Home Office Warrior » Telecommuting

Web-based services help cut costs without cutting effectiveness

admin — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 18:26:02 +0000

Guest post from Luc Vezina

Read any book or blog (including this one) that offers advice about working from home and you’ll find one of the first recommendations is the importance of controlling your costs. Whether you’re starting up your own home-based business or working out of your home for someone else, the less you spend on up-front on technology, the more money (and sanity) you have left for yourself.

One cost-effective strategy that can help you in that area is moving away from buying technology that requires software and/or hardware, and instead signing on for Web-based services. These services offer a “pay-as-you-go” model that eliminates the need for huge up-front capital expenditures, high maintenance costs, and ongoing support costs. All while assuring the technology you’re using has all the latest features and upgrades.

Here are three ways Web-based services can help you work better for less:

No IT costs - When you buy a business application you have to install it onto a computer or server – either by yourself (if you’re tech-savvy) or more likely by bringing in an expert. Once the application is up and running, you’ll probably need an IT person to keep it running at peak efficiency. If there is a significant software upgrade there is another cost, and you again have to call on a technology expert. If you’re using a server and it goes bad there’s an additional cost to replace the hardware. Moving to the Web-based model greatly reduces your overall expenses. That big up-front cost for hardware and software is replaced by a small monthly fee. In most cases you can easily get the service running yourself.
Free maintenance- The maintenance happens behind the scenes, saving time and money while assuring you’re benefiting from the software’s latest features. Should a technical issue arise, one call to the supplier’s tech support group generally solves the problem at no cost to you.
Use them for nearly everything - This move to Web-based services isn’t just for “outlier” applications anymore. Core applications such as your office productivity suite are now moving away from the traditional hardware/software model to being Web-based. The reason is simple: since keeping applications running is the service provider’s primary business, they dedicate considerably more time and resources to that function than you can on your own, resulting in greater uptime. You can focus on your own business, and leave the tech stuff to the experts.

While home workers choose to go that route for a variety of reasons, no one does it so they can spend more time trying to keep their computers running. Web-based services give you a way to avoid all the geeky stuff – and save money in the bargain.

Luc Vezina is product marketing manager for MyFax, a provider of Internet faxing services for individual home users, small businesses, and large corporations. MyFax has won a number of awards in head-to-head competitions for ease of use, reliability, and best overall value. He can be reached at lvezina@protus.com.

How Exactly is This Different Again?

David Billings — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 21:54:07 +0000

Welcome to the fantastic secret universe of the home office worker. Check your former ways of working, living, and thinking at the door.

If you’re like me, you’ve come to this new world of freedom from a 9-5 (okay, 8-7) corporate job. In my former career there were things I saw that made me want to hurl my laptop out the window. Office politics, blundering management, new policies that were too broad to be effective for everyone but enforced nonetheless… the list goes on.

Not one to point all ten fingers at The Man – I was guilty myself of some poor practices when I worked in an office. Complacency (sometimes), e-mail avoidance (often), procrastination (daily) were my main corporate vices.

Now that I find myself sans boss, in my home office (studio) environment, I’m starting to get a handle on what it means to be in charge of my every day.

The advantages of being independent are obvious:

No boss hovering around or scheduling impromptu unnecessary meetings
I can plan my day around personal errands, meals, time with family
My studio/office is my own to set up according to my comfort and convenience
I decide what projects I take on, my rates, and how to approach clients

Just about everyone dreams of this world. It sounds like heaven to most people headed toward Independent Land.

While these things are all happy little pieces of this home office universe, I struggled at first, trying to understand how this was different from what I used to do. The only tangible changes were lack of a regular paycheck, no commute, and no co-workers.

Over the course of my first year at home I realized that this couldn’t be simply a shift in location, it was a complete mindset overhaul. I wasn’t just trading in my ties for a t-shirt and wool hat.

I realized that:

Complacency kills, but when you’re on your own it hurts more
I have to find my own “co-workers.” Networking, networking, networking.
Sometimes I have to take on projects that aren’t my ultimate dream.
My family comes first, but they also respect my need to work (it’s our nuts and berries)
My bosses were good at challenging me. I have to find other people to do that now.

I no longer have the luxury of a large company’s sales force to fall back on. If I procrastinate or slack off in my marketing, I will feel the stress a month later.

The reality is that the Deep Pockets Corporation doesn’t exist. People are experiencing layoffs and belt-tightening because of the myth that large corporations have bottomless wells of cash. They act accordingly in their day-to-day “just get me to the weekend” mindset and at some point the bill comes due.

