Laptops and coffee go well together, but do they pay the bill?

August 14, 2009 at 8:12 am · Filed under Culture, Web Commuting

Coffee shops have long been favorite workplaces for freelancers and telecommuters. They’re convenient for those who need a meeting place, crave a social atmosphere, or just want to have a different view other than the four walls of their house. However, the recession has seen some patrons ordering less – sometimes getting a single cup of espresso but working on their laptops the whole day, enjoying the free WiFi. Owners are taking notice, especially in New York where space is a valuable commodity.

The Wall Street Journal reports that some owners have seen people bring their own tea bags and avail of the free hot water. Others eat sandwiches they brought along with them. Barely surviving in this fragile economy, a few NY coffee shops are forced to restrict electricity and WiFi usage to free up seats. Lunch and dinner time are particularly sensitive hours as owners are anxious to cater to the influx of hungry, well-paying customers. In some locations, there’s a laptop ban on the busiest days, and still others go through such lengths as placing a padlock on their electrical outlets.

The plight of shop owners is understandable, though some might object to their methods. Regulars need to be more conscious of their behavior so they won’t be deemed abusive. It can still be a win-win situation if owners and patrons recognize and respect each other’s needs. Shops can also take a cue from Starbucks, which offers WiFi access cards for a fee, or think of other creative options. Not all telecommuters are freeloaders, and I’m sure quite a few would be willing to earn their seats.

For those who can’t afford it, perhaps it’s time to look for alternatives. Why not try the park, the mall, the bookstore, or the public library? You might also take this opportunity to re-decorate your home office so it will look inviting for you to work there. Sometimes, even a little cleaning and organizing can do wonders.

Use Telework Day to Stress Test Your Systems

July 20, 2009 at 8:02 am · Filed under Distributed Work, Notable + Quotable, Web Commuting

Monday, August 3, 2009 has been designated “Telework Day.”  Right now it appears to be mainly a Virginia initiative — but individuals and businesses across the United States are being encouraged to participate too.

The Telework Exchange has a dedicated page for Telework Day, providing:

On June 10, 2009, Virginia Governor Timothy Kaine issued an Executive Order to “green” Virginia – calling for reductions in energy consumption and efficiency in state government operations as well as a statewide Telework Day to save the energy of commuting.

The Commonwealth of Virginia, Telework!VA, and Telework Exchange are encouraging organizations and individuals to telework from home or a remote location on Monday, August 3, 2009 – Telework Day

WHY?
Telework is a win-win-win opportunity for organizations, employees, and the environment.

Telework supports:

• Reduction of traffic, greenhouse gas emissions, and wear and tear on public transportation
• COOP: Business as usual
• Personnel recruitment and retention
• Real estate savings
• Work/life balance and commuter-cost savings

So be green, give your car a rest, and make a pledge to telework on August 3.

As you can tell from the above language, it’s being touted as a green initiative and a way for all of us to reduce our carbon footprint. The Telework Exchange site has a built-in calculator that helps you as an individual see how much you are saving (or could save) in commuting costs, as well as the pounds of pollutants you avoid putting in the air by telecommuting. For instance, by using the calculator (you have to register first), it told me that each year I am saving $1,185 in commuting costs based on commuting to my last job, and 1575 pounds of pollutants.

Government officials like the idea of telework, because it takes pressure off of already over-burdened roads, and has the potential to keep the air cleaner.

For employers it can be a productivity enhancer and cost saver.  According to PC World magazine:

Not only can telework help companies green their processes, but it can also pay off in productivity savings. For instance, Cisco recently reported it was able to save some $277 million in employee productivity costs alone by sending employees home to work.

“Telework Day is an important opportunity to advocate telework as a business strategy that can have a positive impact on the bottom line and improve organization efficiency,” said Jennifer Thomas Alcott, program manager for Telework!VA. “Telework is one of the most effective ways for people to greatly reduce their work-related carbon footprint and demonstrate that ‘work is something you do, not a place you go.’”

When it comes to employers, you’ll get the most benefit if you have systems and applications in place to make it easy for employees to work remotely.  Systems need to be able to support their work so they don’t have to work against the systems.  Remote work requires the right types of IT systems, business software applications, and telecommunications systems.  Employees will obviously need to be able to communicate, access business applications,  share files, and otherwise make it “business as usual.”   While it’s possible for employees to work at home with limited access to company systems on a single day or two, as an ongoing way of doing business you may be required to rethink and overhaul your systems to make them more “remote-worker” friendly — if they are not already.

Telework Day could be a way to “stress test” your systems and see how conducive they are to employees working remotely. By participating in Telework Day — or designating a Telework Day of your own in your business — you can test out your systems and see what you’d need to change in order to make telework more widespread.

Book Review: “Undress for Success: The Naked Truth about Making Money at Home”

April 15, 2009 at 10:42 am · Filed under Web 2.0, Web Commuting, Work Design

I’ve just received my copy of “Undress for Success: The Naked Truth about Making Money at Home” by Kate Lister and Tom Harnish. As someone who writes about e-working (or teleworking) often, I can understand why, in the first part of the book, the authors brought up the fact that most surveys and studies don’t usually agree about the number of Americans e-working today. Why? Because different researchers and companies define the word differently. An excerpt from the book:

Some researchers count small businesses, others don’t. Some surveys include people who work from home as little as one day a year, while others focus on people who primarily work from home. Some fail to distinguish between paid and unpaid work. None separate out those employees and business owners who work at home from those who work from home.

