Justification for tele-commuting

[Jason Langston]

Hey all,
I'm working the typical 40hour salaried programming and database development
job with a 60+ minute commute each way.

My boss, the IS Supervisor, is a really great guy, and had the awesome idea
that I should tele-commute at least several days a week. I have no problem
with that!

Here's the dilemma, he'd like me to write up a proposal of how this would
work and why it would be beneficial, to present to upper management who
aren't too keen on the idea yet. Any suggestions on how you've made
telecommuting work (ie. management measuring whether I'm working or
sleeping, etc.) and any solid arguments for telecommuting, other than I'd
love to work from home a couple days per week.

Thanks for your help,
JasonL

[RudeGuy]

"Jason Langston" <jason@DONTSPAMMEwirelesszone.com> wrote:
>Hey all,
>I'm working the typical 40hour salaried programming and database development
>job with a 60+ minute commute each way.
>
>My boss, the IS Supervisor, is a really great guy, and had the awesome idea
>that I should tele-commute at least several days a week. I have no problem
>with that!
>
>Here's the dilemma, he'd like me to write up a proposal of how this would
>work and why it would be beneficial, to present to upper management who
>aren't too keen on the idea yet. Any suggestions on how you've made
>telecommuting work (ie. management measuring whether I'm working or
>sleeping, etc.) and any solid arguments for telecommuting, other than I'd
>love to work from home a couple days per week.
>
>Thanks for your help,
>JasonL
>
>

Here is the letter:

Dear Management:

If you don't let me telecommute,

consider this giving my two weeks notice.

Sincerely,

Jason L.

;-)

"Jason Langston" <jason@DONTSPAMMEwirelesszone.com> wrote:
>Hey all,
>I'm working the typical 40hour salaried programming and database development
>job with a 60+ minute commute each way.
>
>My boss, the IS Supervisor, is a really great guy, and had the awesome idea
>that I should tele-commute at least several days a week. I have no problem
>with that!
>
>Here's the dilemma, he'd like me to write up a proposal of how this would
>work and why it would be beneficial, to present to upper management who
>aren't too keen on the idea yet. Any suggestions on how you've made
>telecommuting work (ie. management measuring whether I'm working or
>sleeping, etc.) and any solid arguments for telecommuting, other than I'd
>love to work from home a couple days per week.
>
>Thanks for your help,
>JasonL
>
>I would make a couple of points:
The new buzzword is "telework" which focuses attention on the work you will
be doing rather than the commute time you save. Managers tend to like that.

Several studies have been done in the past few years that show increased
productivity from telework if the employee has the right skills and attitude
such as self-motivation, self discipline, etc. Another perk for management
is lower costs for office space and other expenses, less absenteeism, fewer
water cooler/coffee machine conversations taking up work time.

One important step is to determine who will provide the equipment and services
you will need to telework. Computer, modem, fax, phone line, access to company
network, etc. Security could be an issue so check with your network people
before going to management.

You can find some studies and other resource/reference material on the web.
I would recommend searching for "telecommuting" and "telework". A good
start is http://telecommuting.about.com/small...telecommuting/

Good luck

[Cindy Winegarden]

Jason,

As far as whether you're working or not, are you paid by the hour or
salaried? If salaried, the only real criteria is whether the work is
getting done, whether you are available when they need you (phone or IM or
ICQ for questions, in the office when meetings are scheduled).

Here where I am they are having trouble attracting and retaining good IT
people. They are somewhat limited in the salaries they are able to offer,
also. They wisely decided that non-monetary benefits might add to the
attraction for some people, including telecommuting.

Examples of benefits: you have a sick child. If not telecommuting, they pay
you for a sick day, which means that they pay you for not working, or they
pay you to work, but you are distracted all day worrying whether you should
have left a sick 12-year-old home alone. If telecommuting, they pay you,
and work is being done.

You mention what looks like spending 2 hours per day either not producing
for them, or not producing for yourself (not resting, not cooking, not
getting the clothes to the dry-cleaners.) Telecommute and you have 2 more
hours of life per day. That means you will not be spending as much of your
"work" hours on the telephone with the children's teachers, or whatever.

Another benefit - for me the 8+ hours of work falls at the wrong times. I
was sitting at my desk working when I would rather have been home for
dinner. When I telecommute, I can have dinner, and sit back down afterwards
and do more work.

Time spent at the water cooler: Sometimes you just need to get up and move
around, thus the water cooler. At work this is actually paid time. At home
I can stuff the washing machine again. Ok, I subtracted the same 5 minutes,
but in the whole scope of things I spent the time more wisely.

I noticed that smokers used to spend a lot of "paid" time collecting each
other to "go smoke." Again, work time past the "official" 15 minute break
they spent actually smoking. At home you can smoke and work. I don't
smoke, but a lot of IT people seem to be smokers, so this is a valid point.

I have recently been having pain from "Myofascial Pain Syndrome" which is
basically a stress-related problem. At work I would wiggle and fidget and
be uncomfortable with the pain that the meds didn't cover. Turns out that
driving in traffic was a major contributor and my pain has been much less
since I've been telecommuting. Read that as I am more productive during my
work hours, and less likely to take a sick day (paid for not working.)

My brother-in-law often left work a speck early in order to get the kids
from daycare before daycare closed. Then he went home. This trims minutes
off the work day. If you telecommuted you could go back and work another
hour after the kids went to bed.

Please feel free to use my comments but not my name in your presentation to
your boss.