Those corporations are just like my small business, only the scale is different. Which reminds me of another realization:

The reality is, there is no weekend. That’s not a Zen koan, it’s just the truth.

Does that scare you? No weekend? No holidays? No paid vacation?

If you want to be a member of the super secret society of home office professionals, you’re going to have to realize that you cannot shut off your brain at 5:30 PM. You can’t “forget about the office” for the Superbowl.

If you’re going to really make a go of this independence thing, you’re going to have to do more than switch your location and your clothes.

That’s why I say “welcome to a different universe.” It really is.

David Billings is an illustrator, animator, and writer. He currently runs two businesses from his home studio near beautiful Mount Hood, Oregon.

Sparky Firepants Images is focused on building kids’ brains to ginormous sizes while they have a crazy time. David creates fantastic, colorful images that complement books and educational media for preschool and elementary-level kids. A unique perspective on children’s publishing and the business of illustration can be found on his blog.

He also uses his technical expertise in creating corporate graphics and presentations to consult with and assist presenters of all types, keeping their audiences rapt with attention. Prepared Graphics focuses on helping individuals and small business owners with great content who don’t want to mess around with that PowerPoint stuff.

David lives with his wife and children on an alpaca farm. No, they don’t really smell that bad.

Telecommuting is good for your company

Grant Griffiths — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 18:48:00 +0000

ITworld had a post recently near and dear to my heart. Why telecommunting is good for your company gives a company some considerations to be thinking about if they are looking at giving telecommuting privileges to their staff. (There words not mine)

If it was up to me, I would say, reasons you should give your company the advantages of promoting telecommuting to your employees. Companies need to come to realize and realize quickly the huge advantages of telecommuting or teleworking. Here is the list:

Telecommuting assures business continuity

Telecommuting reduces company overhead

Telecommuting promotes productivity by reducing stress

Telecommuting means no excuses for making deadlines

Telecommuting does not necessarily reduce data security

Telecommuting does not require expensive equipment

Telecommuting keeps the family together

Just one more list of reasons companies should be seriously looking at telecommuting as an option.

Are those who work from home more productive?

Grant Griffiths — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 19:01:51 +0000

In a word, yes. A recent survey released by CompTIA Reseach indicates that when companies give workers the option of telecommuting, they are seeing greater productivity, lower costs, improved employee health and greater employee retention. And this was also talked about today in a great post on ZDNet called “Trying to increase productivity? Send your employees home.”

Like Sam Diaz who wrote the post on ZDNet, I am sitting at my desk in my home office with my MacBook and extra display. Printer and even my own 20″ flat screen TV with the music channel on. Polo shirt, shorts and flip flops are my office attire too. I could not imagine having to get up, getting dressed and commuting to an office job ever again.

While I am my own boss unlike those who telework for a company, I too appreciate that I am working as soon as I pour my own cup of coffee and sit down in my chair. My commute is down 11 steps and across the basement to my office. And that is a huge upside for me and for those bosses who have employees working out of a home office.

Among the findings of the survey:

67 percent of the companies polled said employees were more productive, largely because they spent less time getting to and from work.

59 percent reported seeing cost savings from reduced use of office-related materials and resources.

39 percent said they have access to a more qualified staff, expanding their options to people who are located in - and not willing to relocate from - other regions. Likewise, 37 percent said telecommuting improved employee retention.

25 percent said employee health was improved, largely by reducing stress levels associated with the commute.

Other benefits included promotion of safety through reduced highway use (18 percent) and environmental benefits (17 percent).

As Sam Diaz also mentions,

Today’s tech tools - things like VPNs, WiFi hotspots, faster broadband connections and online and video conferencing services - have made telecommuting easier. My favorite tool: a virtual phone number from Google’s Grand Central service allows me to give my business contacts one phone number that simultaneously rings my home phone, office phone and cell phone so I never miss a call.

I could not do what I do without the same tools. And I would venture to guess, everyone who works from a home office has the same list of items they would not live without.

ZDNet in their post provided a really sharp graph which takes the numbers above and puts them side by side. Improved productivity is clearly at the top.

If you are trying to convince your employer to give you the chance to work at home, show them the above survey results and sell them on it. They will be happy and so will you.

FTTH - Fiber to the Home Conference

Grant Griffiths — Sat, 20 Sep 2008 16:08:52 +0000

This is where I am heading for a couple of day, the 2008 FTTH Conference & Expo. The conference is being held in Nashville at the Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center.

