But is telecommuting right for you?

                           Not Everyone Can Work From Home

It takes a certain sort of individual to be a successful telecommuter.  These people possess a set of personality traits that many employers would find welcoming.  These may include:

• self-motivated
• self-reliant
• multitasker
• disciplined
• technically proficient with personal computers, telephony and other tools of the telecommuter

But even someone with these characteristics will not succeed as a telecommuter if they are:

• new in the position and do not understand their role and job expectations
• involved in a critical project that requires significant interpersonal contact
• required to be in close proximity to critical machinery or other personnel

BusinessWeek (see: "Out of Sight, Yes. Out of Mind, No" February 18, 2008, www.BusinessWeek.com ) reported that Hewlett-Packard offers a personality test to determine which workers are best suited for telecommuting. It examines their ability to handle limited supervision.  The story also reported that IBM noticed workers experiencing reductions in productivity and happiness if their teams did not meet at least once every three days.

Employers should view telecommuting as a perk not a job requirement for many employees.  Employees must prove first that they are trustworthy and can be depended upon to make decent business decisions.  When working at home, employees will make choices as to the timing of work, conflicts between work and family obligations, etc.  Employers need employees to demonstrate solid business judgment and put the correct priorities on all of the demands on their time and attention.

As an employer, I did not mind if workers moved their schedule around so that they spent some time during the day on personal tasks as long as their work responsibilities were completed later in the evening.  This, of course, implied that the tasks that were deferred were not time sensitive or required interaction with others.

Some individuals, I learned, are ill-equipped to be telecommuters.  Their living home situation is such that productive work cannot be accomplished in any real measure at that location.  I have personal experience with individuals who've lived in remote rural locations where broadband Internet access is not a reality.  Others lived in very small efficiency apartments where there is no physical room for a desk, files and other trappings for a home office.

Some individuals do not possess the work ethos required of a telecommuter.  If they have a hard time getting to the office on time, you can bet they will have trouble manning the telephone bright and chipper at 8 a.m. from their home, too. Individuals who enjoy a partying lifestyle may sometimes find telecommuting a tough responsibility to complete.  Why?  They may not be home or at work when the business day starts anew.

For telecommuting to work well, there must be trust from both sides.  Trust is a attribute that one earns.

Comments

[Damien Cabral]

I think home based businesses are going to be the wave of the future. This type of business let’s you work on your own terms, your hours and your location. It also opens you up to the tax advantages of the rich. You can write off your materials you use, promotional items, rent, mileage, and even going out to eat.
I live in Rhode Island and work for a company Xango. We sell a health and wellness product that is in juice form. It is a powerful anti-inflammatory and cox2 inhibitor (decreases pain) as well as antioxidant. The company that we work for is one of the fastest growing companies in the United States. Please email me at Damien.Cabral@gmail.com or give me a call @ 401-464-2232 if you are interested in further information. More information can also be found at http://XangoRI.blogspot.com/

[Chessia]

I agree with you that trust is a big issue, and in my opinion trust is built upon great communication. It is the managers responsibility that telecommuters do fall out of the loop of communication, and perhaps have to communicate even more. You mention some obvious employee pitfalls for telecommuting like proximity to essential machinery or a lot of interpersonal time. (however, you also mention partyers, which I would counter that that person would be a bad employee no matter what.)

However, for many mature employees, they actually work MORE from home because of the urge to prove that they are working hard, proximity to their computer at all times, and time saved from commuting.

I have been working from home for a few months, and I was very nervous because I am not very 'technology conscious', however my managers created some great communication channels so I feel like I know everyone I work with, and we all trust each other a lot. We have been working with a company called ooVoo which is a free video messaging service that allows conference calls with up to 6 people with great quality. It also has IMing, texting, video emails, and audio chat so all communication needs can be met in one place. No matter what the technology, it takes a good manager, communication, and TRUST but it is something to check out. http://www.oovoo.com