Performing work for a remote branch may not seem like telecommuting at first.  You still need to commute to you regular office to perform your work.  You’ll still need to deal with work distractions and office politics.  In fact, from the perspective of your boss, it won’t look like a telecommuting job at all.  From the perspective of the people you are working with at the remote location however, you will have all the appearances of a telecommuter.  This is where the power of this approach lies.

Successfully performing work for a remote branch might give you leverage to convince your boss that you could be an effective telecommuter.  If so, then by all means go that route.  But the alternative, and possibly less resistive path, is to make a case for a full time telecommuting assignment working for the boss at the remote location.  After all, to them you already are an effective telecommuter.  It’s much easier to argue that you will continue being successful at doing something than start being successful at something new.  By appealing to the people seeing you from the perspective you hope to continue, you strengthen the case for your argument.

This is the path I took towards full time telecommuting work.  It began with a remote work assignment.  My local boss was happy to have found work for me since that meant that I wouldn’t be idle and using up department overhead funds.  The remote group wsa happy because they found someone to perform necessary work without having to recruit and hire a new employee.  Over time, they came to appreciate my work and the significantly higher efficiency that can come from a telecommuting employee.  Rather than approach my local boss about the possibility of a full time telecommuting arrangement, I started by floating the idea to the manager at the remote site.  My hard work and efficiency was appreciated the most there, so they were thrilled at the prospect.  When I finally approached my local boss about the idea, he had two options: sign-off on it and keep me in his department or say no, in which case I’d simply transfer to the department of the remote manager.

Using your skills where they are most needed, and appreciated, benefits you as an employee and your company as a whole.  If you feel that telecommuting could increase these benefits but suspect the idea will face some resistance, consider performing work for a remote branch to expand your options and strengthen your case.  It worked well for me.

When you work for a company, you’re likely to encounter the productivity paradox, which can be summarized as follows: The more work you do, the more work you get. Being more productive, while beneficial to your company, is likely less beneficial to you. Ask most bosses if you can work fewer hours as long as you get your work done and the answer will probably be the same: if you can get all of your work done in fewer hours, think of all the extra work you can get done if you put in the full amount of time. The trouble with many jobs is that there is not a direct correlation between the effort you put in and the pay that you get out. Working twice as hard won’t get you twice the money and may just serve to raise expectations or wear you out.

As a telecommuter you will likely see gains in your productivity.  That begs the question of how you’ll manage the productivity paradox.  Will you burst through your work in less time and use the excess for your own pursuits?  Will you raise your output beyond what an office worker could hope to accomplish to become the most valued employee?  Or will you squander your productivity gains to keep up the appearance of your pre-telecommuting level of productivity?  Depending on your work situation, only some of these options are possible.  If you are required to work a set number of hours per week, for example, getting your work done in less time doesn’t help you if you are chained to your desk until the work day is done.

In my original discussion on the productivity paradox I suggested that after you meet the requirements of your job, extra time is best spent elsewhere. If you were considering putting in an extra 10 hours a week at work, you likely would be better off using it to build an alternative income source. Whether you start a business, take on freelance work, or even just spend more time researching investments, activities that more closely correlate your compensation with your added effort may be the way to go.

Telecommuters whose jobs are task-based, rather than time-based, are most able to avoid the productivity paradox.  For them, the added productivity of telecommuting will allow tasks to be completed more efficiently and quickly, freeing up even more time for persuits that directly correlate their efforts with their earnings.  Time-based telecommuters are even harder hit by the productivity paradox than office workers.  Without proper monitoring of how productivity gains are exploited, such workers may quickly burn out or take actions that jeopordize the continued management support necessary to remain a telecommuter.

photo credit: Nevada Tumbleweed

One anti-telecommuting argument often used by management is that having too many telecommuters leaves the office feeling like a ghost town.  The downside of this, they say, is that customers visiting the site will think that the company is either understaffed or inefficient.

