More and more women are choosing to telecommute, and more companies are coming up with family-friendly, flexible work-from-home and telecommuting options. Some estimates show that almost 40% of the working population are able to work from home at least part of the time, without a loss in productivity.
If you’re looking into developing a telecommuting plan for yourself or for your office, here are the items to consider:
1) Telecommuters need adequate ways to check in with other office mates, such as through Skype, IRC, or scheduled conference calls.
2) Telecommuters need comfortable and adequate supplies such as office equipment, computer supplies, or manufacturing supplies necessary for accomplishing their work.
3) The company is liable for computers or other hardware: sensitive information should not be stored on computers that are going home with employees.
4) Performance should be a main indicator of success (not time on the job). The number of hours logged does not often correlate with the quality of work: for evaluation purposes, always consider performance to be an indicator of a telecommuter’s success.
5) Adequate supervision: if a telecommuter or work-from-home coworkers needs assistance or guidelines, make a plan for them to get the support they need. A worker will always need a fairly clear list of tasks and an attainable timeline to achieve deliverables, goals, and specific benchmarks.
If you’re considering telecommuting for yourself, or you’re setting up a home office, consider searching for computer desks for home and finding items that are ranked high and rated well for durability, construction, quality of materials, and comfort.
Your work-from-home workforce will be happier, have a reduced carbon footprint, and will be as productive (or even more so) than when they’re in the office.
I encourage you to support the work-from-home and telecommuting movement by educating yourself and doing additional research on what your specific business will need to implement a telecommuting policy.