To address the many incarnations of e-working available, the book is separated into several sections that address the concerns and needs of the following kinds of e-workers:

1. Corporate telecommuters,
2. Online freelancers,
3. and home-based business owners.

Each of those three sections contain informative starter guides for beginners. I’m glad that they separated the sections distinctly so that, for example, those who are interested in convincing their supervisor to allow them to telework don’t have to read the section on how you can apply for freelance work online. There’s also a section on how to set up the technology needed for working at home, which can come in handy if the reader is intimidated by the technical stuff.

Although the book quotes several statistics, it also contains anecdotes from actual e-workers. These stories makes the idea of e-working more real to the reader, rather than a theoretical situation. This is essential for people who want to become practicing e-workers. After all, these numbers and stories are what bring the “fantasy” of e-working into reality.

As an e-worker for my entire professional life, I often forget how overwhelming the idea of working from home can be to people who aren’t used to it. With all the information available on the web, it’s hard to separate practical advice from scammy, short sighted ideas. Fortunately, the authors do a good job of providing a clear, concise guide in the form of this book.

How Does Social Networking Affect Your Health and Well-Being?

March 7, 2009 at 3:03 pm · Filed under Communities, Distributed Work, Networks + Networking, Web 2.0, Web Commuting, social media, social networks, social tools

(this is a slightly edited and updated version of a post from The Future of Work blog. The original version is here.

First, look at this chart  showing the shift from “real” interaction to reliance on electronic media (it comes directly from the article that stimulated this post – Well Connected? The Biological Implications of Social Networking“)

Now, I am as enthusiastic about social networking technologies and their ability to connect us with friends and colleagues all over the planet as the next person, but Marc Van Eeckhoudt just sent me the article that includes that chart.

It’s just been published in Biologist, a British magazine: “Well Connected? The Biological Implications of Social Networking.”

The core message in the article: more and more people are becoming “loners,” and that’s really dangerous for their health. Unfortunately it is not clear from this article whether or not people who rely primarily on electronic means of communication can overcome those health risks.

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“Telecommuting” isn’t Just a Perk Anymore

February 27, 2009 at 1:47 pm · Filed under Communities, Distributed Work, Management, Talent Management, Web 2.0, Web Commuting

[This note is cross-posted from the Future of Work blog]

There’s a great new story just published today in Business Week detailing how some organizations are turning to “telecommuting” and flexible work programs as a way to reduce costs and retain employees in these difficult times.

The article (“Telecommuting: Once a Perk, Now a Necessity“), by Michelle Conlin (editor of BW’s Working Life Department), highlights how SCAN Health Plan, BDO Seidman, and Capital One are using flexible work options to cut real estate costs significantly.

The really encouraging side of the story, though, is how many employees relish the reduction in commute times and the rebalancing of their lives (no surprise to us, but still a benefit that’s not widely enough recognized).

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How Come Distributed Work is Still the Next Big Thing?

February 23, 2009 at 4:04 pm · Filed under Change Management, Distributed Work, Management, Web Commuting

I am very pleased that Capital Magazine, based in Dubai, has just published the second installment of an article that Charlie Grantham and I wrote about organizational resistance to Distributed Work – and what to do about it.

The article, “How Come Distributed Work is Still the Next Big Thing?“, appears in the February issue. It’s available online, though free registration is required.

This version of the article is actually a revision and update to a three-part series that ran in our own Future of Work Agenda newsletter a couple of years ago – available as downloadable pdf reprints here (Part One), here (Part Two), and here (Part Three).

We’re pleased at the continuing attention this issue is getting. It can’t be said often enough: there are very real – and completely understandable – reasons why so many organizations resist adopting distributed/flexible work arrangements. But there’s also a highly compelling business case for moving into the “work anywhere” world of the 21st century.

Why do you think resistance to an obviously more productive and more attractive way of working is so prevalent?

The Benefits of Flexible Work Programs

February 12, 2009 at 5:29 pm · Filed under Collaboration, Distributed Work, Management, Tips for Tough Times, Web Commuting, productivity

I’ve just gotten off a stimulating and (for me, at least) informative conference call with my fellow AppGap bloggers. Among other things we talked about how to collaborate more effectively with each other. One common area of interest is the economic and “green” benefits of virtual collaboration – when we stay off the roads and highways and get our work done remotely and virtually, we’re saving money as well as reducing greenhouse gasses.

That’s such an important opportunity that I thought I’d reprint here a post from my own Future of Work blog that  I composed only yesterday – it’s about how flexible/virtual work can actually be a job-saver; and in the current economic crisis that can be really important (both for individuals and for companies).

So here goes:

I’ve just read an engaging blog post by Jennifer Swanberg, an Associate Professor at the University of Kentucky’s Colleges of Social Work and Business. She suggests (no, virtually proves) that adopting a flexible work program can be an effective substitute for laying off employees (“Flexibility Can Offer Alternatives to Downsizing“).

Bay Jordan argued something very similar in our January Future of Work Agenda newsletter (“Rethinking Redundancy“), and Charlie and I have been suggesting for years that most senior executives don’t have any idea just how valuable their human resources (read, “employees”) are.

I particularly liked this comment from Ms. Swanberg’s article:

These are tough times. None of us wants to take a pay cut. But earning less may be better than earning nothing.

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