--


Cindy Winegarden
Microsoft Certified Professional, Visual FoxPro

Duke Children's Information Systems
Duke University Medical Center
cindyw@duke.edu



"Jason Langston" <jason@DONTSPAMMEwirelesszone.com> wrote in message
news:398ac592$1@news.devx.com...
| Hey all,
| I'm working the typical 40hour salaried programming and database
development
| job with a 60+ minute commute each way.
|
| My boss, the IS Supervisor, is a really great guy, and had the awesome
idea
| that I should tele-commute at least several days a week. I have no problem
| with that!
|
| Here's the dilemma, he'd like me to write up a proposal of how this would
| work and why it would be beneficial, to present to upper management who
| aren't too keen on the idea yet. Any suggestions on how you've made
| telecommuting work (ie. management measuring whether I'm working or
| sleeping, etc.) and any solid arguments for telecommuting, other than I'd
| love to work from home a couple days per week.
|
| Thanks for your help,
| JasonL
|
|

[Julie]

Hi Jason.

I have been telecommuting full-time for four months. I actually was given
permission by my employer to move to a different state 600 miles away and
return to the office for a week each quarter.
It has been very successful so far.

I wrote a detailed proposal that documented how the arrangement would work.
I was very conservative and took on more costs than I asked them to. They
actually agreed to pay for more than I asked. If you have children, be sure
to let them know that you will not be caring for them during work hours,
except on an occasional sick day. This is not a replacement for daycare!

Once the proposal was finished, I went over it with my manager, made a few
changes, and submitted it to him again. I took it as my responsiblity to
work with Personnel on forms to fill out, etc.

I have three phone lines in my home - one personal, two for work. I have
a tool that forwards my office phone to one of my business lines in my home,
so people reach me automatically. I work for such a large company that people
outside of my team do not even know I am telecommuting. When they call my
office number, they get routed right to me.

I also use NetMeeting to work with teammates, so we can still help each other
debug code or look at functionality.

I have a separate office in my basement that is set up just like an office
at work would be. I have a fax machine, and a headset phone for long meetings.


I have my PC set up to work as remotely as possible, and connect to the company
network several times a day as needed. This keeps costs down, and is faster
and more reliable for me.

A couple of months after I started this, I wrote a report of how it was all
working for my manager. I have returned to the office once since then.
I made it a point of spending a lot of face-to-face time with my team to
keep the relationships in tact. My team says they do not see a difference
in my work performance. It truly can work, with the right individual.

My advice is to write up a proposal and ask for a trial period of a couple
of months. At the end of that time, write another report on how it is going.
Have a meeting with your manager to see if you can extend it permanently.
Remember it is your responsibility to make it work. You have a lot to gain
by doing so.

Good luck.

[mrfelis]

In addition, you have the option to work at your most productive time frame.
This best time for a person to work varies from individual to individual.
Several of the people in the office work eraly hours and tend to show up
around 5:30 am - 6 am. Two guys actually have put in a hour or so before
arriving at 5:30 am. I personally, like working in the evenings and am most
productive if I sleep in till 10 am, and work past 11 pm.

Telecommunting allows working at the most productive hours for the
individual.

--
~~~
C'Ya,
mrfelis
mrfelis@yahoo.NOSPAM.com
just remove the spam
Jason Langston <jason@DONTSPAMMEwirelesszone.com> wrote in message
news:398ac592$1@news.devx.com...
> Hey all,
> I'm working the typical 40hour salaried programming and database
development
> job with a 60+ minute commute each way.
>
> My boss, the IS Supervisor, is a really great guy, and had the awesome
idea
> that I should tele-commute at least several days a week. I have no problem
> with that!
>
> Here's the dilemma, he'd like me to write up a proposal of how this would
> work and why it would be beneficial, to present to upper management who
> aren't too keen on the idea yet. Any suggestions on how you've made
> telecommuting work (ie. management measuring whether I'm working or
> sleeping, etc.) and any solid arguments for telecommuting, other than I'd
> love to work from home a couple days per week.
>
> Thanks for your help,
> JasonL
>
>

[Jason Langston]

Thanks Julie,
That was the first hand type of experience I was looking for. I will
definitely use the proposal, trial period, followup report/meeting.
Julie <gduryea@juno.com> wrote in message news:398ea23e$1@news.devx.com...
>
> Hi Jason.
>
> I have been telecommuting full-time for four months. I actually was given
> permission by my employer to move to a different state 600 miles away and
> return to the office for a week each quarter.
> It has been very successful so far.
><snip>
> My advice is to write up a proposal and ask for a trial period of a couple
> of months. At the end of that time, write another report on how it is
going.
> Have a meeting with your manager to see if you can extend it permanently.
> Remember it is your responsibility to make it work. You have a lot to
gain
> by doing so.
>
> Good luck.

[Jason Langston]

Thanks for the comments. I'll definitely incorporate them in with the
on-line studies I have found on the subject.

[Jason Langston]

Thanks for the link and the buzzword. Sales is all about the words and
phrases you choose.

<cjohnson@pcsb.k12.fl.us> wrote
> >I would make a couple of points:
> The new buzzword is "telework" which focuses attention on the work you
will
> be doing rather than the commute time you save. Managers tend to like
that.
>
><snip>
>
> You can find some studies and other resource/reference material on the
web.
> I would recommend searching for "telecommuting" and "telework". A good
> start is http://telecommuting.about.com/small...telecommuting/
>
> Good luck
>

[Oren]

> Dear Management:
> If you don't let me telecommute,
> consider this giving my two weeks notice.
>
> Sincerely,
> Jason L.


Dear Jason L.,
We have happily granted your request for two weeks notice. If you need
anything in the future please hesitate to ask.

Sincerely,
Management

[Sspr]

I have a copy of a DevX Career update that had an article about tele-commuting:
http://careerlink.devx.com/articles/je062600.asp