working from Home
 

I am just wondering what everyone would do if they were offered the same job they are doing now but working form home instead of the office, it would be the same pay same hours etc but the only difference would be instead of working in the office you could work at home.

the reason I ask is a friend of mine was offered their job to work at home but they declined as they said they would miss the camaradarie of working with other people

I think i would be comfortable working alone at home

I'm self-employed and work from home; I can't imagine going back to an office job. It's not for everyone, though, especially people who are extroverts and/or not highly self-disciplined.

I'm with senior management in a small consulting company, and I work from my home 65-75% of the time. I do miss an office environment, but traveling once or twice a month to client sites and keeping my hand in on the technical side really helps.

I do find myself working weird hours, but the upside is that I don't feel particularly bad about taking a half-day here and there to have some fun (or run some errands).

I once had a job that allowed me to work from home except for when I needed to meet with business contacts. It worked very well for me. I am sure that I was far more productive working from home than I could have been in an office where people pop in on you or you hear others' noise. I also found myself working during some evenings and weekends since it was convenient to simply go into my home office and take care of some tasks here and there.

My agency wants us to work from home to save overhead. Personally, I don't think I could stand walking from my bedroom to my home office (the bedroom next door) for the next 20 years. I'd find it more like solitary confinement.

As I told my boss - home is where I drink beer and watch TV.

been working from home since 1999 (my first 'real job, not counting the internships during university)

so I pretty much only knew 'work from home' until 2 years ago........on the edge of going crazy and alcoholic....:D.........found a 2nd job doing yet another consultancy job.....now I get out of the house 3 times per week

When I'm not on the road, I work from home. I really enjoy it but think it could get hard if I didn't travel at least some of the time.

It does take discipline. I found that I absolutely cannot work in PJ's (although shorts and t-shirt are fine) and I must shower before starting work. When I first started from home, I shut my office door so I wouldn't be tempted to wander around the house.

I find I sometimes work later than I did at the office since I don't have to worry about traffic, or getting home to make dinner, etc.

I also think you really need a room dedicated to be an office. I could never do this if my desk were in the living room or my bedroom. I live alone, so other people aren't the issue, it's more of a separation of work/personal life thing for me.

Totally agree on all counts. I used to only have a home office; earlier this year I decided to rent a office loft that's about 1.5 miles away -- the change of scenery and a dedicated office environment makes me much more productive.

Now, I do a mix of WFH and going to the office. One thing I truly dislike about being self-employed is the absence of colleagues/intriguing co-workers.

My company was formerly a GE sub and GE is pretty enlightened about it. Some people have worked from home for years in high-level positions. The first year I joined them I worked from home and then relocated after my son finished high school the following year. I have to admit that I ended up getting brought into more projects when I started working in the head office 5 days a week.

We were purchased a couple of years ago by a European company that's not enamored of WFH although they've let most of the existing arrangements continue. My boss is in London and I generally work from home one day a week just to save the gas and commute and for the novelty of working in shorts and a T-shirt. We have plenty of ways to reach each other, including Instant Messaging.

There do seem to be people who have barking dogs or the occasional screaming child in the background during conference calls. WFH should not be a way to save on childcare expenses.

True, but I don't mind the dogs sleeping in my lap or at my feet.

As several have pointed out, it does take discipline--making yourself get the work done instead of getting distracted with other things. And traveling quite a bit does break up any monotony or isolation.

Also, as others have pointed out, sometimes you actually put in more hours, because it's convenient to try to finish up that project after dinner, etc.

But there's something to be said for not having to fight traffic every morning and evening and having that independence. It works well for me.

I have been working from home for about 9 years now. I work from home three weeks a month and travel cross-country to work in the office one week a month. For the most part I love the quiet at home and the freedom (and the dogs at my feet). I am on the phone a lot with clients and the office so I feel I get adequate socialization. When I am in the office I find that I am more easily distracted. I am definitely more productive from my home office. Except when neighbors/friends stop by to visit because they know I'm at home and forget that I'm working!

I work from home, for myself, and would rather have an office elsewhere, but then I would have to pay for it!

The problem with being at home is that it's too easy to get distracted, and too difficult to draw a dividing line between now I am working and now I am home sections of my day.

funny that....a good friend and former classmate of mine also works (and telecommutes) for former GE company (silicones division)

Here is a slightly different perspective:

I worked from home almost exclusively from 1997-2005, with frequent (several times a month) trips to offices out of state, as well as to make presentations domestically and abroad, and also to implement some of our educational activities around the world. This worked perfectly for me, as it blended the freedom to work when and how I wanted most of the time, with the ability to interact with colleagues virtually and in person and also to travel.