I will be giving a talk on Monday concerning technology and the end user. Mainly from the perspective of someone who works out of a home office in a rural area. How such technology makes that possible and how without it, we can not be competitive with those in the city. Then I will be doing some one on one visit with some providers and will be on a focus panel too. Should be interesting to say the least.

The one point I plan to hammer home is the fact we have to have such technology, mainly high speed Internet services in the rural area for there to be continued economic growth. It has to be reliable and priced right. And it has to work.

If any of you have anything you would like me to bring up or look for, please leave a comment to this post. This should be a fun and educational time for me and I do plan to tweet and blog about it too.

Do you tell your clients you work out of a home office? SURVEY SAYS…

Grant Griffiths — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 13:00:00 +0000

I have been kicking this question around for sometime. I even asked the question on twitter and got a few responses:

@halosecretarial — I do tell my clients I work at home, I’m proud of it!

@norcross — Since the home-based work I do is individual by nature, most people assume I do.

@AprilTara — My clients know I work from home too, but none have ever asked. It doesn’t really come up.

@Zstasiuk — I did not tell clients when I was doing this. I think it is a matter of personal comfort and confidence.

@shedworking — Absolutely always tell them. In fact, I tell them that I can only work from my shed and if not than tough…

In order to get even more input into my little quandary, I put quick survey up which some of you have taken the time to answer. And I want to thank those who participated and voted. Here are the results:

Of those who did vote, two left comments too:

Sparky Firepants — In my line of work (illustration & animation), I think people kind of like the fact that I work from a home studio. I think it puts the business relationship on a more personal level, which I strive for. I rarely meet with my clients in person and have only had one over to my home studio. He has exactly the same setup in his home, so it wasn’t a strange experience for him. They usually don’t ask, but if it comes up, I always tell ‘em like it is. If anyone ever complained, it would be an indication that we wouldn’t be a good fit anyway.

Dobes Vandermeer — Even though we’re selling online accounting software, we’re not ashamed of working at home, we’ve even blogged about it. We hire consultants and coaches who also work from home. Of course, our secure servers are NOT in our home, they are in a 24/7 monitored data center. I think there might be some people who’d think it was weird that customer support is ringing someone’s home line, but transparency and honesty seem to be the way of the future for businesses with integrity, so that the way we go.

The “Somtimes” vote was the one I find the most interesting. My question to these folks, when do you and when don’t you tell a client you work out of a home office?

I have had my office in my home since Janurary, 2005. I have only lost one client because of it. My position has always been, if you have a problem with me working from a home office, I don’t want you as a client anyway. I for one think this is the position we should take too. We should never discount or feel ashamed that we have picked a lifestyle that enables us to work in an environment, our homes, which gives us a commute of a matter of seconds. Which gives me more time to spend with my wife and children. And saves me money on overhead and the hassle of dealing with onsite employees. Finally, we should not apologize ever for making a sound economic decision.

If any of you would like to comment to keep the conversation going on this topic, please do. I would love to get more comments on this topic as it is a “hot button” with many who work from a home office.

Vonage Pro℠

Grant Griffiths — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 20:00:24 +0000

A few days ago, I had the opportunity to be provided information and a demo of the new Vonage Pro℠. I was impressed with what the new service has to offer those of us who work from a home office. So much so, I wanted to provide some information which the staff at Vonage were good enough to provide to me. And just so you know, I am not receiving any money, prizes or free items from Vonage for doing this post.

Vonage Pro features five components that specifically accommodate the lifestyle of “prosumers,” or professional consumers who are comfortage with and understand the benefits of using technology to improve their personal and professional lives.

With Vonage Pro, You are Home…Away from Home

The offering includes a next generation Vonage SoftPhone client, Vonage Companion**, that allows the residential or home office user to access their home number from any desktop or laptop PC connected to a high speed Internet connection, enabling them to communicate as if they are at home.

Incoming calls ring both the customer’s home phone and their Companion, and customers can make outgoing calls on both devices simultaneously — essentially providing a second phone line.
Vonage Companion also offers customer requested features such as selective call block, conference calling, personalized ringtones and call recording.
Customers can use their PC’s built-in microphone and speakers or plug in a headset with microphone to make and receive calls.
Vonage Companion automatically synchronizes with Vonage Contact Center™
Home office users will never miss an important call when away on vacation or on a business trip.

For more information and a description of all the services and cost, you need to visit Vonage.

