Work from home - opinions?

RunHomerRun

Hi all,

I'm currently being considered for a role which would be home based.

The role sounds very interesting, well paid, good company, i.e. lots going for it.

Issue I have is I have never worked from home before
I have always worked in an office / company - so when I'm in work, I'm in work.
We have a young baby and my wife has returned to part time work = 2 days a week.
Both sets of families live within 15 miles.

My concerns are;
1) I might miss the interaction with other colleagues, the buzz, being part of a team, physically seeing people and talking to them during the day, working with them, having lunch
2) I fear I may not know when to stop, i.e. currently when I leave work, I leave work, my journey home is my unwind time and when I get home, I am home. Home office may be finish for dinner, then just pop back into the home office room at 7ish to finish off something, and there will always be something to finish off.....
3) Because I'm at home, house stuff will get in the way, i.e. wife will be at home 3 days a week, and I may be asked to help with baby, normal household chores etc.
4) Families call over quite a bit, if I'm at home, it may be a case of give me a call to help with a, b, c etc, etc.

I know one or two people who work from home. Their wife's work full-time, and their children are in school, so they have a quiet office environment at home all day.

Point I'm trying to make is that I believe I would like the role, but I am concerned about the realities of working from home.

(There are other specific job related details I will need to consider when comparing my current role to the possible future one, but for this thread, I just want to know boardsies have found to be the reality when working from home....)

Appreciate your opinions.....:)

spadesaspade

not helpful, but if you dont want it, i'll take it

Eoin

1) I might miss the interaction with other colleagues, the buzz, being part of a team, physically seeing people and talking to them during the day, working with them, having lunch

It's not easy, but if the company allows instant messaging / video conferencing etc, it can make it a bit easier. Maybe try and set up a regular meeting in the office once a week or fortnight to catch up with your colleagues.

2) I fear I may not know when to stop, i.e. currently when I leave work, I leave work, my journey home is my unwind time and when I get home, I am home. Home office may be finish for dinner, then just pop back into the home office room at 7ish to finish off something, and there will always be something to finish off....

I think it's absolutely essential that you have a dedicated office at home for your work; one that you can walk out of at the end of the working day and be done with it until tomorrow. This can help both not being sidetracked during the day, and switching off at the end of it.

I wouldn't be too upset about giving up the commute though! If you need to unwind then go for a stroll after you're finished working.

With regards to chores - you really have to try and be firm and not do any more chores than you'd be able to do if you were in your office. My last company were quite flexible with working from home, but not if it meant child-minding as well; as it wasn't possible to concentrate enough.

I've only tele-worked sporadically (e.g. when I was snowed in etc), and the reality is that it is a bit easy to go stir crazy. But at the same time, the savings you can make in time and money by not commuting can really make it worth your while.

daigo75

I agree with Eoin, working from home has the side effect of being easily distracted, if you are prone to it. I've done it when snowed in (so far none of the companies I worked for allowed it in any other circumstances) and my productivity skyrocketed. While my effective working hours were reduced (I don't need 8 full hours to do what I need, once I concentrate). Unfortunately, snow is now gone and I'm back to 3 hours/day commute, so I'd be glad to take it if you don't want it!

By the way, one of the main reasons I'd like to work from home is precisely because I'm going to have a baby, and I want to help with him/her instead of wasting 3 hours of my life every day in a train (plus a couple more hours that I'd save by working faster at home).

Welease

I work from home a couple of days per week.. It takes discipline to make sure a) you get work done and b) when work finishes.. you stop..

As others have said.. an office is a real necessity.. you need somewhere away from the kids and people who call in, away from distractions and somewhere quiet to have phone conferences etc.

The flexibility is great.. If I want to mow the lawn now because it's sunny and I don't have any pressing work, then I can do it.. But, work still needs to be done, and if you are not the type who can work alone without being managed, then it's easy to let your output drop. If you can work alone, then it's a great to have the flexibility..

I do go into the office a few times a week to maintain a relationship with other people in the department, and if your work will be 100% at home, I would suggest you try and get to the office once a fortnight or month just to keep in touch.. A lot of what goes on in work is done in informal corridor chats/over lunch, and not being in the office can leave you somewhat isolated.

boobar

RunHomerRun wrote: »

Hi all,

I'm currently being considered for a role which would be home based.

The role sounds very interesting, well paid, good company, i.e. lots going for it.

