Re: Commute/Flex work options a Deal breaker?

["Suzette Leeming" <suzette -dot- leeming -at- gmail -dot- com>]

Back in the late 90's I used the Sun Valley Telecommuting Guide to help
create a proposal for telecommuting. I didn't use the entire guide, and one
of the sections was to help companies implement telecommuting policies,
measurements, etc. It had excellent criteria for selecting employees to
telecommute (not everyone has the discipline or desire), checkpoints,
re-evaluations, etc.

For 6 years after my proposal, I telecommuted full time, going into the
office every couple of weeks to have lunch with my manager (face time).

Now that I've changed jobs, I only telecommute 2 days a week, and that suits
me fine. When I worked all the time from home, the line between work and
home became very blurred and I was putting in 12+ hours a day. Not because I
had to, but when I get caught up in something I'm like a dog with a bone,
and won't let go.  It wasn't healthy.

Suzette Leeming
Stouffville, Ontario




On 6/25/08, Collin Turner <straylightsghost -at- gmail -dot- com> wrote:
>
> Susan,
>
> The past several years I've worked with options to work from home
> several days a week. I'm with you. My current job doesn't offer
> this...yet. It's been quite a transition!
>
> On this subject, here's some meat for discussion:
>
> Sun's Open Work policy
> http://www.sun.com/aboutsun/environment/products/openwork.jsp
>
> Sun Microsystems Study Finds Open Work Program Saves Employees Time
> and Money, Decreases Carbon Output
> http://www.prweb.com/releases/sun_microsystems/open_work/prweb1009224.htm
>
> Sure...company funded PR....but an eye opener and great fuel for
> anyone wishing to approach their employer about creating more options.
>
> On Wed, Jun 25, 2008 at 9:37 AM, Susan Park <su_duncan -at- yahoo -dot- com> wrote:
> > I'm fortunate to work for a company that hires very few on-site
> employees. I've been working remotely for about 2 years now, and I love it.
> My work is project based, and at any given time, I have about 2-3
> projects.  No one is standing over my shoulder micromanaging me--as long as
> I meet milestone dates and keep my project managers apprised of my status,
> it doesn't seem to matter when, where, or how many hours I work per
> week.  My annual salary is probably a bit lower than market rate, but it's
> worth it to me to be at home.
> >
> > Now that I've had this experience, if I had to find another job, would
> the commute/flex work options be a dealbreaker?  I hope I never have to find
> another job, but if I did, it would be with an eye toward another
> telecommuting situation.
> >
> > Susan
> >
> >
> > --- On Wed, 6/25/08, Keith Hood <klhra -at- yahoo -dot- com> wrote:
> >
> > From: Keith Hood <klhra -at- yahoo -dot- com>
> > Subject: RE: Commute/Flex work options a Deal breaker?
> > To: "techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com>
> > Date: Wednesday, June 25, 2008, 11:20 AM
> >
> > It would depend entirely on how broke I am. As for incentive, I don't
> need
> > any more. I always look for chances to work by remote. So far I've never
> > allowed it to be a deal breaker. But if I were working job A onsite every
> day,
> > and job B came along offering remote work at the same pay or close
> enough,
> > I'd be out of job A so fast I'd leave a hole in the air.
> >
> > I have been firmly convinced for years that 95% of what we do can be done
> just
> > as well at the end of a phone line as in a cube next door, and most of
> the real
> > reason for insisting that TWs work on site is hierarchy thinking by
> people who
> > have a vested interest in showing their bosses how many head they have in
> their
> > herds.
> >
> > I've tried for years to promote the idea both where I've worked and in
> > general. I've come up with some fairly detailed business cases about the
> > financial advantages to the companies - less need for physical plant so
> lower
> > electric bills, less liability; fewer commute miles per head so less
> pressure
> > from the EPA, etc. So far it's all fallen on deaf ears.
> >
> > Remote working would require a major shift in thinking (and personality,
> in a
> > lot of cases) on the parts of the bosses, and they don't want to be
> forced
> > into any changes. For a lot of them it's a visceral thing. A lot of them
> > see remote working as a challenge to or a reduction of their authority,
> so
> > they'll resist it to the bitter end.
> >
> > Plus, I think a lot of companies got burned by telecommuting in the late
> > 80s/early 90s when the tech stock bubble was building. A lot of companies
> who
> > were anxious to build quickly and were hiring frantically let a lot of
> people
> > set up telecommuting in order to get them on board quickly, and a
> significant
> > number of those people sloughed off too much. I've heard stories about
> > workers who would set up batch files that would automatically send
> something
> > pointless over the net at set times, so it would look to anyone
> monitoring
> > traffic like they were working while they were actually out at the lake.
> So
> > some companies once burned, twice shy.
> >
> > To be fair to the employers, making a remote working setup viable
> requires
> > workers with somewhat greater than normal dedication. It's hard enough
> > finding workers who have the dedication to show up in the cube by 9 every
> day.
> > Finding someone who's reliable when the boss isn't standing over his
> > shoulder is a whole new matter.
> >
> >
> >
> > --- On Wed, 6/25/08, Melissa Nelson <melmis36 -at- hotmail -dot- com> wrote:
> >
> >> From: Melissa Nelson <melmis36 -at- hotmail -dot- com>
> >> Subject: RE: Commute/Flex work options a Deal breaker?
> >> To: "techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com"
> > <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com>
> >> Date: Wednesday, June 25, 2008, 10:58 AM
> >> It would depend on the entire work situation. My present
> >> boss does not offer flex time. He is of the mode of
> >> "it ain't work, if it ain't done in a
> >> cube!" Fortunately for me, I live a mile away so it
> >> does not really enter into my situation. I did turn down a
> >> position in DC (about 25 miles away) that offered no
> >> flexibility, and did not even seem to understand that
> >> subways break down and sometimes you are just late.
> >> Therefore, I think it does depend on the whole job
> >> situation and environment! As a born and raised Utahn...I
> >> am tickled to see the governor do this, I think it is going
> >> to have to happen more and more as gas prices make commuting
> >> more and more expensive.
> >>
> >> Melissa
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> > Date: Wed, 25 Jun 2008 08:53:15 -0600> From:
> >> straylightsghost -at- gmail -dot- com> To:
> >> techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com> Subject: Commute/Flex work
> >> options a Deal breaker?> > As a Tech Writer, many of
> >> us know that our work affords us some>
> >> "flexibility" in the normal work routine:> *
> >> Tele-work> * Flex Schedules (Four 10 hour shifts/wk,
> >> etc.)> * and so on...> > I pose a question to the
> >> group...> > On Friday, the Governor of Utah will
> >> announce that ALL State offices> will switch to a 4 day
> >> work week (10 hour shifts) and close on Friday.> This is
> >> to meet the needs of State workers and reduce strain on
> >> the> Commute (which is a serious issue in this
> >> State).> > Here's the question:> > Would
> >> you go to work for a company that refused to budge (with
> >> no> proper explanation or reason given) or offer any
> >> flexibility in work> schedules? Even with such a
> >> precedence being set on a governmental> level?> >
> >> Would influence your decision if you were looking for a
> >> job?> Would it be incentive to seek out anot
> >>  her job with more flexibility?> > Just
> >> curious...> > -Collin>
> >> ________________________________> collinturner.com>
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