Then I took the leap and opened my own company (well, with an investor/business partner) and realized that it had to be office-based. The domestic talent pool for me is in the NY/NJ/CT/PA region, so I opted to open the office in NYC - Midtown Manhattan (the greatest place in the world). So, along with the HR folks in my holding company I had to set WFH policy, and here it is:

- Business Development folks are completely WFH, and can come into the office when and if they need to. They will be provided "touchdown space" in any available area

- Project Implementation, Editorial, Clinical and Operational staff MUST work primarily from the office, because in their daily activities suffer when they cannot collaborate face to face. I know that many of you will say that conference calls, videoconference and audioconferencing, IMing and email can be a good substitute, but I have see firsthand that being in the same room vs on the same bandwidth makes a difference in some scenarios.

- I do let people work from home, upon request, frequently, but we insure that there are no deadlines or important meetings that will be missed if they stay at home.

This has worked well, and we have even had one Operations person try out WFH one day a week, which is typically Weds, but is flexible if there is a need to be in on that day.

So, in thinking this over, I think that there are some jobs that can be WFH and others probably require office time.

Oh yeah, I WFH from time to time as well - by design - so as not to micromanage the company and to allow others to take ownership of their departments...

"Humans are social by nature". While having worked at home for a couple of years (and still do occasionally), I do not fool myself in fighting this edict.

After 15 years of home-based self-employment, writing, consulting and providing management services to a professional association, I'm "semi-retiring" at 69, surrendering (and it's time) association management, but keeping several dozen small-change clients for whom I provide an arcane niche service.

Travel, business and personal, belonging to an informal "Spit'n Whittle" group at an antique & used gun dealer, "Pitch" on Thursday afternoons, and a couple of boards get me out of the house. My office, a former playroom, atop our house, has a half bath, refrigerator, microwave, coffee maker, window seats wide and long enough for a nap, and best of all a view from the ridgeline over the lake.

FT helps with boredom, and I'll miss the demands for self-discipline needed for my regular routine. I never wore PJs, always shower (but miss too many dates with the razor), and my office wear remains desperately informal.

Working at home has prolonged my career, seems to have raised my income (or at least increased my business-related expenses with a net positive result), and now provides me with a way to walk away at my own pace, no gold watch or parachute, but still clients who need me (or my services, too long priced too low).

Housewives have been working from home for decades. There are ways to work from home and have company. Internet forums, for instance :) And making acquaintance with nearby people doing similar work.

Not that I'm saying it's the same as regular company... but working from home isn't the same as resigning to a life of complete loneliness.

I work from home when I'm not travelling, maybe a week or so per month, and I wouldn't trade it for anything. The idea of commuting to the same office day in and day out and seeing the same people on a daily basis makes me want to hang myself. I like the peace and quiet and the ability to set my own schedule. I don't think that I could ever go back to being an office monkey.

Unfortunately, my streak of not going to the office will end at 2 years and 3 months on Wednesday, when I have to go in for a 2 day meeting. I'll have to deal with all of the annoying folks in person that I usually can just deal with on the phone. Yech... :mad::mad::mad:

I must be one of those humans that aren't social... :rolleyes:

I could WFH, but prefer to drive the 10 miles into the office every day.

My wife has a home office and wouldn't have it any other way.

My opinion is that those who work at home and are on a company payroll are usually slacking off without the requisite adult supervision they would normally get at a proper work place.

OTOH, those who work at home and are self-employed can do as they like, since they are self-employed.

M8

I've been doing it for almost 20 years.

When I got married which involved moving, I made a proposal to continue to do my job (which involves a lot of travel anyway) and do it from a home office. Agree with the other posters that it involves discipline. It also is difficult to put the work away because it's always there. I enjoy the flexibility and it worked out very well when I became a mother because I can take breaks to spend some time with her (I have a full time nanny) and balance things out with my travel.

I have a dedicated office in my house but do work early mornings and late at night elsewhere. As I deal with Asia, it works well with my schedule. My productivity has skyrocketed being out of the office because I'm not in so many internal meetings and my time is limited to conference calls and emails. I would have a tough time going back to an office setting and I do have a tough time when I have to go back for a few days every few weeks.

after reading all the people who work from home it has opened my eyes a lot as i did not know so many people work from home, I commute an hour each way to work every day and am thinking that hour could be saved if i work from home and maybe i could get more work done as well....

I am looking to find a company that will allow me to work form hme doing a similar job to what i do now but as of yet i have found that companies in the UK will not let you work form home util you have worked with them for a while...

but im glad to see that i am not alone in wanting to work from the comfort of my own home

I do only one WFH day per week. One to two days a week seems to be a good balance.

Very enlightened.

There are numerous work at home jobs where employees are objectively evaluated such that "slacking off" would not result in successful performance.

