Making the case: remote workers
So you want to convince your boss to let you work from home? I stopped trying, but Dian Schaffhauser at Web Worker Daily offers some ways you might shake the office shackles loose. The tips come from Chuck Wilsker,the CIO of the Telework Coalition.
- “Point out that virtual work will cut down on presenteeism:” This is where you should be at home sick, but you’d rather go to the office, make other people sick, and not get any work done because your nose drips on the keyboard more than your fingers touch the keys.
- “Put together an agreement.” The what, when, how, etc of your home work life. Sounds reasonable. The problem of course is striking a balance between the amount of detail you need to provide to justify your time versus the amount of trust you are afforded to do your job.
- Read the full list.
Dian asks us to add other objections we have heard to the remote or distributed worker. When I bring up the subject over the course of my various careers, I’ve heard things like, “We’re still not sure how we can do that,” and “We’re investigating all the options.” These, of course, are euphemisms that mean change is hard and we’re not going to make it no matter what the arguments you make. Time heals these concerns or makes them irrelevant.
Having a distributed work force helps fight the employee recruiting problem. When you allow remote employees, your candidate pool just expanded. See my post Rural Job Market Seeks Tech Smart Employees.
I’ve also heard some realistic objections. “No, Mike, we can’t install a printing press in your basement.” Remote work is not for everyone.