How to Be the Most Outstanding Work from Home Employee Ever!

Let's face it. Working from home is a pretty new field with most gainfully employed individuals spending the vast majority of their jobs/careers commuting to a work place outside the home. As with anything that is fairly new, challenges to custom and convention are being presented and the traditional workforce is no different. 

According to this article, the mere perception of telecommuting shows home-based employees tend to get smaller raises, fewer promotions and lower performance reviews. (That doesn't seem right, does it?) The argument is that office workers and bosses are heavily influenced by what is called "passive face time", a phrase that denotes how the consistent presence of an employee's face in the office lends credit to his or her "reliability". No evidence of what you are doing or how well it is being done is required. 

When asked about an employee's reliability, supervisors often gravitated (unconsciously) to two categories: expected face time, wherein employees are seen during normal operating hours and extracurricular face time, where an employee is present after hours, early in the a.m. or during lunch. When recalling favorable qualities of employees, supervisors labeled workers who put in expected face time as "loyal" or "trustworthy" 9% more time than their home-based employees. Extracurricular face time had bosses 25% more likely to call employees "devoted" and "faithful".

So what is the best way for work from home employees to close the gap?

First, experts recommend that employers that use work from home employees base performance reviews on objective results. For home-based employees, it is important to demonstrate that you're just as accessible from home as you would be if you were right there in the office.  

Therefore:

·         Create virtual face time. Update your employer on your progress by instant message, email, Skype, phone or any combination thereof on a regular basis.

·         Respond to all inquiries immediately-- or as close to immediately as you can!

·         Update phone and email messages after hours at least 2-3 times per week. Help your boss understand that extracurricular face time doesn't necessarily require a face.

·         Be extra visible on the days you do come into the office. Make sure you know your coworkers and they know you!

Working from home has been shown to have many benefits for both employees and their employer but it is still a new frontier. Even if you no longer have long commutes and get to work in less-than-casual office attire, home-based employees will still find themselves playing catch-up with their onsite coworker in at least a few places.It's just a matter of breaking down the barriers and luckily, that's easy to do-- and, as many telecommuters will tell you, much less painful than being stuck working in a cubicle!

Working from Home: Take Me Back to the Office!!

Sometimes, working from home just isn't for everybody. The following is a list of the most common complaints about working from home:

Missing human interaction. Don't forget—where you work is where you live and vice versa. For some people, it's just too much.

A need for more structure. Whether it's 9 to 5 or 5 to 9, some people simply need a fixed beginning and end to their workday.

Having inadequate office space or furniture in their home office. Since most homes are built for living, office space can sometimes end up being anything from a corner in the basement to the dining room table.  

Inadequate office supplies and costly equipment. When working remotely for a company, things such as internet, internet upgrades, copiers, headsets and other necessary equipment are typically afforded by the company. Sometimes… they're not.

People asking or expecting you to do favors just because you're home. Your job is still your job and that report is still due by the end of the day. But the kids want you to come pick them up from band practice, your neighbor wants to you to check on her dog and your spouse wants you to call the bank because the check card was denied at the gas pump. 

The thing about working from home is that some people are going to love it and some people are going to hate it. There is no one-size-fits-all job situation that suits all people. But for those who have made it work, congratulations! You are on the leading edge of a new transition in the work force!

The Craptastic Things You Get to Ditch When Working from Home

The average office worker believes he or she would be more productive working from home and strongly wishes for the opportunity-- even if it were only once a week. And while each individual may have their own pro's that come with taking on home-based employment, there seems to be a consensus about certain office activities that workers would happily dump and never face again, such as:

• ·         office baby showers
• ·         staff photos
• ·         know-it-all coworkers
• ·         workplace whiners

Citrix, a Ft. Lauderdale company that creates technology that allows employees of companies to work remotely hired Wakefield Research to do the survey. But it's not just office workers that find office life "challenging". About one-third of executives/managers report they schedule their time off close to that of their superiors in order to maximize the time apart from each other and the office.

What else did the Wakefield survey find? 

