Working from Home/Department Reorganization

[Nazgul Girl]

My entire department is being reorganized and it looks like a lot of us will be working a 40-hour week from home, and going in for a meeting once a month.

Everyone "thinks" they'd like to work from home, but now that it might actually be in the offing, I'm a little nervous. I've never done this before. We will have company-issued laptops, and I have to get mine attuned to our home network. I've also never done this before, but I'm sure it will work out as soon as we get a new router from our Internet provider ( we're having problems with our present router ). I'm bringing my office laptop home next weekend to make sure that it works with our home network.

I want to make sure that I maintain proper structure at home for 40 hours a week. I will have to do an 8 hour day with start and stop times, but I have a feeling that I will have my hours start a lot earlier than they do at work. My job is a production job, and I easily maintain and exceed my productivity requirements by 100% more despite all of the distractions at work. But, it seems weird to have to clock out for a "break" (clocking by email ), and then clock back in 15 mins. later. This is still a job paid by the hour.

If anyone has any extensive work-at-home experiences (rather than just bringing your laptop home for the evening to catch up on a project ), I'd sure be interested in gleaning what I can from your stories.

[marvholly]

As I see it from friends & family who work from home the biggest problem is discipline. However, everyone of these people can log in/out as they please at any time of the day/night so long as they put in the required time and get their assignments done.

Biggest gains
NO traffic
No set schedule (you should set one for yourself)
Anytime dental, Dr, ...appointments
Savings on gas, auto maintenance & INSURANCE (do call your agent/company since your car will be pleasure/personal driving ONLY now)

[Deleted]

I consulted from home part time for about 22 months. It's important to establish a routine. I second the idea of a dedicated office. Keeps you from being distracted from what needs to be done around the house, LOL. Also we don't have kids but you can bet that whenever I was on the phone one of that cats would need to start "talking" so closing the door was a must.

It's important to develop a social outlet too. I thought I was pretty independent but I did find I missed the camraderie of good colleagues.

Good luck!

[Deleted]

I teleworked for 3 years for a consulting firm and then for another year for my current employer before relocating.

1. Agree on having a routine and an office with a door that closes. When I started this, my son was 12, so he didn't need constant attention but a couple of times he walked through the room when I was on a teleconference and imitated the accents of the people on the phone. Fortunately, it didn't transmit clearly. Brat.

2. Be protective of your work time. I drove DS to school but had a van service called Kids on the Go pick him up so I didn't have to interrupt the work.

3. Keep up a network. One of the best teleworkers I know, a Sr. VP out on a farm somewhere in MD, has an amazing network of people all over the company she can call for information. When she is in our offices, she makes sure to touch base with a lot of people in person.

4. You need to be very resourceful in sorting out IT issues. We have a decent Help Desk, but it helps if you can troubleshoot on your own and if you have a good perspective for when to give up and call the Help Desk.

5. Have a separate phone line, which only you answer.

6. Stay visible. Don't blanket the world with ccs of your work, but maybe call someone who might be interested and talk about what you're doing periodically and get their feedback. You want key people to know what you're doing even though they can't see you.

[Urban Chicago]

I don't think this will really apply to you, but make sure your boss really understands what this means.

I worked from home 2 days per week in my last job. My immediate boss was very old-school and computer-phobic. I have no doubt that I would not have been allowed to telecommute had it been her decision. She seemed to think I was just watching TV all day instead of working. She also sent me an email at 4:58pm, every single day, just to make sure I was still working.

[tractor]

I have a hard time staying focused while working at home (these damn message boards), and I tend to eat/snack more. My boss tries to get me to work at home more, since I live an hour+ from the office and I am hoping to do it at least once a week. I'm home today and have done everything but get much work done. I'm salaried so no checking in on a regular basis. I have a dedicated office, but since I'm the only one home, I spend most of my time sitting at the kitchen table wondering if I missed any chocolate hiding in the cupboard, I also have a load of laundry in, and the dirty dishes are starting to stare at me.

[sil]

I love working from home for all of the obvious reasons. But you may run into issues because so many people are transitioning to telecommuting at one time. If you decide you enjoy teleworking, make sure you set some ground rules on availability/distractions with your entire team. Otherwise, one bad apple may ruin the whole basket.

