Telecommuters Need to Develop Special Skills
Successful telework requires more than a laptop and a fast Internet connection. Experienced IT professionals—who work from home at least part time—explain the lessons they learned the hard way.
For office workers, it's apparent when an employee is "at work" and when she isn't. Those boundaries are more difficult for teleworkers to distinguish, both for themselves and for team members. Some teleworkers are always online; others prefer a standard 9-to-5 routine to retain some semblance of work-life balance. Consequently, it's important for telecommuters to establish ground rules about availability with coworkers since expectations of working hours can vary widely.
Denise Wilmer Barreto, a retail marketing manager, makes it clear to her coworkers that even though she puts in long days, she's not going to jump every time her phone rings, her e-mail dings or her IM chings. "I put in way more hours than are required, and if after my early-morning workout I decide to boot up and get centered on some work or prioritize my key projects for that day, I don't want a BlackBerry ping or an IM trying to ask me anything."
Convincing recalcitrant coworkers to change their own work habits to accommodate yours can also be difficult. Freeland Abbott, a research scientist at Georgia Tech Research Institute, has trouble making colleagues understand that he's still easy to reach. "I'm here by phone, e-mail and IM, but when people have stray thoughts for me, they seem to sit on them until a day when I'm in the office and we cross in the hallway," he says.
Bruce Kane, a professional services consultant, shares a similar experience. "Often, on the days when I do go into the office, I get a comment like, 'I wish you had been here yesterday—I had a question for you,' which is silly because I'm even more reachable at home," he says.
| The Best Technology for the Meeting | ||
|---|---|---|
| One-on-one casual discussions | Telephone, instant messaging | Key attribute: immediacy and instant feedback ("Did you ever find out how much the gizmo cost?"). The topics you'd ask the boss while leaning against his office door. Be sure to send a confirmation e-mail—even if it's just the log of the IM conversation—with details of decisions reached, because IM doesn't always have a "memory." |
| One-on-one "serious" discussions | Telephone | Best when the situation is complex, there are personalities involved, and especially when the discussion content will be emotional or critical. You need every people-reading skill you can get. |
| Group status discussions | Teleconferences or online meeting technology. | A regular (usually weekly) meeting by phone (or using another technology, if team members are comfortable with it) lets team members bring each other up to date on project status. These are also good for brainstorming, as long as one person remembers to take and distribute notes. |
| One-on-one or group process discussions | E-mail is best when you want to ensure that the conversation can be tracked ("Who was it, again, that volunteered to edit this article?"), and when the problem description requires more than a few paragraphs to explain. | |