This is similar to a phenomenon I experienced in graduate school.  Alumni donations funded a new computer lab.  Though the new lab was impressive, there were too few computers for all the students that needed to access it.  The obvious solution to long lines of students waiting for the short supply of computers was to allow remote access to the lab.  That way, many students could be logged in to each computer at any given time.  Despite the wild success of this change and unanimous support by students, the department decided to eliminate remote access.  Why?  When alumni came to see how their donations had been used, they were upset to see the computer lab sitting empty.   Remote access was restored after some of us designed a scoreboard-like device that hung prominently in the lab and displayed how many of the computers were being accessed.  Seeing that 30 students were using 10 computers ended up being more impressive than a packed lab with a line out the door.

One of management’s arguments about telecommuting may be correct.  The reality is that a company with many telecommuters and a large office space is inefficient.  The solution is not to hurt productivity and force workers back into the office but rather to reduce office space.  Doing so will have costs, but a smaller site also has lower operating costs.  That transitional period between when telecommuting policies are implemented and steps are taken to capitalize on those policies can be somewhat awkward.  A company can save money by downsizing to a smaller office space, filled with the remaining employees who do not telecommute.  A small, buzzing office, coupled with comments that an additional 60% (or whatever) of the workforce telecommutes, certainly stands to impress.  Such comments can go a long way even if you decide to stay in your larger office space.  Companies might even go so far as to display how many workers are currently logged in remotely, much as we did with the computer lab at school.

Giving the impression of being a smaller, more agile and customer centric company which embraces newer technology and policies to keep employees happy and efficiency high does much more to add to customers impressions than a more sparcely populated office takes away from them.

The first is the fact that you are probably generating physical data in the form of printouts, hand written notes, or whiteboard drawings.  While these items remain relatively safe in the office, they pose a greater risk at home.  If you were to inadvertently leave a proprietary document in the office, there would be limited damage potential.

From a corporate espionage perspective, a telecommuter’s home is a much softer target than a corporate office.  Not only does physical security tend to be much lighter, a thwarted theft attempt at a home doesn’t necessarily cast suspicion on business competitors, where a corporate break in certainly does.

Telecommuters may be more lax about discarding proprietary data, but they really should be more diligent.  I recommend that everyone invest in a high capacity, and high quality shredder to destroy all company information before recycling or placing in the trash.  You should have a shredder for personal use to help prevent identity theft anyway, so you can just add company docs to your shred pile.  Some companies will even provide shredders to telecommuting employees to inspire them to practice strict data security habits.

Your home network is another area where data security goes beyond your computer.  If you have a work issued computer and connect to the corporate network directly through a VPN, then security isn’t much worse off than in the office, though there are more places where a breach could occur.  In reality, many telecommuters work in a much more compromised way.  They may either commingle work and personal files on a home computer, use a home computer for work purposes, or have a more complicated home network that includes weakly protected access points.  Few companies have unsecured wireless access to their corporate networks, but far too many home networks have unsecured wireless access.  If a company computer, or home computer with company files is weakly protected the possibility of proprietary data being compromised is considerably higher.

Companies can help their telecommuters by providing shredders and physical data security training as well as IT support for configuring a secure network environment.  A site-survey by IT (or a discussion with the telecommuter to ascertain their data security aptitude) is certainly appropriate.  Without proper precautions, the many corporate benefits of allowing telecommuting could quickly be eclipsed by the damage caused by a breach in data security at a telecommuter’s home.

photo credit: IRRI Images

Despite all the progress telecommuters have made in becoming an accepted form of employee, some coworkers still don’t get it.  Whether by jealousy or ignorance, they just don’t seem to give you the respect you deserve.  You can call and email to your heart’s content and still not get the desired response from people of this persuasion.  A useful tactic in this situation is to employ an on-site goon.

That’s the term I use to describe someone physically located at the work site who can be used to do your bidding.  I don’t intend this as a disparaging remark and hold my on-site goons in the highest regard.  These people can be subordinates or colleagues of equal status, though the former is the more likely case.  It is important that your on-site goon has some standing though, or else they will not be taken seriously.