Issue I have is I have never worked from home before
I have always worked in an office / company - so when I'm in work, I'm in work.
We have a young baby and my wife has returned to part time work = 2 days a week.
Both sets of families live within 15 miles.

My concerns are;
1) I might miss the interaction with other colleagues, the buzz, being part of a team, physically seeing people and talking to them during the day, working with them, having lunch
2) I fear I may not know when to stop, i.e. currently when I leave work, I leave work, my journey home is my unwind time and when I get home, I am home. Home office may be finish for dinner, then just pop back into the home office room at 7ish to finish off something, and there will always be something to finish off.....
3) Because I'm at home, house stuff will get in the way, i.e. wife will be at home 3 days a week, and I may be asked to help with baby, normal household chores etc.
4) Families call over quite a bit, if I'm at home, it may be a case of give me a call to help with a, b, c etc, etc.

I know one or two people who work from home. Their wife's work full-time, and their children are in school, so they have a quiet office environment at home all day.

Point I'm trying to make is that I believe I would like the role, but I am concerned about the realities of working from home.

(There are other specific job related details I will need to consider when comparing my current role to the possible future one, but for this thread, I just want to know boardsies have found to be the reality when working from home....)

Appreciate your opinions.....:)

First thing, you believe you'd like the role, so that's great.

Working from home requires discipline. Set yourself a schedule and don't drift away from it. Basically think of it as a work office. If people are calling, you're jnust going to have to say you're busy working.

That goes for your wife as well.

Now having said that, if you find working from home allows you to take care of some personal business during the day such as looking after the baby while the wife nips out for an hour, then naturally you're going to have to make up the time and work later on.

Hope this helps in some way.

Boobar

RunHomerRun

Thanks to all for the excellent feedback.

All good points and important to be aware of.
1) Need to be very disciplined, keep focused and not let the output drop
2) Need to have an actual office can I can walk into and close the door behind me.
3) Need to tell wife and family that I'm in work, no un-necessary household chores etc

To perhaps slightly further complicate things;

I do go into the office a few times a week to maintain a relationship with other people in the department, and if your work will be 100% at home, I would suggest you try and get to the office once a fortnight or month just to keep in touch.. A lot of what goes on in work is done in informal corridor chats/over lunch, and not being in the office can leave you somewhat isolated.

The role is with an ~ multinational consultancy firm. They do not have any offices in Ireland. Most of their employees work from home offices in their respective countries.
I will not be able to call into the office once a month, as there is no office.
Communication is via conference calls and emails with other collegues.
I do believe once every 3 months, depts meet up.

So, it will be kinda isolated I guess.
Lots to consider.

Thanks again for all the advice.

tenchi-fan

I've never worked from home either. I'd jump at the chance

Don't ruin it on yourself. A commute for most people will be between 20 mins and 2 hours each way, and for many people they have to spend their only 2 breaks with workmates or by themselves.

1. Make up for it by having an active social life a few evenings a week.

2. Have a work space in your home. Set the same goals as you always do. Finish work at 5pm/5.30 sharp and then operate a clean desk policy by putting all your folders and work away. Spend a few minutes writing a list of things you are going to do tomorrow. Put the list into an envelope. Put the envelop in the drawer. Turn off the lights and lock the room on your way out.

3. Not during working hours you won't. Keep office hours, take a 20 minute tea break and 45 mins for lunch. Tell your wife you need her co-operation if this job is going to work.

4. Once again, not while you're working. Say you'd be happy to help them after 5pm. Once again, you need your wife's support.

To me, it sounds a lot like personal discipline. At work I don't browse the internet or make personal phonecalls. If I worked from home I'd like to think the same will apply.

Trampas

It will probably take a while to get use to but when you do you will enjoy it.

You need to be disciplined

You will be surprised how much more work you do in less time.

I use to take the dog for a walk during the day. Gives you a chance to stretch your legs and get some air.

You will need to explain to the wife that you are working and no available to do a, b etc when she may think.

Downsides you might notice an increase in ESB and heating bills.

finisklin

Maybe check out hot desking opportunities in your locality. I know GMIT have these available at reasonable rates (circa €60 per week) you get a desk, internet connection, kitchen facilities and more importantly in aoffice environment.

Check your local enterprise boards as a starting point. May be worth considering.....

RunHomerRun

Thanks for the replies.

I will take a look into the hot-desking option.

