As another cycle of recession is upon us, everyone, from mega-corporations to individuals have to find ways to save and have cash on hand. Telecommuting is a good way to save time and money, while also providing a host of benefits.

However, the % of people telecommuting is not very significant, except in a few countries. While technology may be part of the reason, a major barrier for organizations is that managers feel that “office-time” is important. The common complaints against telecommuting are around “productivity is lowered, people don’t have the same sense of urgency, people are not disciplined to work at home” etc.

Before I start, however, I must emphasize that working from home is not for everybody. The nature of work dictates whether your job can be done from home effectively or not.

Photo: Courtesy Lynac

1. Identify activities that can be done from home

[I am going to assume that at least some part of your job can be done outside the office]

Before you can even talk to your manager about it, you must convince yourself that:

  • Work can be done at home
  • You can do that work from home
  • You can do that work as you would have done at office

To take this test, identify the activities that can be done without being in office. Paperwork (like reading or writing contracts, software requirements), Planning, Design, and even software coding can be done outside the office.

2. Allocate time at home

Initially, you can start working on afternoon in the weekends, when things are a little quiet. Once you can concentrate and finish work, you can bring more work home. Remember, the weekends are a bonus and not a substitute for regular office hours at this stage.

Set aside the time you have planned and tell family members not to disturb you unless there is an emergency. You may have to be firm when starting, as folks at home need to realize that your work place is off-limits for them when you are “working”

3. Plan and setup work environment at home

Setting up a home office may seem a daunting and expensive proposition, but it need not be so. Eschew any notions of a grand desk – that old computer desk will do for now. There are a few things, however, that you need to keep in mind.

  • The environment must insulate you as much as possible from distractions, such as the telly, neighbours and even the kitchen. This might be difficult for those of us, who live in cramped apartments, but if you have a spare bedroom, that should do
  • While home equals comfort, the home office must not offer you any comfort – it is there as an alternative to your work place, so no sofa to nap. A comfortable chair, good lighting, filing system, stationery and a book case may be sufficient to get started. You may also want to invest in a Thermos flask for coffee and some jars for some snacks, so that you are not tempted to go to the kitchen
  • Set up needed infrastructure such as an exclusive telephone line, Internet, Webcams for video-conferencing etc. You may want to get some redundancy in your network, like an additional Internet connection in case your job needs you to be connected at all times

The idea is to simulate the office environment as much as possible – lounging by the fireplace and listening to music while working might seem attractive,  but it only lowers productivity and may even send you off to sleep.

4. Log all such activities

A very important point that people who telecommute forget to do – maintain a list of deliverables/activities that you completed away from office. This is the evidence that you can present to your boss and show him/her that you can still deliver when working from home. This is especially true, when you have not told your boss about working from home.

Saying “Boss, I can definitely work from home without loss of quality/time. For example, I finished this report at home, without staying late” is a good way to demonstrate your capacity to work effectively. Be warned though – your manager may see this in a negative way – that you are showing off or worse, ready to work from home too!

In any case, having a list of things you have accomplished gives you the satisfaction of being disciplined enough to work from anywhere.

5. Discuss with your manager

Once you have a few weeks of experience working from home, you might want to broach this topic of telecommuting with your manager. It is better to be honest and explain why you want to telecommute. You can then lay out what is the benefit for him in this – by allowing you to work from home twice a week, the company is saving on running costs while making you more productive (since there is no travel involved). You also must demonstrate that you have the resources to make this work.

The best way to convince the organization is to propose a pilot (officially, that is). For 3 months, you will telecommute twice a week and be in office the rest of the time. Meetings can be scheduled during those days and you will definitely be available for emergencies.

If you have made the preparation and proposition correctly, you should gain approval at least for the pilot. After all, the organization would like you to succeed when it can also win!

What do you do when you have permission to telecommute? The basic strategies above work, but there are a few things you need to sort out, which I will discuss in the next post. Before bidding you adieu, a couple of important things – firstly, this will work only if you have some credibility in the organization and a genuine reason why both you and the organization will win and secondly, you need to balance your home life with your work. Your family definitely does not need your home to become an extension of your office.

The point about working on weekends is for the initial period only – when you have official sanction, you don’t work weekends!

(For more tips on Work-Life Balance, see my 3-part series here – Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3)