Telecommuting, Teleworking and going Green

Grant Griffiths — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 17:56:24 +0000

I am not one to spend a lot of time talking about “going Green” here on Home Office Warrior. To be honest, I think there are some who do the “Green” post and even start “Green” blogs for the sole reason of taking advantage of a popular topic and niche. And please understand, I see no problem with that. In fact, we are in the process of the initial planning phase of our own “Green” blog too.

What really got me to thinking about all of this was a recent article which predicts $7 gas in two years. And what that possibility really means for those commuting to work every single day. My commute takes me a matter of seconds. I only have to walk down the stairs to my basement office. No driving, no paying for gas, no wear and tear on my car. And, for those concerned about the “Green” factor, no carbon signature either.

Why is it that employers are not stepping back and looking at what their employees are facing with the cost gas and commuting to and from work? Is it the fact the employers are not having to pay out of their own pocket for the cost of the commute? Forgot about the politics. Forgot about the “Green” factor. Lets look at the economic impact only. I really think that is key in all of this. If the employers were actually facing first hand the economic consequences of $7.00 gas, they might just see how telecommuting or teleworking would benefit them too.

Let me be one of the first to say, whether employers believe it or not, $7.00 gas, even $4.00 gas will have a significant economic impact on their own pocket books. Just for a moment, lets step back and look at this from an economic view only. Each day the price of gas increases, the employees commuting to and from work see their take home pay decrease. Not that the employers are withholding the cost of gas out of their check each pay period. But, the impact is the same. The employees are having to fill their gas tanks up just as often, but at a higher and higher cost each day. Their actual disposal income is decrease right along with the increase in the cost of commuting.

How does this have an economic consequence on employers you ask. Easy, what is the one BIG distraction most of us have each and every day. Money, right? And if I was driving to and from work each and every day of my work week. Spending god knows how much on gas. And seeing my actual disposal income decrease right along with the increase in the cost of commuting, I would venture to guess I would be very distracted. Not only at home, but at work.

If employees are so distracted about money and having enough to buy those things they need, won’t that affect their productivity? I can not see how it won’t. To that end, the solution is easy as far as I am concerned. While I agree, working from home is not for everyone, nor every employer. However, if your office is made up of mainly those who work from a desk some of the time. Or travel from the office. Why not provide them the option of working from their home? Telecommuting and teleworking just makes sense. No longer will the employee be worried about the cost of gas and in turn be distracted at work and not get their work done. It has already been proven more than once that those workers who work from home actually get just as much or more done. And employees who work from home can work when they are the most productive.

Not only will workers save on the cost of commuting. They will save a huge chunk of their day by not being on the road driving to and from work. How much time is wasted every day by employees having to get their mind around working once they drive to the office in morning rush hour traffic? Telecommuting and/or teleworking would put a stop to that little problem. Again, the home office worker would be more productive as soon as they get to their home office desk and computer.

Employers, stop worrying there are tools for this:

The usual excuse I hear from those who are reluctant to allow their office workers to work from home is, “how do we keep tabs on what they are doing?” Let’s be “frank” for a moment. If you are having to keep tabs on them, fire their sorry asses. I am serious. And then step back and take a look at what you are doing or not doing that causes your employees to not feel like they have a stake in what happens in your company. If you are giving them a reason to give a crap, maybe they just might.

Instead of worrying about keeping tabs on them, give them and yourself the tools to make telecommuting and teleworking work for you business or company. Most workers are worried they won’t be able to keep up on the “water cooler” talk. Workers, take advantage of all the free stuff out there for this. Instant messaging, twitter and other social tools. And employers, set up IM groups and even twitter groups just for your employees to keep up on what is going on at the “water cooler.”

You don’t have to be sitting in the office to have a staff meeting either. However, in my opinion, staff meetings are a complete waste of valuable time anyway. You usually sit around and argue about something or give your worthless opinion about something. But, if you have to do this, use the tools available. ooVoo is a free video chat and video conferencing tool you can use to have a video conference with up to six people. Skype is another free tool you can use to stay connected with home office workers.

No longer can employers and office workers use the excuse there are not the tools available to work from home. And I only named two. There are tons of them. (And I will do a future post on some of the other tools available in the very near future).

Employers, work into telecommuting or teleworking slowly:

If you are worried it won’t work. Try it in phases. Let workers work from home 2 or 3 days a week to start with. You will know if it works and you will know if they are working by the amount of work they get done. Some of the workers will make this work and they will work from home the entire work week. And some will need to come to the office 1 or 2 days a week for whatever reason. However, in the end this is a win-win for the employer and the worker. The worker will save commuting cost and be less distracted with the bottom line issues for their household budget. The employer will find out quickly that the worker will be less distracted, less tired and more productive working from home.