An on-site goon is used as your proxy in situations where a physical presence can help a problem to be resolved most efficiently.  If I am dealing with someone who is notoriously bad at responding to email and voice mail, I’ll send my on-site goon to meet them face to face.  This also works well when action is required on the factory floor, in a distant lab, etc where phone or email communication is lacking.  I even send my goons to meetings that I will attend (through teleconference) to read faces and non-verbal reactions for me.  This is the type of valuable information that cannot be assessed from afar.

For whatever reason, some people respond best when action is taken in person.  To reduce the frequency of trips to the office, I leverage my on-site goons whenever possible.  By delegating this one aspect of my job that cannot be done remotely, I retain much of the authority and power that I have in the office, without actually having to be there.

This post was chosen as one of the 50 Must-Reads for Job Hunters, Telecommuters and Freelancers at FoundValue.

It can be tempting to leave your telecommuting work without telling your boss, and they may in fact not even notice, but doing so hardly seems worth the risk.  Telecommuters tend to be scrutinized more than office workers so a small indiscretion like forgetting to tell your boss that you’ll be out could escalate into a major offense.  It’s harder to build, and especially regain, trust from a remote location.  Telecommuting is a pretty sweet deal, so you should be extra careful not to jeopardize you ability to work remotely.

Also, few of us use all of our personal time in a given year.  As a telecommuter, the same thought process that makes you work when you’re sick, may inspire you to skimp on personal time.  Skipping out on work without telling your boss is bad enough to begin with.  Not using personal time (which you’ll probably end up forfeiting at the end of the year anyway) is just plain stupid.  The best way to ensure that you can continue telecommuting for a long time is to handle situations at least as cautiously as you would in the office.  Using personal time and informing your boss of any brief absenses are both the right thing to do.  You might be able to get away without doing either, but the consequences of getting caught hardly seem worth it.

When I was an office worker and wanted to visit family in another state, I would use vacation time to do so.  As a telecommuter, I can take the same trip (or longer), without such a restriction. As long as I bring my laptop and cell phone and have access to a high speed internet connection, I am equally capable of doing my job from away as I am from home.  It may not be as good as having all day and night to visit with family, but working during the day and spending time in the evening and weekends is a lot better than simply talking to them over the phone.  Should I choose to go for a month or more, that’s fine too.  Since I’m simply moving my base of operations, I don’t need to take any time off at all.  Telecommuting basically gives me the flexibility to “live” in different locations throughout the year.  With the ability to take longer trips, spending every waking minute with those I’m visiting is much less a priority.

Using this technique you can reduce, or eliminate your need to use vacation time.  That means you can either take working vacations more often, or that you’ll have more time available to take a true vacation where you leave work completely behind.  By living at your destination, there’s little reason to limit the length of a visit as long as you don’t outstay your welcome.

An example of this type of wait is when you show up for a meeting before the entire team arrives.  You end up zoning out or engaging in idle chit chat while you wait for the work to begin.  Again at the end of the meeting you might wait for someone to finish a personal story before leaving.  Even the walk to and from the meeting is technically wasted, since you are not getting work done.  While such short waits are inevitable in the office, the telecommuter can exploit those times for gains in productivity.

What you do with this recovered downtime depends on your work situation.  You maybe inclined to focus on work tasks, or do a small personal task, if such an activity is appropriate.  Either way, you save yourself from having to do that particular task later.  You might not think that you can get much done in a few minutes, but you certainly can.  You may even choose to keep a queue of short tasks at your desk to quickly complete during downtime.

As you get better at exploiting downtime, you’ll notice two things:  First, you’ll be able to identify even more downtime more quickly.  Second, you’ll be amazed how much more work you are able to get done in a day or how much less time it takes to do a full day’s worth of work.  Taking back your downtime, even if only a minute or two at a time, really adds up over the course of an entire work day.

