By Jeanette Joy Fisher
Would You Like to Work From
Home?
With fuel costs rising and the use of computers, the
Internet, and email continuing to increase, more and more
people are beginning to consider the option of
telecommuting, even if it's only one or two days a week.
It may seem like an appealing option, but before you
commit to trying your hand at telecommuting, here are a
few questions to ask yourself.
First, take a realistic look at your job. Does any part of
your occupation lend itself to being done from home?
Next, take an equally realistic look at your own unique
personality and skills. Would you be able to have enough
self-discipline to work from home without any outside
supervision? Are you able to stay on task and to stay
organized well enough to do your work efficiently?
Finally, do you have an adequate workspace and the
appropriate technology at home to be able to do your job
effectively? That generally means a home office space,
equipped with all the technology you'll need.
If you were honestly able to answer all of these questions
yes, both you and your job may be candidates for
telecommuting. The next step is to approach your manager
with a proposal that would allow you to do a certain
amount of your work from home. Since it's a big step and
would require rethinking the way your job would be done,
it's important that you anticipate, consider, and address
every area of concern that your manager might have.
Make sure that your proposal focuses on the benefits to
your company and not to you. Just because it would be more
convenient and less expense to work from home, that
doesn't mean your company would see a benefit to having
you telecommute. Your proposal must be very specific about
the advantages telecommuting would have to the company's
bottom line.
Here are some suggestions for making your proposal more
appealing. Tell your manager than you will be more
productive at home, since you'll experience fewer
interruptions there than you would in the office. Let your
superiors know that you'll make yourself available for all
meetings or conference calls via the telephone.
To entice your supervisors to give telecommuting a try,
offer a trial period to see if it will work in your
particular situation. At the end of the trial period,
everyone will be able to assess the results and decide if
the arrangement has been satisfactory. If it hasn't, at
least you were able to try your hand at telecommuting.
Telecommuting is becoming increasingly popular, especially
as more and more jobs involve the extensive use of
computers. With continuing advances in the Internet,
email, video cams, and teleconferencing, it's more
possible than ever before to do all or most of many jobs
from home.
If you feel that your job may lend itself to
telecommuting, this may be the perfect time to approach
your supervisor and explore the possibility of working
from home, whether it's on a fulltime or part-time basis.
Copyright © 2006 Jeanette J. Fisher
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