Do telecommuters need to dress up for work?
by Celine Roque
While surfing the web, I stumbled on a Digital Nomads article about adapting to the work-at-home lifestyle. Jay White made a list of rules he personally follows as advice to other would-be nomads. It may sound like an oxymoron that a home-based worker, given his freedom, should bind himself back up in a set of rules, but most of it was actually sensible. For example, he talks about having a dedicated workspace in the house and adhering to a schedule. His advice on dressing up for work, though, didn’t seem as practical.
One of his reasons for this was that just in case someone invites you to a web meeting with video, you’ll be ready. I suppose this depends on the nature of your job and the company you work for, but in many parts of the world, Internet connections still aren’t as fast as to make this a viable option. In my experience, voice calls via Skype is the preferred choice for synchronous communications. How this will change in the future is anybody’s guess.
Another reason to dress up, according to White, is to “get into the business mood”. For some people, being in formal office attire somehow switches on their professional button. This sentiment is shared by Dennis Scheminske in an older article on the Denver Business Journals. He argues that it’s all a mind game, and I can see where he’s coming from. Our appearance can have a drastic impact on how we behave, but it’s not all that matters.
One of my most cherished things about telecommuting is that I can dress however I want to. The time I save by not having to wash formal clothes, press them, and put them on every morning is well spent on things that matter more to me. Some people work quite effectively at home in their pajamas, and I say good for them. If I was their boss or their client, all I’ll really care about is the quality of work, anyway.
Have you ever experienced telecommuting? If so, did you feel the need to dress up to mimic the office environment?
Thought...