Lets keep the conversation going:

Leave your comments on your own experience working from home for an employer. And leave your comments with the tools you and your employer use to make it work. The comments you leave will be worked into that future post I mentioned above.

The Pros and Cons of Working from Home — Revisited

Grant Griffiths — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 19:00:00 +0000

For many home office warriors, you work at home and work for the same company you worked for before. You telecommute and work as an employee. Technology has opened the door for more companies to allow such an arrangement.

As with anything, there are benefits and there are disadvantages. If you are looking at moving from working at your employers actual location to working from home, Explorer News provided some thoughts to consider:

The benefits:

You’re free to do as you please, more or less.

Your commute is from your bed to your computer.

Unless your boss requires a Web cam, you can be productive in shorts and a funky T-shirt.

The boss doesn’t pop into your office unannounced, unless he or she has remote access to your computer. (My side-note, I would not work for a boss who had access to my computer).

You may get a tax break by writing off your home office area and related business expenses on your annual tax return. (Check with an accountant or tax professional for advice on this matter).

You may get a new computer, office equipment and furniture out of the deal from your employer, or possibly partial compensation for all your business-related expenses.

You get to spend more time at home with your spouse and family or maybe with your roommate and friends.

You can watch TV or listen to music and work at the same time because you won’t be disrupting another office employee. This option may even increase your productivity by improving your mood throughout the day.

The downside:

If you aren’t self-motivated, don’t have proven self-discipline and don’t have the capacity to begin your work on the same schedule as those who commuted to the actual business office, you may have some immediate challenges.

You’re it, all day, every day. There are no co-workers or opportunities for office socialization. If you like your own company all the time, that’s great, but if you thrive on being around others, professional camaraderie and practical joking now and again, this is going to be difficult for you to handle.

If you have a habit of hitting the snooze alarm, you’ll need to buy a clock with only one loud wake-up setting.

You’ll be having lunch alone, with your spouse or whichever friends are available and in the immediate area. And just because you’re at home, that doesn’t mean you get two-hour lunch breaks.

If you’re a slob at home, this habit may spread to your work area as well, and that can detract from not only your creativity but also your home comfort level after business hours.

You’ll meet the new employees at special office parties, and they may think that you’re a new employee.

You are judged and compensated based solely on your productivity. The fact that you work until midnight every night won’t be noticed by the boss. Your diligence will go unnoticed. Only your final product will determine your success or failure.

You can become an over-workaholic or office junkie who’s trapped in a routine that is destined to result in personal burnout.

I sometimes feel like some in the “mainstream” media attempt to come up with these list to discourage people from exploring the “work at home” alternative. While I would agree, working at home is not for everyone. I would also argue no one should dismiss it too quickly.

However, I would agree that you should “take a critical look at your options before jumping” into working from home. Look at all the ups and downs and decide if you fit the mental picture of someone who can make it work. I have been working from my own home office now for just over three years. And quite frankly, I can not see myself ever going back to a “downtown” office.

Illegal to have a home office in Beijing?

Grant Griffiths — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 02:23:21 +0000

How to have a home office in Beijing, is a post on bizCult today. As one of our counterparts in China mentions, “with all its traffic congestion, Beijing should be the perfect place for a home office.” It isn’t, unless you can figure out a way to get around the rules there.

In Beijing, your office must be officially registered with the government. But some property management companies can provide paperwork showing your office to be registered properly at one location, while in actuality, your real working office is somewhere else – like at home, or in any other locale of your choosing.

However, such a “workaround” is not legal. If you are caught, the penalty can be stiff. Ranging from $1,400 to $7,000 in U.S. dollars. The amount of the fine depends on how much time you spend at the “fake office.”

For my own office, I do not have to pay an license fees in my community. Nor do I have to worry about any zoning restrictions, since I don’t meet clients there. However, I am sure some of you have some restrictions and possible fines if you violate zoning restrictions.

If any of you have such restrictions, please leave a comment to this post. I would love to know what some of you face. And by the way, my fellow home office blogging friend over at Shedworking also had a post on this called, where shedworking is illegal…

Telecommuting — To Good to be True?

Grant Griffiths — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 17:23:14 +0000

Some companies rethink the telecommuting trend. Should the home based worker be concerned?