Of the 1000 American office workers asked,

·         20% would like a boss like the character Gibbs on NCIS

·         15% would like Miranda Bailey from "Grey's Anatomy"

·         14% would like Buddy from the show "Cake Boss"

·         32% would give up lunch breaks to work from home

·         25% would forgo alcohol to work from home

·         20% would give up coffee

All in all, working from home is of great interest to the real-life American worker. Research has consistently shown that companies benefit greatly by becoming more flexible and allowing employees to work remotely. Not only does it boost productivity, it boosts morale as well. 

And not having to deal with that weird guy that licks the serving spoon at every office potluck or having your super-sub sandwich mysteriously disappear from the employee fridge every Friday is most definitely a bonus.

From the Inside Out: The Inner Secrets of the Work from Home World

It's dated from last year but this is a fun, informative article about working from home! (...that hits a little close to home.)

Working from home is not always about walking around in your skivvies when talking to a client on the phone but there are moments....

The Three Little Things That Make a Work from Home Business Last Longer

If you're going to be self-employed and work from home, you're going to have to be the type that deals with stress rather well. Not like this morning, when I was ten minutes away from launching a client's blog and my internet went down. Poof. Gone. Vanished. I was not the bastion of serenity I should have been.  Far from it. 

Whatever they say about losing your cool and how it affects your physical and mental well-being for the worse, every once in a while you're bound to blow your top. As far as I see it, life is balance and never is just as bad as always. Or maybe ''everything in moderation'' is a better way to put things.

But if you're going to work from home, you're likely going to have that added pressure every once in a while because everything is riding on your shoulders. Your best bet is to be in the practice of dissolving stress on a regular basis. You'll not only improve your health, your work from home venture is more likely to last longer.

Tips for making your business last longer:

Have an exercise routine. Every day, thirty minutes at least. More is better. You'll say you don't have time and there may be days when you don't. The rest of the time, make time. And I don't mean thirty minutes of strolling down to the end of the block. Get on the exercise bike and break a sweat. You need to be huffing and puffing. 

Take breaks in the right place. It's easy to push yourself to the limit when you work from home. The general advice is to take ten to fifteen minute breaks but don't do it at the desk where you work. Step outside for few moments. Walk down to the end of your drive and check the mail. When it's time to eat, don't eat at your desk, either. Keep your work area for work and only work.

Laugh. A lot. Laughter truly is the best medicine. I highly recommend renting stupid, silly movies that crack you up (or at least leave you light-hearted), watching comedy routines or a box set of your favorite comedy show. Sit down and really watch them. Do nothing else. 

Most tips for making your small business last longer have to do with cash flow and taking advantage of tax write-offs-- and those are good tips. But if you're health isn't where it should be, those types of things just aren't going to matter all that much, now are they?

Attention! Working from Home for Military Wives

It's not like military wives aren't already working from home, that's for sure. However, work from home employment is a rather savvy option for women whose lives involve literal geographical changes on a regular basis. Having a job that allows the comfort of working from home means:

• not having to find a new job every time there's a change in duty stations
•  cutting the expense and hassle of finding daycare for the kids
• having a regular stream of income that is dependable no matter where in the world one ends up

There is no doubt many a work from home opportunities out there. But how does one weed out the schemes from the actual prospects for reliable work?

 

The first and foremost aspect of finding good work from home employment lies within an individual's profession or skillset. Technology has made it so that even jobs in the nursing field can be worked through telecommuting. Other popular and legitimate work from home jobs that work well for military wives are:

 

•  virtual customer service
• virtual assistants
• online tutoring
• bookkeeping
• direct sales
•  freelance writing and photography

Helpful resources such as military.com help military spouses find careers, many of which involve telecommuting. Plus, there are other websites devoted to connecting employers in a certain field that want and need work from home employees. Once the issue of one's skillset is established, it can then take some time and research to find legitimate work from home employment. However, with so many companies looking to save their bottom line, work from home jobs are now more accessible than ever. 

Plus, most military wives are the type that do quite well at creating their own work from home employment rather than worrying about finding someone to work for. They are more likely to work as freelancers in many areas, finding work on websites like guru.com or oDesk. This not only helps create a stream of income, it can help make military life less stressful by building confidence and providing a sense of purpose. This is especially important for military wives as so much of their life revolves around the military life of their spouse's career.

