This is a guest blog post by Liz Krause.
Hive photo by kakisky.
Nearly 10 years ago while self-employed working from home, I spoke to a friend who had an office job and to my surprise she told me she could never work from home and preferred her work place. It is not too often you come across people who share these sentiments.
Today, I’ve got a great job that although is often spent in the office, it allows me to also work from home. I’m a huge proponent of telecommuting for a number of reasons but also am realistic that not everyone is cut out for a work at home lifestyle even if they think they are.
Working at home is a privilege, but creating the right environment and having the right tools is what will either keep you happy at home or land you back in the office.
Home Office Business Essentials
Telephone
Telecommuting from the home office requires a solid phone connection. I’m not referring to cell phones, although these are important as well. Companies are gradually moving more towards seeking the help of SIP Trunking providers to deliver VoIP (Voice over IP) solutions in the hopes of not only cutting down on their operational expenses, but because of functionality when employing telecommuters.
For example, with a VoIP system, companies can assign a full Direct Inward Dial phone number so people can call direct to you; or they can simply add you on as an extension, such as extension x301. The flexibility is that the phone number is tied to your phone’s IP address and should you ever move or relocate or even if someone replaces you, the company can simply redirect the number to the new IP address anywhere in the country without any disruption to the phone number.
Keep in mind with VoIP, phone numbers are not limited to a specific area code because they VoIP through the internet rather than actual physical lines as is the case with traditional phone service.
This is particularly important for businesses that tend to move around a lot. For my and my husband’s software business where he is a programmer for the picture framing industry , he has always worked from home. But we are those type of people that just get bored being in one place too long so we move around every few years.
We use a company called Vocalocity which is a Hosted VoIP Provider and all we have to do is unplug our phone from the internet and plug it back in at the new location and we are back in business. Our phone number stays with us and our customers have no idea we even moved since there is no interruption to service (calls will automatically go to voice mail when unplugged, unlike a traditional phone line which would give a busy signal).
Internet
It is expected that everyone has internet access these days, but there are a number of rural areas which still do not have high speed internet. When you telecommute, expect to be sending and receiving emails and files between coworkers and clients, and being part of video conferencing meetings and live webcasts. These are technologies designed to make it easier for telecommuters to communicate with their fellow employees.
In addition, if using the internet for phone service as mentioned above, then it is even more crucial than ever to have a high speed connection with sufficient bandwidth to meet the load of both data and voice.
Printer/Scanner/Fax
It’s important to have a good printer in your home office and I suggest getting a laser printer instead of an inkjet. Although these are more expensive, the ink cartridges last longer, the ink won’t bleed if it gets wet, and they provide a better print quality output.
The scanner is important because there will be times when you have to scan a form, document, contract, checks, receipts, etc., to submit to your coworkers or boss. In regards to faxing, you can look at online faxing solutions such as EFax or iEtherFax, which allow you to use the internet to do all your faxing; no additional phone line or fax machine is required.
To save space, a three-in-one machine will be more practical and convenient. Look for specials because these can get pricey. For example, a few years ago we had to do a large multi-month mailing and rather than pay a local printing company, we chose to buy our own printer. That was cost effective until ink cartridges and our drum kit needed replacement and cost us $400. We are still dragging our feet on making the purchase.
Work Environment
Identify and alienate any distractions
Distractions get the best of us. Today, I planned on getting to work early and was on my way until my husband offered to make me a cup of coffee. Ten minutes later, I was again on my way until I remembered to take a jug of water for my desk. Instead of arriving early, I was 10 minutes late. Life is different when you work from home — it’s harder!
Telecommuting is not the same as self-employment
As a self-employed individual, I could decide at 2 p.m. that I needed to go grocery shopping and I finish my tasks later that evening. When working as a telecommuter, you still answer to a boss and it is important that you work just as if you were in the office with set hours and discipline.
Little things like taking care of paying utility bills, keeping in touch with your parents, taking the pet to the vet — these are things that previously had to be done outside of work hours, and suddenly we think we have the liberty to do it during work hours because we work from home. Unless it is approved that you can work a flex schedule, you must keep to your hours and in order to do that with any productivity, you must eliminate any distractions that keep you from fulfilling your job responsibilities.
Track your tasks and accomplishments
One of the issues with telecommuting I have experienced in the past is having a boss or superior who is a micromanager. Expect them to struggle with trust issues such as wondering if you are really working your full hours, are you slacking, are you getting your work done, and so forth.
Keep a chart of your tasks and what you are spending your time on. You don’t have to say you are doing this but, should you ever need it, it is available in your defense. What I have found works well is to send weekly or even daily reports of what you are working on and what you have accomplished. This small effort will go a long way.
Before you jump on the telecommuting bandwagon, take stock of what is truly expected. You might be surprised and find yourself looking at the office work environment in a new light — cubicle and all!
Do you have experience telecommuting? Any questions for me?
About Liz Krause
Interesting article Liz, telephones and fax are going old now .
because internet has change the world in a global village.
