How many telecommute or want to?
Seeing stories like the one linked below makes me wonder how many are already doing this or see it as a viable alternative to the ever-rising gas prices. What’s your company policy?
Gas price increases spur interest in telecommuting - Computerworld
I’ve been essentially working from my home or the road via the Internet for five plus years now. Whenever I have to drive to the downtown office, I’m stunned by how much time is totally wasted by commuting - in my case up to two hours a day roundtrip.
August 20th, 2005 at 9:41 pm
I’ve worked from home 1-2 days a week for almost two years and there are two hurdles to overcome: (1) when you first start, the tendency to ’slack off’ is there until you get in to a routine (2) telecommuting works well if your boss accepts it. I have had bosses in the past who did not like to have their people telecommute because ‘if I can’t see them then they must not be working’. With all of the technology today (email, broadband/VPN, cellphone) there is no reason why your team members and customers can’t find you when you are needed. An added reason that I always add is that your best ideas don’t always happen between 8:00a and 5:00p, telecommuting allows you to handle an idea when you have it and not the next day.
August 24th, 2005 at 9:33 am
I would love to telecommute, but it is not an option for me.
I have in the past for a previous employer & loved it, however, I found that most employers don’t trust their employees to actually work when they are at home. I did not abuse the priviledge as I wanted to continue to work at home, but some of my past coworkers were not so conscientious - at the time that I left that company, the priviledge was being revolked.
August 25th, 2005 at 11:44 am
I telecommute one day a week. I agree with Andrew in that you have to fight the tendency to “slack off” but it also makes for a more flexible work day. I start around 6:30 and go pretty steady until 12:30. If I need a couple hours break in the middle of the day to go to a school function or run a quick errand I still have a good portion of the afternoon for productive work.
I am finding that I have to say “no” to family, friends, and even church members who think I can run errands for them since I’m “off” for the day.
My employer and my management have been very supportive of the program. But I do occasionally run into co-workers who roll their eyes that I’m “working from home…nudge nudge.”