As a virtual coworker, you and your colleagues have probably formed opinions of one another. A physical meeting stands to challenge some of those beliefs and may even allow new biases to form. Will you seem as smart in person? Will you get along? Will you jeopardize your successful relationships? You must remember that these fears are probably shared with your coworkers as well, since they’ll be meeting you for the first time too. The big difference for you is that you are out of your element. Being well prepared for your first meeting should help it to go much more smoothly.

To make the most of your first face to face meeting follow these tips:

Keep it Short
If your main goal is to put faces to names, there isn’t much need for a long drawn out meeting. Obviously you’re not going to just drop by for 5 minutes (especially if you traveled a great distance) but keeping the meeting as short as possible will help to reduce any awkwardness.

Focus on Key Relationships
Your manager might want to drag you around the office to meet everyone who’s ever heard of you, by try to limit your exposure. More time with the people who matter most is much better than casual encounters with the entire staff. You probably won’t be able to remember too many faces, so focusing on key relationships will help the important ones to stick.

Adequately Prepare
Without your computer, files, etc that are normally at your disposal, you may appear under prepared.  So allow for some extra preparation time before an on-site meeting. If it’s been a while since you presented in front of a crowd, a dry run (e.g. with your family) before you leave may be prudent.

You Don’t Have to Prove Your Worth
Your value to your company or client won’t be judged solely on your one day in the office. This isn’t a job interview, so don’t press too hard to make a good impression in limited time. If you’re a good worker, your reputation should precede you.

Mind Your Behavior
The behavior that you’re used to when interacting virtually with your coworkers may not translate well to in-person meetings. So even if you have a keen understanding of a particular coworker’s sense of humor, that won’t necessarily mean that they’ll appreciate the normal level of joking. This may be a non-issue, but keep things casual until you get a better read of office culture.

Re-Establish Traditional Contact After the Fact
One of the most important steps in meeting coworkers for the first time is to re-establish your traditional contact method after the visit. If you normally communicate by email, IM, phone, or video conference, follow-up your visit by making contact using that method. This will restore your normal relationship and leave your visit as a brief (but important) anomaly.

They say you never get a second chance to make a first impression, but for telecommuters that isn’t entirely true. You, the telecommuter and you, the office visitor, each have a chance to make a first impression. Making both a great virtual and in-person impression will allow your stock to soar.

Unless you set work hours for yourself, you might find it hard to leave at the end of the day.  You might be tempted to work until dinner is ready and then jump right back into it as soon as you finish eating.  Or you might start putting in a extra few hours at night instead of reading, watching TV, or spending time with your family.  With your work area only a few feet away, you can have trouble getting away from it.

I once lived in a loft apartment while I was telecommuting.  It was a great place, right in the city, with as open a floor plan as you could hope for.  Therein lied the problem.  No matter where I was in my apartment, I could see my work desk and was reminded of my job.  After a few weeks it started to drive me a little crazy and I realized that I needed to make some kind of change.  Setting work hours was just the trick I needed.

Now, I follow a morning and evening routine just as if I had an office job.  I wouldn’t go to the office before I got showered and dressed or had eaten breakfast, so I avoid my work area until those things are completed.  When lunch time comes, I step away and take a real lunch break.  (Even 10 minutes away is a nice pick-me-up)  When quitting time comes, I shut down my computer, turn off my work phone, and walk away.

I do, of course make exceptions to my work hours just as I would at the office.   If I have a big deadline or important meeting I’ll start early and stay late.  During those busy times, it’s great that I work from home, since my work is right there.  But for the rest of the time, having set work hours makes my telecommuting much more enjoyable.  It actually increases my productivity as well.  Rather than half heartedly working in the early morning and late eveneing, outside of my normal work hours I’m totally off and during my work hours I’m 100% committed to getting my work done.  Twelve half-assed hours are much less productive than eight (or less) in which you use your entire ass!