees, but both groups reported similar timely access to important work-related information.
Results of the study pointed to multiple reasons why telework is linked to high job satisfaction, namely that employees working remotely are, on average, shielded from much of the distracting and stressful aspects of the workplace, such as office politics, interruptions, constant meetings and information overload, says Fonner.
“Our findings emphasize the advantages of restricted face-to-face interaction, and also highlight the need for organizations to identify and address the problematic and unsatisfying issues inherent in collocated work environments,” says Fonner. “With lower stress and fewer distractions, employees can prevent work from seeping into their personal lives.”
Source: University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee.