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As a side effect of working for a company that produces online meeting software -- voice/video/presentations... we've started doing something interesting, and it's made for a nice workplace.
We act like everyone could be telecommuting at any time. We all use our video conferencing software. We all have an online presence in the system, whether it be at our desk or at home... Everyone's equally reachable no matter where they are.
It works for us. And it now gives me the freedom to determine when to work at home, even on short or no notice.
Now for the shameless plug -- don't get mad. If you want to try the same thing, try out our service at www.viditel.com.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~<br />
Peter Weyzen<br />
Staff Engineer<br />
<A HREF="http://www.santacruznetworks.com">Santa Cruz Networks</A>
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- If you are living in a 3rd world country like I am, you'll have to suffer the issues associated with an extremely unstable and slow Internet connection with unpredictable downtimes.
- Again, 3rd world countries are not known for power stability, so on an average you'll have to face about 1-2 power failures just about every day.
- You won't have anyone to talk to the whole day which can be a little depressing when compounded with bandwidth and power stability issues.
- Your meal times are in total disarray. You won't probably feel like going out and eating alone for all 3 meals a day and so might end up skipping one or more of them daily. This can lead to poor health conditions.
- One very good source of friends and socializing is through your work colleagues. So the moment you start working from home, you slowly cut yourself off society and if you love parties and meeting new people, this can be a blow for you.
Concluding, if you are the social kind of guy, avoid working from home. But if you are not that sort of guy, then you can think of this as a temporary option, but again only if you are married - so you have someone to talk to when there are power cuts and net downtimes. But if you are single and have a problem with not having a single person to talk to, avoid working from home.
My blog on C++/CLI, MFC/Win32, .NET - void Nish(char* szBlog);
My MVP tips, tricks and essays web site - www.voidnish.com
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>But if you are single and have a problem with not having a single person to talk to, avoid working from home.
Uh oh... 
You have to make the effort I imagine. Discipline yourself, force yourself out of your home-office even if it seems pointless. Walk to the shops, don't drive. Walk to the library, walk to the beach or mountains. Get a mountain bike and ride during lunch hour.
regards,
Paul Watson
Bluegrass
South Africa
Michael Dunn wrote:
"except the sod who voted this a 1, NO SOUP FOR YOU"
Crikey! ain't life grand?
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Paul Watson wrote:
Uh oh...
So, Will you be telecommuting a lot for your new employer? We're still waiting to here about this. Do we have to exercise more patience?
Do you want to know more?
Vogon Building and Loan advise that your planet is at risk if you do not keep up repayments on any mortgage secured upon it. Please remember that the force of gravity can go up as well as down.
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Alas, yes. I am having to be quite patient too. They are pretty busy.
And yes, it will be 100% telecommuting.
regards,
Paul Watson
Bluegrass
South Africa
Michael Dunn wrote:
"except the sod who voted this a 1, NO SOUP FOR YOU"
Crikey! ain't life grand?
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Paul Watson wrote:
it will be 100% telecommuting
I used to do that for a while, and because I don't tend to respect the cycle of day and night (and for midsummer and midwinter it all starts to blur anyway) if I don't have to a slipped into a 25-26 hour day - I don't mean I worked for 26 hours straight, my daily cycle of sleep, wake, breakfast, work, lunch, work, dinner, relax, go to bed went to 25-26 hours.
Anyway, If I ever get the chance again I've told myself that I'll take the opportunity to move upto the Highlands. It is much healthier up there, lots of clean air.
Do you want to know more?
Vogon Building and Loan advise that your planet is at risk if you do not keep up repayments on any mortgage secured upon it. Please remember that the force of gravity can go up as well as down.
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Paul Watson wrote:
Uh oh...
You have to make the effort I imagine. Discipline yourself, force yourself out of your home-office even if it seems pointless. Walk to the shops, don't drive. Walk to the library, walk to the beach or mountains. Get a mountain bike and ride during lunch hour.
If like me, you are the kind of person who enjoys the office banter between collegues, then working on your own at home gets stale very fast.
Being able to have a laugh with somebody over a work related issue, doesn't work well in IM or Email. Although a voice conference via MSN messenger is a good substitute for a while.
Michael
CP Blog [^]
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I wouldn't consider, and choose, working from home if I were like that.
During the day I speak far more to friends and colleagues on IM, email and forums than I do with the chaps sitting a few feet from me. Dela, Meg, Wulff, Lakin and then you kind folks here on CP.
The guys in the office are decent lot but we are all very different. In 6 years of working with one chap in particular we have not once seen each other outside of the office or a work-do even once and this is a small team, not some huge faceless corporate.
If I had doubts as to my social needs I wouldn't be doing this. But I know enough to know it will be right up my alley.
The uh oh was just a joke 
regards,
Paul Watson
Bluegrass
South Africa
Michael Dunn wrote:
"except the sod who voted this a 1, NO SOUP FOR YOU"
Crikey! ain't life grand?