It depends what work you do. I started my career WFH, and continued for 10 years until I ended up managing office based people. I am happy either way, but given the choice I would WFH. In fact i'm just looking at the possibilities now.

I work in the travel industry, I have done sales previously but im flexible to do a lot of other things given the oppurtunity

Gee thanks. I didn't realise that as an adult myself that I needed "adult supervision" :rolleyes:

If I didn't do my job to the highest standards and meet/exceed all goals, I would quickly be out of a job.

Jealous? Maybe a little envious of those of us who have the luxury of working from home and getting paid well while doing it...

Adult supervision? I'm a professional who is judged on accomplishments, not on how much time I'm appearing to be working.

My perspective is different. I've been in both positions.

Huge timewasters in the office. Too much socializing and too many meetings scheduled for the sake of having meetings. I work from home and can get more done in 4 hours than I could ever get done in a full day in the office. And I certainly don't have to take my morning paper to the stall in the men's room or always "look like I'm working" or any of the other office-bound workplace hells.

I WFH two scheduled days per week and other days as needed as well as traveling from four to eight days in any given two-week period.

I prefer to work in the office but since the company moved and my commute more than doubled I WFH mostly to save a few bucks. Now, you may ask, is why would I prefer to go to the office? Simple, there is no adult supervision in the office. If my plan of the day is to goof off, the office is the place. At home I really have to be disciplined and work hard and I have very definite goals for the day. If it's just one of those days I don't feel like working hard, I go in to the office. The people who think that others are only productive in an office environment are woefully off-target. Nobody watches me in the office.

I prefer it. It saves you so much. The biggest thing is time. You have much more time to spend with friends and family and also more time to do the things you like. You save a ton of money by not needing as much work clothes and by not having to pay to commute and for parking. You also don't have to deal with people stopping by your office/cube to ask you to do things. Since you're not in the office, you can better focus on your slate of work for the day.

You still end up on various phone calls and deal with people in that way. Also, given that people here likely travel anyways, you do get to spend time with other people at work. Just the in person stuff happens on the road.

Working from home is also a ton greener. You don't need to drive/get driven from home to work.

Once people work from home even for a short period of time, it's not likely they would want to go back.

"My opinion is that those who work at home and are on a company payroll are usually slacking off without the requisite adult supervision they would normally get at a proper work place."

My opinion is that you don't have the experience or wherewithall to know what you're talking about. You're assuming that people who work in an office work in one with their immediate supervisor/team mates in it. You also assume that because the supervisor is in the same facility that this leads to increased productivity. Neither are necessarily the case. People get assigned tasks and are judged on them. As a manager, it is very easy to judge who is getting things done and who isn't.

Been working from home/road since last August. My company offered me complete flexibility in all travel and work hours, so that was a major bonus. I just transfered within the company to a role that works in the office 3-4 days/week and on the road the remainder. I realize now that I missed being around my coworkers...instead of chatting with them over Skype/email.

My boss is across the Atlantic. I see him a few times a year and we talk every week or two. My staff is spread about the US. Do we really need to be hovering over our employees to make sure the work is getting done?

I have had people who would let me know what they're doing every minute of the day. I put a stop to that in a hurry. I don't car if they answer their phone in the home office, at the garage, in the grocery store, or visiting their extended friends and family out of town. As long as they're available when needed and getting what's asked of them done, that is.

^

It kind of depends on what I'm doing. For a couple of years I commuted to SAN, and would fly home on Thursday night and WFH on Friday. If I've had a heavy travel week I would do the same thing. Getting home at 6pm (or later) on Friday night sucks. I don't really have an option now since I'm site based.

My biggest problem with WFH was that my wife and daughter thought that I was off work for the day, and would get asked to "just take a minute" and help with something.

My employer is a huge fan of WFH and it's the only arrangement I've had in the 18 months I've been here. I personally don't really care for it all that much. I sit at home everyday all day save for going out for lunch most days. My team never gets together and there's alot of mising "connection" if you ask me by only working via phone/email/IM.

The other downside is that the "office" I have built is right at home, so I can sit down at any hour and talk to people, and I often do sit here at night talking to my team in India when they come in.

That is TOO funny! You are saying people don't slack off in a regular office?

I worked from home for 12 years before finally retiring (my boss died and I didn't want to have to break in a new one) but I wouldn't have kept that job very long if I hadn't produced the work product. Producing has nothing to do with "adult supervision" and everything to do with motivation. Personally I've always found a pay check to be sufficient motivation.

I did not say that. In fact, they are slacking off at the office and slacking off even more at home.

Given the concupiscent nature of man, the many will always leave to the few that which needs to be done ~ Thomas Aquinas.

Cheers,

M8

Sounds like you need to get aquainted with some actual professional people.