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May, 2005 |
Making Work-from-Home a Success
Recently I was downsized from a company for whom I had worked 100% remotely for over three years. During those three-plus years, my friends and family would often ask how I liked working at home. I'd tell them that it was almost like being in the office, and that I even had my own water cooler. "Yeah," I'd say, "on my breaks I stand around it and tell jokes to my dog."
The truth is that, for me, working from home really was like being in the office. I made a concerted effort to make it that way, because I knew that was the work-at-home environment in which I could be most successful. Things went so smoothly, in fact, that I could have continued to work in that fashion indefinitely had my former employer not run into financial problems.
Now that I actually have to wear shoes to work again--a major bummer--I've had time to reflect on what made my work-from-home situation so successful. For those who have gotten the OK to begin a work-from-home arrangement, reconcile yourself to the fact that writing your proposal and crafting the theory of the arrangement is the easy part. Making the arrangement work in practice and for an extended period of time takes some effort. Here are my top three suggestions for any technical writer preparing for a work-from-home situation. Create BoundariesVery early in my work-from-home experience, I created temporal and physical boundaries meant to establish a definite structure in my day. I believe it is critical to maintain distinct work and home lives, and this becomes difficult when your workday does not involve any change of venue.
One of the first rules I set was that my working hours would mimic what they had been in the office. I informed my manager, the other half of the two-person Documentation Department, that my regular hours would still be 7am to 4pm, and that I would always be available during that time. But I didn't stop at that. Every day I took a break at 10am, took an hour lunch over the noon hour, and took another break at 3pm. There was the odd day where a phone call or intense concentration might move these times around some, but for the most part I adhered to that structure every day.
As important as when I was working was where I was working. I set up an office in an unused bedroom in my house, and that was the only place I worked. There was never any typing away in the easy chair, never any spec reading in the yard. Phone calls were my one exception, because I tend to pace when I'm on the phone. However, I still limited my pacing to the upstairs of the house, adjacent to the office. The end result was that I was able to confine my work to a limited portion of my house, which I found to be very effective in prohibiting work from creeping into all aspects of my life.
Some people might think that such rigid time and place structures eliminate the freedom that is the main perk of working from home. What's the point of working from home, some ask, if you can't occasionally, or even frequently, do some of your work on the patio in the evenings, or on the couch at 3am? My opinion is that these are dangerous practices. Work time and home time become so entwined that it is too easy to work more than you should, or perhaps even more dangerous than that, it becomes too easy to work less than you should. Have a Reliable Inside ContactWhen you're out of the office most or all of the time, it's difficult not to be forgotten to some degree. No matter how many phone conferences you attend or how diligent you are in your work, it's difficult to overcome the "you had to be there" aspect of work. That's why you need someone you trust on the inside, someone who knows what you do and can feed you all the office details that don't find their way into task lists and formal phone conferences.
I was fortunate in that I had worked in the office for 18 months before I went remote, and that time allowed me to build relationships with people, especially the manager I would be relying on for information. Even though I had a whole phone sheet of people I could call for on-the-record information, I knew I could trust my manager to inform me about off-the-record topics such as office mood and interpersonal dynamics. Even though a remote worker is blissfully removed from the typical office politics that go on every day, you still need to know that they exist. If the general--but unspoken--feeling is that a product deadline is going to be missed and that your work will be affected, it's good to have your inside contact relay that information to you early. If person X is feuding with person Y over deadlines or resources, it's good to know about this tension in case you need to talk to either of the persons involved.
It's also important that you have someone you trust representing you in informal meetings and conversations. Because you have no physical presence, it's all too easy for others to make seemingly insignificant decisions for you. If a couple of managers are making an on-the-fly decision in the hallway about changing the documentation--one of those "Oh, it's just a small change to the documentation…" conversations--it's critical that your inside contact can interject and suggest that the "small change" they are considering will cost you a day's work. At the very least, it is very beneficial that you have someone in the office who can suggest that the decision be postponed until you are consulted. Know ThyselfIt takes a certain personality to be successful in the work-from-home scenario. This is perhaps the most difficult aspect of working remotely, because it's difficult to change one's personality.
Obviously, you have to be disciplined enough to stay focused and get your work done without Big Brother always looking over your shoulder. When the alarm goes off every morning, you have to be able to get up and go to work. No excuses. No snooze alarms. And even if, like most writers, you have no problem getting to your desk and writing, you still must be able to resist the numerous workday distractions that originate from other parts of the house. Forget about the heap of laundry. Don't even think about paying your bills. You have to be able to resist these and other household chores that call your name. Remember, you're at work; those activities can be done over your lunch hour or after work. I can't tell you how many times my wife called during the day to ask if I could move the laundry from the washer to the dryer. Every time she got the same response: I'll do it over lunch if I remember. You have to take the same attitude if there are other people in house, namely spouses and children. Make it clear that you're not home. You're at work, and you're not to be interrupted until break time unless it's an emergency. If you're easily sidetracked by household distractions, you must find a way to shut them out.
Secondly, you have to know that you can be alone. There would be times when I would go three or four days without speaking to anyone from the office. Many days it was common to speak only to the dog in the time between when my wife left for work and returned in the evening. Even though writers tend to be introverts, most everyone still needs some form of social interaction, so you'll have to find things to do that satisfy this need. I made it a point to get out of the house as much as possible at night, even if I just went to the local book or video store to have a look around. I also got more involved in the STC and other organizations during this period. And I always knew that I could call my manager any time just to chat. In short, you have to know how much and what kind of extra social interaction you need to remain healthy. Don't underestimate this aspect of working remotely. If I had to guess the #1 reason why work-from-home arrangements fail, my guess would be that the remote worker starts feeling too lonely and disconnected and wants to get back in the office to be around people again.
Now that I've had a chance to get back into the regular work world and
sit at stop lights every day, I can tell you that I'd gleefully accept
any opportunity to get back into my home office. The convenience of the
situation is just too much of a perk. And besides, my dog really misses
my water cooler jokes.
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