Great Post! You’ve mentioned unique and viable content along with your own views – made for a great reading experience and will be sure to make a return visit to your site.
Thanks for sharing.
More and more businesses are going this way. I have been a telecommuting now for nearly 15 years. It allows me to do my job around my schedule as apposed to some one else’s. I also have the luxury of being able to work from other countries. You have to remain focused though as to what you are doing and make sure it is always on time.
Focus is definately something that is not always easy for people to learn, but once mastered – it can make all the difference!
Good article.
I Too, often have to telecommute when I work, I usually work with a Skype call in the Backround so I can talk and plan with my “Employees”. It’s great because it’s all live and realtime.
Great post, and yes it’s certainly harder to work from home, because those distractions just pop up, sometimes it’s 10 minutes but sometimes it can be an hour.
Which can be sometimes bad for our online business.
thanks for sharing
It is important when working from home to learn to say “No” or “Not Now” whether to yourself or to others who live with you. Not always an easy thing to do at first!
True, family is on first place for me, but sometimes they don’t realize that even if I’m at home that I’m actually working. They think that online work is not as important for paying bills as offline one.
thanks for sharing
Well said James, I think, if woman works from home then family thinks that she gives time to both family and work but if a man works from home then family sometimes doesnot realise that we are actually working from home.
Interesting article, especially like the fact that you’ve mentioned some of your own viewpoints. Apart from that, Internet is one mean, which I use on a very large scale as compared to other ones. What else you expect from a Desktop Starer.
Yes, I agree. Working at home, though a privilege, still requires you too much resources. But people often say it is easier to work at home. Well, I guess it still depends on what work atmosphere you prefer.
Thanks for this exhaustive list of tools and information related to telecommuting. I feel, more and more companies will prefer telecommuting is the best mode of work assignment for its merits with respect to saving our depleting environment from vehicular pollution etc.
I tried telecommuting a couple of years back thinking how convenient it would be to ‘work from home’ and all the conveniences that would come with it. Not to be, unfortunately. I ended up getting nothing done at all each day, and those few months were hands down, the most unproductive period of my life, professionally. While telecommunitng certainly has become easier now thanks to the internet (high-speed internet rather!) and all that it brings with it (Skype, for instance). However some probably are more suited to working in an office, a 9-5 gig. I am probably one of those people! But great article nonetheless!
I agree Leo – telecommuting is not for everyone… and that’s okay! It’s better to know where you work best and stick to it otherwise we’ll pay for it one way or another.
I’ve had the same experience as Leo.
Working from home has a lot of advantages but it’s not for everyone. Definitely not for me.
From far away Free Lancing seems to be the easiest work but when you do it you know it was never easy. Great Post about Telecommuting, Skype is the best when it comes to multiple communication with different users at the same time. Conference call really helps alot.
Hey Liz
Agree telecommuting field are growing well indeed a great success on internet in front of us.Now I use Skype to take conference meeting only on internet charges allover the world and its great indeed for success of telecom field.
Seems I am getting older. I didn’t know about this Direct Inward Dial phone number thingy. The company I used to work in didn’t even use voip. It’s really amazing how technology is changing the world
I would also like to recommend that, if you have kids, that you put a good lock on the door of your home office. Being a webpreneur, I find that my productivity drops in half or less when the kids are home for the whole day.
In my experience, it is sometimes easier to say “no” to your boss than to your kids.
Interesting Read!
Well I sometimes work from Home but I also get bored. I do have a good job and sometime work from home but the resources required are great and no control on “Do Not Disturb” when your Kids are around. Thus I think your productivity reduces when you are a family man.
Nice article, Liz! I would also have to add that video chat is an important tool to have these days. My company uses VSee (our own product) rather than Skype, but the point is that video makes a big difference for telecommuters. It allows me to have more of a presence at my company, otherwise people have a hard time realizing that I really exist. When I can see and talk to coworkers, I am more focused and motivated to do my work. It also helps me feel more connected to everyone else.
VOIP is fine if you have a fast enough Internet connection. In my country, South Africa, our slowest speed is not fast enough for Voip to work effectively.
I currently work for myself and enjoy being able to manage my own time, which you can’t do in an office environment. To me, the next best thing would be to telecommute.
I especially enjoyed the inclusion of the home telephone first. The lowering (or banishment) of long distance fees has truly helped reduce communications costs. Sounds old schoolish, but true.
Since I am working at home,we can not be taken to be sad but when you know you do not think discussing the transient time that turned out. Despite,i am happy i am willing what i am doing right now….
Working from home can be great but requires a lot of discipline; and as you stated is not for everyone. It is always great to have the home/office combo to choose from, however, especially on a Friday!
Working at home or in the office are the same. As long as you’re performing well and earn cash out from your effective works. It involves time management that is the most important factor that make our business successful.
Working from home definitely creates distraction that would not arise in the traditional work place. As more and more employees work from home we create the risk of losing productivity and becoming unhappy in our work.
I actually love working at home. I’m a freelance graphic designer and I really love my job. I have the comforts of my home and I have no problem on being late because my computer is just a few feet away from me. LOL. =)