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Paul Watson wrote:
The guys in the office are decent lot but we are all very different. In 6 years of working with one chap in particular we have not once seen each other outside of the office or a work-do even once and this is a small team, not some huge faceless corporate.
It might not be so bad then. The people I was working with before I started working from home fulltime, were a cool bunch. We could have a laugh in the office and go out for drinks too. Plus, I love working in a team, I like being able to help people out when they get stuck, or be able to get somebody to look over my code when I can't see the wood for the trees.
I also enjoyed being able to mix with the different departments and lend a hand to give them the benefit of my experience.
Michael
CP Blog [^]
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Get a mountain bike and ride during lunch hour.
Or just ride to and from work. I try to do that once or twice a week if I can... and no matter how cold or crummy the weather is, it seems I'm never the only one to have biked in...
An expert is somebody who learns more and more about less and less, until he knows absolutely everything about nothing.
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Nishant S wrote:
You won't have anyone to talk to the whole day which can be a little depressing
That is the one factor that made me decide to start working from a clients site rather than from home. It just gets so boring without a little office gossip or a little bit of office politics to listen to.
People underestimate the value of the social aspect of working.
Online forums such as CP can only go so far for giving you the necessary social requirements for a healthly working life-style.
Nothing beats being able to discuss work matters with a collegue. Or just join in the general chit-chat of an office environment. Sharing the experience of work is very important. We spend the vast majority of our lives working. Always doing it on your own isn't good for your psyche.
Michael
CP Blog [^]
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Michael P Butler wrote:
People underestimate the value of the social aspect of working.
Yup people do that, I did too to be honest. I used to think that working alone with no one to disturb you would be cool - it was fun for a while to be honest. But then I started feeling lonely and you know how loneliness can grow on you.
Funny thing is that when I used to work in a real office and had colleagues around me I used do a lot of IM-chatting which led me to think that if I worked alone I'd still have my IM friends, but when I actually began working from home, I found that IM was a very poor substitute to actually having someone to talk to or look at. I mean even if you didn't talk too much to people, it's still nice to hear the sound of someone else tapping on his/her keyboard, someone else walking around, someone going out for coffee etc.
Humans need humans. If I was Robinson Crusoe I'd not have lived long enough to meet Friday. I'd die of loneliness. I don't know if this reflects an effeminate side in me or if it does whether I should feel embarrassed about it
My blog on C++/CLI, MFC/Win32, .NET - void Nish(char* szBlog);
My MVP tips, tricks and essays web site - www.voidnish.com
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I have just started to work for myself at home.
So today:-
Woke up - turned on PC got email
Breakfast , kids to school.
1 hour of work.
IM with people from old job asking questions , 1/2 hr
jumped on trampoline with daughter - 1/2 hr
long lunch
more IM
lego
work 1hr
eldest back from school
more IM
Halo
Thought it would be easier than this !
.netter
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After 60 hours of work per week, I may have some extra spare
time at home to work on some work related stuff.
Usually, I make some searches on the Internet, or I write a small test applet.
I have not setup a "vpn" between home and work, so my source control database
is not accessible.
This means that whatever I work on at home, I have to mail to work before it
can be of any use. (Internet search results are sent as links, of course,
otherwise, I use .zip of my projects)
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I've asked and the buggers won't let me (or anyone else).
Mike
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There are a lot of benefits to being in the office - easier communication with co-workers, access to doughnuts and other goodies brought in, etc. But telecommuting for me has big benefits in situations where it's difficult to be in the office... like for instance, the plumber says he'll show up at your house sometime between 8am and 4pm  Having a laptop and being able to work while waiting is great...
An expert is somebody who learns more and more about less and less, until he knows absolutely everything about nothing.
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Navin wrote:
There are a lot of benefits to being in the office - easier communication with co-workers, access to doughnuts and other goodies brought in, etc.
Don't forget the rest and relaxation you get away from the family. No matter how much you love your family there has to be a point when you just can't take it anymore and need to be left alone, for a while at least. 
My articles and software tools
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I managed to get my laptop configured for work, so now I can gain some time by working in the train. This allows to be back home earlier once or twice a week to enjoy my family.
Since then I have lso used it a couple of times to work from home as well ... 
Computers have enabled people to make more mistakes faster than almost any invention in history, with the possible exception of tequila and hand guns.
- Carl Gundlach
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My home is my office. So, is that 100% or 0%?
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tel·e·com·mute[^] To work at home using a computer connected to the network of one's employer.
If you employ yourself and work from home instead of an office then you're telecommuting.
cheers,
Chris Maunder
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I'd have to argue that, based on the above definition, self-employment is not telecommuting. If your home is your office, then working from a home-office is still working from the "office." Also, I'd go as far as saying that you aren't using a "home" computer that is connected to the "office" network. Then again, this brings up the question of whether using a computer in another room that is for recreational purposes would be considered telecommuting. Hmm...
Michael Flanakin
Web Log
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this is wrong
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