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Wikipedia defines telecommuting as “a work arrangement in which employees enjoy flexibility in working location and hours. In other words, the daily commute to a central place of work is replaced by telecommunication links. Many work from home, while others, occasionally also referred to as nomad workers or web commuters utilize mobile telecommunications technology to work from coffee shops or other locations.”

Many organizations spend a lot of time developing methodologies for telecommuting – a lot of what I hear about telecommuting is about how to go about “getting it done”. Establishing policies, procedures, technology, etc. This all comes from the organization’s perspective, but how does this relate to you? I personally have left a standard 9-5 office environment and now am telecommuting at least once a week. I realized quite quickly that I needed to change some behaviors to be effective and it helped me to establish some ground rules for myself:

1. Get dressed for the day. Sure it’s a lot of fun to think about spending all day in your pajamas, but getting ready psychologically puts me in a different frame of mind. I become more task oriented and effective.
2. Flexibility comes with responsibility. You are an adult – act like it! Be accountable to yourself and your employer. Meet deadlines and make sure they know what you are doing – communcation is key so that trust is reinforced.
3. Figure out a schedule that works. Seriously? Do you think your IT guy is going to hang out till you are ready at 9 PM to help you with the glitch because you’re “special”? One can only dream! Be realistic about when you can get the support you need – be it IT, HR or communicating with your boss.
4. Figure out a way so that you are not always “virtual”. There is a high value on the social structure of the office – yes we always joke about wasting time at the “water cooler talk”, but those are the moments that develop a connection between you and you co-worker. It opens the door for better communication and understanding when you are working on a project because you have a better understanding of each other. This is much harder to do in the telecommuting world. If at all possible, make a point to physically meet those that you work with most, even if you are simply comparing notes on Mad Men’s latest developments!
5. Maintain the technology on your end. Organizations have different policies on how they go about providing technology to a remote location, but the bottom line is that if you want to work from home, the internet speed should be fast enough to get the job done.
6. Maintain a work / life balance. The traditional lines of “office” and “home” are blurred even more in the world of telecommuting. It’s easy to get in a grove, look up and see that you were supposed to leave 2 hours ago. Personally, I found that maintaining a schedule (as mentioned earlier) tends to work the best to maintain balance.

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Happy Telecommuting!