A few big promoters of home-based and mobile-office work arrangements, including AT&T, Intel, Hewlett-Packard and parts of the federal government, have called some home-based workers back to the office, causing some to quit. The callbacks are small and don’t reflect a full retrenchment, but the factors at work - a push to consolidate operations, and the notion that teamwork improves when people work face-to-face - suggest other employers might follow suit as recession clouds loom.

It is a bit surprising to us that the reasons for the callbacks slap directly in the face of what most of these companies actually provide in their products. Collaboration for one. We are talking about three companies, leaders in technology. Using the tools designed, marketed and sold by these companies, every telecommuter has the ability to collaborate with co-workers. And using technology, every telecommuter can hold a face to face with other co-workers via web based meetings.

And, why would consolidate operations be a good reason to callback telecommuting workers? Would calling back workers slap in the face the idea of saving overhead and eliminating unnecessary cost? The Home Office Warrior thinks so.

Hopefully, this is a short term shift in the trend and these companies who in the past have been big supporters of telecommuting will come back around. In the meantime, here are some tips on keeping that work-at-home gig.

Perform Well.
Increase your visibility.
Make an effort to collaborate.

Take the tools available to you, with the technology available to you and be a continued champion of telecommuting. There is no reason this should not be a short term trend.

AT&T Slaps Vonage With a Lawsuit

Grant Griffiths — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 22:59:44 +0000

Like many, I have weighed the options as to what phone service to use. Most recently I have been looking at VoIP. And Vonage is one of the companies I have explored. But, with the post today at BusinessWeek Online — Tech Beat I am going to keep my options open.

“Just when things began looking a little brighter for Vonage, which recently settled a patent infringement lawsuit with Sprint, the Web-calling company got hit with another lawsuit. The way things look, Vonage will have humongous legal expenses for months — if not years — to come. And it might have to adjust its cost structure further for that prospect.“

Please leave your comments here to what, if any VoIP service you use. I need help in deciding.

Vonage Pro℠

Houston — Affordable for Home Office Warriors

Grant Griffiths — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 18:36:41 +0000

My good friend and fellow Home Office Warrior, Chuck Netwon had a very good post today concerning the fact that Houston, Texas is affordable to Home Office Lawyers.

You see Chuck is a lawyer and a friend. And he is a prime example of how a professional service business will work from a home office. For a great source of information on working from a home office, I would urge each of you to check out Chuck’s great blog, Chuck Newton — Rides the Third Wave.

Your Commute Can Kill You…Work From Home

Grant Griffiths — Sat, 29 Sep 2007 21:01:25 +0000

Posted by Susan Cartier Liebel of Build A Solo Practice, LLC

If you thought a commute was just about the time lost think, again. Your commute can literally be killing you.

You might have heard that your commute is killing you. But it’s not the doughnut and jumbo-sized coffee you’ve been downing every morning that’s doing it.

What’s really taking a toll on your health is the polluted air you’re breathing, lengthy traffic delays and dodging accidents to and from work. Even as the stress mounts, we put up with it, since most of us can’t afford to or don’t want to live near our offices.

This isn’t meant to make you feel bad about something you may not have control over.

However, the reality is to a great extent, solos do have control over this choice. If you are on the fence about where to set up shop, consider this article in your pros and cons list. At the very least, if you are not comfortable at home, get as close to home as possible to minimize the effects.

Managing Telecommuters

Grant Griffiths — Sat, 29 Sep 2007 20:57:34 +0000

I use a virtual assistant. She works out of her home just as I do. In a sense, she is a telecommuter. One comment I get a lot is how you make sure she has your interest at heart and is working on the projects you give her. And quite honestly, I have never worried about it. But, I know there are others that do.

I was pleased that in today’s RSS feeds I received a great post called Managing Telecommuters from a great blog called Management Craft. What a timely post.

Lisa Haneberg points out a key point in her post when she states,

I believe that the KEY - the key - to telecommuting situations is connection, engagement, and relationship. An invested employee works hard and is more likely to exercise good judgment.

One thing we have to remember is that we don’t have control over how our telecommuters/virtual assistants work. In fact, that is key to the arrangement I have with mine. In fact, she is not an employee, but an independent contractor. And I get value. She gets paid for the work she does for me and not by the hour. She doesn’t get paid unless she deliveries results and that is finished work.

Our only hope to get value from this arrangement is connection and engagement - true partnership and collaboration. Treat these people more like you would a trusted and valued contractor.

And that is just how my arrangement with my virtual assistant works.