And watch out when you inform friends and relatives of your working situation. You may be surprised at how many people think work from home = availability to run errands, watch kids, do chores during the workday

[dragonfly7]

My mom did medical transcription from home when I was young, and I agree with having a dedicated room, or if that isn't an option, at least a dedicated office area. The implementation of HIPPA in 1996 meant my mom had to have a dedicated room with a lockable door instead of a corner of the dining room, and it did wonders for her productivity.

[Nazgul Girl]

Thank you for all of these ideas. They announced that there will be a big meeting with all of the coders required to be there in two weeks ( with their employee I.D's, no less, for what reason I know not, but mine's up-to-date ), and there will be the "meet the new director" and "discussion of the transition." I think it means a lot of changes, which I'm very open toward. I have a very good situation right now, but I'm curious to find out what it's like to work in an all-coding department. This is going to be big.

I already have a dedicated office which I can use during the day, and I don't get phone calls on my job anyway, so I'm not too worried about that part of it. My husband is quiet and respectful, and our daughter got offered a fulltime teaching job in her field TODAY ! We are thrilled. If this comes off the way the rumor has it, I will be sure to call our car insurance and tell them my car is for pleasure only, and I will work to maintain a schedule.

Change is good, right

[Clever Username]

My wife works from home 95% of the time.
Actually if you want to be accurate, I'd say she does it 115% of the time.
5% in the office, 95% regular time, 20% extra because it's tough to log out.
That's the way she's built, her employer should love her for this.

Others, not so much. Cow-orkers will ping her to ask if she just saw this/that segment on the Today show.

[happyscooter]

I would treat it as if you really were going to the office. Get up, eat breakfast, take a shower and get dressed, brush your teeth, apply make-up, etc...

My DH has a job now that he can work from home a few mornings on his laptop. He wants to lay around in his PJs, without taking care of personal items first, I told him to have an office mentality.

[Deleted]

Mar 8, 2011 12:07:39 GMT -5 happyscooter said:

My DH has a job now that he can work from home a few mornings on his laptop. He wants to lay around in his PJs, without taking care of personal items first, I told him to have an office mentality.

Depends on the person. I have to brush my teeth and make coffee or else I don't feel human. I start plenty of days with a 7 or 7:30 AM teleconference in my bathrobe. I don't think that what I'm wearing makes a bit of difference. If I'm going to be working at home all day, I change into comfortable clothes- generally much more relaxed than I'd wear to the office.

[hsclassic]

Been working from home for 10 years, and don't ever want to go back to the office! Things I've learned (some are repeats):
1. Dedicated room, desk, etc. Get comfortable furniture. Worth it to spend more now and have it last several years, than having to replace something (especially the chair) more frequently.
2. If they only give you a laptop, ask for a docking station, monitor, fullsize keyboard and mouse. Working off the laptop for an extended period of time is very tiring. My company doesn't pay for any peripherals, but I bought my own docking station and peripherals - much less strain on the eyes and rest of the body.
3. Schedule breaks away from the office. Make yourself go out to lunch with a friend regularly. You'll quickly go nuts being by yourself all day without human contact.
4. Although you state you don't use a phone for your job, consider having a dedicated line (and have the company pay you for that line). First, your boss needs to reach you. How does that happen if you don't have a phone line? (And it should not be your home phone.) Plus, you and your co-workers will need to replace the in-office interaction with phone interaction (see #3 above).
5. Set your hours and stick with it. While I can't spend all day in my robe and slippers (just start the emails and VMs that way), I have to get ready to "go to the office" (albeit in casual attire) so I can stay focused.

Hope it works as well for you as it has for me.

[rumples]

When I first started working at home, I was constantly distracted by "home" things that needed done - the dishes, the laundry, etc. It honestly took me a few months to strike somewhat of a happy medium. It was also hard to quit working at times, especially if I was on a roll. When we took my nephew in a few years ago, it became both harder and easier to work at home. Harder because there were now many more "home" distractions. Easier because I have to quit working to pick him up and/or to make dinner.

Today, both the schedule of and number of hours that I work are dictated by immovable deadlines so distractions and interruptions have to be kept to a minimum. My biggest help in this was to install an exterior french door in the entrance to my office/studio. When I'm home alone, it stays open so that the dog and cats can roam freely. When someone else is home, though, I can close the door and it keeps all noise out. The glass in the door lets the light through and also allows the boys to see when it's a good time to interrupt (or to just make funny faces at me until I notice ;D ). A bonus for them is that it also keeps the noise of my machines from interfering with their homework/tv/work/etc.