When Your Home Office is the Home Office

By Gwen Moran

Newly pregnant, Susan Cavallaro was tired of fighting northern New Jersey's epic traffic jams to get to work each day. A public relations specialist at the American Dairy Association and Dairy Council's Cedar Knolls, New Jersey office, she knew that all she really needed to do her job was a phone and a computer. She already had those in an office in her home, so she started toying with the idea of telecommuting.

"I proposed working from home a few days a week, just to maintain face to face contact," she says. "Eventually I started to work at home full-time, and as a result, the CEO made a company-wide policy allowing telecommuting."

No one could have predicted the consequences of Cavallaro's request: So many people jumped at the chance that the company's satellite offices were often nearly empty. Ultimately, four offices closed, and all staff, except for those in the home office in Syracuse, NY became full-time home-based employees.

Telecommuting can deliver real benefits, according to Gil Gordon, president of Gil Gordon Associates (www.gilgordon.com), a Monmouth Junction, New Jersey company that helps implement corporate telecommuting programs. Employees may save on commuting costs, as well as wear and tear on their vehicles – and psyches.

Ups and Downs at the Home Office

While telecommuting can be a great way to have more flexibility, Gordon emphasizes that there are many misconceptions about working from home. Aside from potential distractions such as housework, television, and the relentless call of the refrigerator, lack of child care is a quick way to earn a one-way ticket back to the office. "You can't be a good employee and a good caregiver at the same time," he explains. "One or the other is going to suffer."

Lori Cates Hand, a product line manager for Jist Publishing, in Indianapolis, Indiana, has successfully worked from home for two days a week while caring for her one-year-old daughter. She admits that while the dual role worked well when her daughter was a newborn, it's a bit more challenging now.

"It's not the smartest thing to do," admits Hand. "She's more mobile now, she doesn't take as long of a nap as she did before. It might have to change soon."

But, while telecommuting won't eliminate the need for child care, it will add that extra element of flexibility that so many working parents need.

Also, many wannabe telecommuters don't realize that there are boundary issues that need to be addressed when working from home. Gordon warns that it's very easy to be lured back to your computer in the evenings and on weekends. It's not unusual, he says, for telecommuters to work more hours than when they were in the office.


Making Your Case for Telecommuting

For Lisa Kruse, it was either telecommute or leave her job as vice-president of Landau Public Relations in Cleveland, Ohio. Her husband, a physician, landed a fellowship at an Ann Arbor, Michigan hospital, and the family was moving.

"I explained that the fellowship is for a year, and that we could do it on a trial basis," recalls Kruse. "The president of the company thought about it. Then he said, 'Yes.' I think that because I had been a very loyal employee who had worked very hard, there was trust there."

Gordon says that the idea of a trial basis is a good one. "Stick your toe in the water and prove to yourself and your manager that it's going to be at least worth taking a little bit further," he suggests.

Ready to Telecommute?

If you've decided that your job and your personality are a good fit for telecommuting, Gordon says that there are several elements that need to be addressed to present a good telecommuting proposal to your boss:

• How is your job suited to working from home? You'll need to show that your work is, in fact portable, says Gordon. "If you're getting up to go to the file cabinet 10 times a day and need access to the company's office resources, then it's probably not a good fit."
  
  
• How suited are you to working from home? Your manager needs to know that you have the organizational skills, the problem-solving, the self-motivation, and the trustworthiness to work on your own.
  
  
• How suited is your home? If you have three pre-schoolers screaming like banshees, or you're sharing a studio apartment with two other people, it won't work. There has to be a space and work setting conducive to doing your best work at home. That includes having the necessary technology: a compatible computer, high-speed Internet access, separate phone line and, if necessary, a fax machine.

However, Gordon says that the most important point is what's in it for the company. How can you be sure that your arrangement won't cause any inconvenience for your fellow employees, and what does the company stand to gain by allowing you to work from home?

"You need to point out the benefits, whether it's giving the company increased work space or productivity or even keeping you as an employee," says Gordon. "Show the company what will work for them and your proposal is much more likely to be taken seriously."