If ever there was a demographic that was made for work at home employment, it is military wives. They're lifestyle, heart and courage makes them resilient enough to handle the demands of working at home, personally and professionally, with just as much moxie as their military husbands.

Your Kick Ass Home Office Awaits

What makes for a kick ass home office? That depends. What works for one work-from-home employee may not work for another but the basics are pretty much the same. Follow these basics, give them a tweak and you'll have a kick ass spot all your own for getting your work done.

•Location. Obviously you need to pick a spot-- but where? The best spot is going to be a room with a door away from the traffic and noise of your home. However, when space is limited, you may have to claim a corner in the least busy room/area of your home.

If at all possible, avoid using the bedroom as an office space. As informal as working from home can be, studies have shown that working from a bedroom may be too relaxing and distracting. Not that there's anything wrong with occasionally taking a nap before, during or after lunch or working from bed; that's one of the perks of working from home! However, one of the biggest challenges of this type of work environment is keeping up on productivity. Lead not into temptation…
                                  

•Supplies. Regardless of what line of work you're in, you're going to need those office supplies. You know what you need: computer, chair, file cabinet, etc. However, before heading off to the nearest office supply store, take an inventory of what you do have, what you can pick up on the cheap at a second hand store or what you can borrow from someone else. It can get awfully tempting (and expensive!) to buy shiny new gadgets that end up collecting dust after being used only once or twice.

•Good lighting. Most who work from home overlook this very important detail. Never underestimate the value of having good lighting in your home office. It's not only about reducing the strain on your eyes. Good lighting also promotes productivity.

•Add your own signature. Make your office yours. Throw up your Channing Tatum/Bar Refaeli poster, add a plant or better yet-- your own mini-fridge filled with lo-fat yogurt. Kick ass! Keep your office area clutter-free or at least move non-essential items out of your line of sight. Make your space tidy and efficient and official and don't forget to post your office hours on the door or wherever they can be seen prominently.

The whole point of laying out a home office is to give your informal work environment a more formal feel. That way, work feels more legitimate. But don't let that scare you- you can still wear pajamas to the office if you want to.

Here's Another Reason You Could Be Working but Aren't

Article first published as Here's Another Reason You Could Be Working but Aren't on Technorati.
So. Here we are in the day and age of internet; a utility that has created countless benefits- one of which is telecommuting. In case you don't know, telecommuting is any job in which technology makes the need for a commute to an onsite workplace obsolete. These days, it's not hard to think of employment sectors where telecommuting works beautifully. Take customer service call centers, for example. By allowing employees to work from home, there is no need for a company to rent out large amounts of office space and keep up with the neverending expense of office supplies. On the other side of the coin, employees no longer have to make costly commutes and may even be able to eliminate childcare costs. Financially, it's a win-win situation.
 
Yet, in these hard economic times when both businesses and the Average Joe are hurting, the US still lags in implementing this very cost effective option for maintaining productivity and keeping people employed. According to research from the Telework Network in June of this year, telecommuters only make up 2% of the US workforce as compared to 4% in Canada and over 5% in the UK. Unfortunately, Americans and American businesses still view working from home as a perk rather than a standard business practice. While other countries have managed to evolve and let go of the outdated notion that work is not 'work' unless it's performed right in front of other people, we simply… haven't.

In one instance, the data showed that between the reduction of office space and energy costs, one company could save $16,000 per employee. In another case, the number neared $11 million overall. In addition, companies in the UK that implement telecommuting report an increase in employee productivity by 20-30%. So why the hesitance to do something that even by just allowing employees to work one day from home would save a company hundreds of thousands every year? Because most companies and their employees still want to measure performance by how many hours are spent at the office- not by results.

It's likely that telecommuting will eventually catch on in the US; however, it would seem with the hard times that just about everyone is eking through, it would be quite auspicious for businesses to create these win-win situations. Until attitudes change and results-based management becomes the norm, I guess we all just sit here and wait for things to get better on their own.   Fabulous.