Teleworking

Vice President, Cofounder of TManage, Inc.

The aspect of telecommuting that I consider the most fun is setting up the home office. It provides an opportunity to indulge your creativity without having to go through channels as in a traditional office environment. This does not mean that there will not be some form of approval process ï by a roommate, child or spouse. There is no environment completely free of criticism. A home office is exceptional in that it permits you to start from scratch and you can set everything up the way you have always wanted. Only you can design an office space that is most suited to your personal work style.

First things first, you must determine where this telecommute work center will be located. You may be in the fortunate position that you already have a home office that may be adapted to fit the specific needs of your job. If this is not the case and you will be creating a brand new office set up, all you need is a stretch of wall space or a nice corner, in any room, that will accommodate a desk or desk size table. The walls, real and imaginary, make up your office "space". This space can be located anywhere in your home. Some suggestions for where are unused space in your dining room, a hallway, or a wall in the kitchen that provides room for a shelf system or computer cabinet. You can also use something you may already possess and use it in a manner to suit your needs.

If you are still at a loss where to place your office, consider the space where you presently have a television. Perhaps shelves could be set up with the television on an upper shelf, permitting you to utilize the lower portion of that wall space as your office. You would not be using the television and the office function at the same time so there should be no conflict.

Once you have determined where your home office will be, you are ready to set it up. Many of you may be prepared to quit reading at this point because you have so many ideas on how to arrange this space. Perhaps all you need is help sifting through your ideas. I can offer a small bit of help on organizing those thoughts. Make a birds-eye diagram of your workspace on graph paper. Make representations of furniture and equipment out of graph paper so that you can arrange everything to near scale. Do the same for each wall (or imaginary surface) of your office, except do these from a frontal perspective. This allows you to see if your ideas will physically fit into the space and if they will work as effectively as imagined. You could go high-tech with on line design tools, but if your only designing the one space the time wasted in learning an on line tool isnØt recovered.

If you want additional basic help in your office set up, please continue reading. Some companies are anxious for employees to work from home offices rather than using traditional office space. To encourage telecommuting, a company may provide a specific budget for telecommuters. There are guidelines for use of the budget and usually a maximum dollar amount that your employer is willing to spend. You may want furniture and equipment that exceeds the company budget. You may do this if you are willing to make up the difference yourself. Review your corporate telecommuting policy, first, before augmenting your prescribed budget so you understand what is and isnØt allowed. You can analyze what it is worth to you in time and efficiency to have the higher dollar furnishings. The investment may be worthwhile. There is the possibility that the money you spend may be tax deductible. DonØt assume ï check with a tax consultant. If it is tax deductible, you can calculate that money saved into your decision-making process.

You may be telecommuting on your own and not be employed by any one company. You need to make a list of each task you perform and what equipment is necessary for that task. Add to this list over a period of a week to ensure that you include tasks that may be performed only once a week. This list will give you a framework of what equipment is required to successfully work from home. Your next list will be of that equipment and what you already have that is on that list. According to TManage, a basic list includes a work surface, a computer, a telephone, a fax machine, a copier, and an answering machine or voice mail arrangement. Purchasing a multi-function phone-fax-copier can save money and space in your home office. DonØt forget all the daily things such as pens, fax-copy paper, printer cartridges, tape, staples, paper clips, etc. If you are providing your own supplies, a list is important so that you do not run out of critical materials. It is hard to complete a project if you cannot print it for lack of paper or an ink cartridge. In most cases, on line ordering and next day delivery is available for office supplies, this is far more convenient than running to the nearest office supply store and a more efficient utilization of your time. On line ordering is also a good way of maintaining records ï automatically.

After you have determined your space and arranged the equipment and supplies needed for your job, you can proceed to the fun part of making your home office livable and attractive. If attractive is not important to you, try to find a closet for use as an office. This will permit you to shut the door and hide it away. If you are set up in a room that others will see, try to make the office fit into the room as gracefully as possible. This can be achieved by color coordinating supplies, adding a pillow to your desk chair that matches the rest of the room or including personal items such as pictures on the desk and shelves along with your work materials.

If you prefer that your work area to be separate from the house, you may do this and still maintain an attractive and cohesive effect. You can use an armoire that can be closed when not in use. You may also use a screen block off the work area from view. A variety of types of screens are available so that you can find one that fits into the look of your room.

The key to setting up a home office is to have an effective, comfortable workspace but one that does not interfere with your home time. One of the big advantages of telecommuting is to enhance your quality of life. Your goal should be to achieve a balance between your work life and personal life.

Telework - The Changing Face of the Workplace

Telework - An Introduction

WHY TELEWORK

Copyright © Advancing Women (TM), 1996-2006 For questions or comment regarding content, please contact publisher@advancingwomen.com. For technical questions or comment regarding this site, please contact webmaster@advancingwomen.com. Duplication without express written consent is prohibited

Copyright © Advancing Women (TM), 1996-2006
For questions or comment regarding content, please contact publisher@advancingwomen.com.
For technical questions or comment regarding this site, please contact webmaster@advancingwomen.com.
Duplication without express written consent is prohibited