How to become a better web worker.
July 12th, 2007 (6:00am) Sabra Aaron 12 Comments
Many people with regular jobs look at the digital bedouins tapping away at their laptops in the coffee shop at 10:30 in the morning and think to themselves, “Nice work if you can get it, but I need my real job. Alas.”
And while full-time, slipper-wearing, video-conferencing-from-your-backyard web work isn’t possible for all employees, you may find that you can edge your regular job toward a more web worker-like structure.
First, analyze your actual day-to-day work.
Do you have tasks that require both sustained attention and limited interaction with colleagues? These kinds of tasks are perfect candidates to be saved up and batch-processed on a telecommuting day. Take note of how much time you’re spending on this stuff to discover if you have enough of it on a regular basis to warrant working at home on it.
Next, examine the things you do when you log in from home to do after hours and on weekends — restarting servers, performing site fixes, remote support. If these are things you also do during a normal workday there is no reason that you couldn’t accomplish them on a telecommute day.
Explore the capabilities of your office phone system. Most systems have a forwarding setting that allows you to make the phone ring wherever you are. And while being in touch might undermine the “sustained attention – low interactivity” goal you set for your telecommute days, it also helps to assuage the fear that you’re “working from home” instead of actually working from home.
Armed with these facts about exactly what you’ll be doing at home, how you’ll be able to do these things, and how your manager will be able to check up on you, you’re ready to write a proposal. Emphasize the benefits of the arrangement to your employer: it’s a great benefit that costs them nothing to offer, they can check up on you to their heart’s content, and you’ll be getting more done.
Now march into your manager’s office and ask to work remotely one day a week. Come on. You can do it. Let us know how it goes!
12 Comments Post your own comment
Brad Holt says: July 12th, 2007 7:31am
Ahh Remote working. I do this as much as I can, but I would think a true web worker is someone that always is working remote. As a social creature at heart, i have to say the days I am not in the office I feel there is something missing. However, getting to do laundry during the middle of the day while working on project documentation at the house is well worth the effort. Most companies should have a way to log into their network, with that access, the world can be an office.
Fairbanks, AK here I come.
Pete Johnson says: July 12th, 2007 8:49am
Good list and I like Brad’s addition of VPN capability, which I agree is essential to even qualify for teleworking.
I’ve been working remotely for the better part of 10 years and have noticed another key ingredient is work, as obvious as it sounds, is general competence. I’ve seen people of all skill levels attempt remote working and, almost without fail, people who were poor performers before don’t magically become good or great performers when faced with the additional discipline required of teleworking.
To me, then, that means that you have to establish yourself as a productive worker in a traditional office environment first before making the jump to working at home.
Pete Johnson
HP.com Chief Architect
Personal Blog: http://nerdguru.net
Tim says: July 12th, 2007 10:03am
I think Pete’s onto something here.
Another item to consider (credit to Tim Ferriss on this one): make sure the day you ask for, at first, is a mid-week day. If your company’s opposed to remote work in the first place, don’t make it look like you’re really asking for a three-day weekend.
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DRONE says: July 14th, 2007 11:41am
Corporate culture will not allow it, regardless of the benefits. Have a nice day.
Telemill says: July 15th, 2007 2:15am
Also, keep in mind that there are instances when you can’t come into work . . . a child is sick, you are infirmed (sick, broken leg, etc.), a local disaster, etc. Have your home office set up so you can do “a little” if not ALL your work from home. After, you have successfully done this (demonstrating that it can be done and you can be trusted), then have a meeting with your boss to ask if this could be an on-going thing.
But be careful, people are known to take advantage of this situation — expecting you to do this whenever you are sick. Don’t do it! You deserve your sick-time and don’t get in the habit of giving it away. Or requiring you to work extra hours to get a project done — don’t make that a habit either.
Let them know from the beginning that you are just doing this to demonstrate that it “can be done” and they should “consider the possibility” of allowing you to telecommute.
In my case, the 9/11 disaster allowed me to show my boss that my job could be done remotely. I truly hope that another disaster does not have to happen for anyone to convince their boss of the same thing.
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Marc says: July 15th, 2007 4:35am
Telemill: I don’t quite agree. I try to take paid time-off for medical or child-care issues. I like to reserve working from home for days when I’ll really be able to devote most of the day to being alone and focused on work, not too sick to concentrate. Hopefully this keeps my work-from-home days looking productive in my employer’s eyes, and it also keeps up my own self-discipline. What I’ve found is that there is only so much I can really focus on work before I start to slow down. For a job that requires creativity, I just can’t give 8 hours of constant output.
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[...] Web Worker Daily » Blog Archive How to become a better web worker. « Many people with regular jobs look at the digital bedouins tapping away at their laptops in the coffee shop at 10:30 in the morning and think to themselves, “Nice work if you can get it, but I need my real job. Alas.” And while full-time, slipper-wearing, video-conferencing-from-your-backyard web work isn’t possible for all employees, you may find that you can edge your regular job toward a more web worker-like structure. [...]