Still early days yet, I have not been offered the job yet, but want to be 100% sure that I want it, before committing and travelling abroad to meet with management.

Options, fit out a home office stay very disciplined, no un-necessary household chores, OR consider a hotdesk option

mlhynes

Hi Run

I was wondering how you got on with working from home or did you take up the option of hot-desking (or did you even take up the position). I'm currently doing some research on the subject of working from home or on the move and I'm looking for people's experiences of how it actually pans out for them. Did you get training for working at distance or were you thrown in the deep end, so-to-speak? Do you work longer hours and do you feel isolated or does this way of working really suit you?

If anyone has any comments on the subject I'd really appreciate getting feedback on people's personal experiences, good, bad or indifferent

Mr. Presentable

I have worked from home. You need:

To start work on time as though you were at your employer's premises.
Be dressed for work - not PJs. A professional attitude will aid professional behaviour.
When you knock off at the end of the day you are done.
No household chores - you are at work
No casual visitors - you are at work

Be very clear from the beginning, especially with partner, that while you are at work you are effectively not home. You would not nip out from your employer's premises to wash the dishes or put on the laundry, but you can do these on your lunch break or when you finish work.

As Eoin said, the most important element is self-discipline.

mlhynes

That's really interesting Mr Presentable, that you would reckon that self-discipline is the most important element. Just out of curiosity did you receive any formal training before you went teleworking or were you 'thrown in the deep end' so-to-speak? I'm thinking not only of using the various communication technologies but also time management, work structure, etc, all those things that allow you develop good self-discipline.

Mr. Presentable

Not teleworking, but running a small business from home. I definitely reckon get the discipline right and evrything else will follow because you will train yourself to be at work.

RunHomerRun

Thanks Mr. Presentable and mlhynes.

There has been no major update.
I have not started working from home.
Since my earlier communication, it has moved on very slightly from the initial step, manager in US still to confirm on budget, headcount etc.

Mr. Presentable, thanks a mill for the clear concise and very useful points.
myhynes - if it progesses, I will be happy to give you some feedback on my opinions.
A response to your first question, if I am officially offered and accepted, I will be thrown in at the deep end, there will be no training.

Stheno

RunHomerRun wrote: »

The role is with an ~ multinational consultancy firm. They do not have any offices in Ireland. Most of their employees work from home offices in their respective countries.

I've worked as a consultant and even with a work office, it can be a lonely road, you are out with clients, working on proposals, creating materials etc.

Each time (twice) that I've worked as a consultant I've found working from home (did it 20-40% of the time) great, and tbh, in a busy consultancy, you'll arrive into the work office and none of your colleagues will be there as they will be offsite with clients when you are having a slow day!

BUT, if you will be working full stop on your own I'd have a problem with that, you'll not get to build relationships on joint projects etc.

That said, I'd recommend the working from home/consultancy route, but take all of the provisos already posted on board.

dory

I do a lot of work from home, and it gets very boring and lonely. It's great if you have a family and don't want to waste their youth commuting. But it takes a lot of discipline. Great advice given already about being dressed for work and all that. It's so important to keep to a timetable and have a specific place to work.

RunHomerRun

RunHomerRun wrote: »

Issue I have is I have never worked from home before
.....................

I was a sales engineer years back for a company based in Leinster, I covered Munster and worked from home. I thought it would be great, it wasn't. Was fine when I was out on the road but I'd have a day or two each week literally working from home. Awful, no workmates, no crack at breakfast or lunch. Awful. Used to be on the phone to the other reps regularly enough, without that I'd have gone mad. The lads working in Leinster used to be in and out of the office once every few days, one of the used it as his base, would have preferred that. The flexibility it gives you can be bad, I used to leave paperwork and stuff till after hours if something came up during the day (personal stuff). Not good really. Would be slow to ever work from home again, no way would I consider putting down a 39 hour week from home.

I went back to being an actual engineer and love the crack at work, much better.

mlhynes

I've done some initial research in the area (gladly fill anyone in on the major research themes) and it appears to me that EU money became available about 10 years to promote teleworking as an option to reduce our carbon footprint and traffic congestion around commuting times. However, very little consideration has been put into the subject in a real sense and a lot of assumptions were made without any real evidence. Decision-makers simply put new technologies and the need to reduce car trips together and assumed that people would jump at the opportunity, but as Dory and RoverJames point out many people need social interaction during the day and lines of communication are not always open to the extent that they should be, in addition to other social issues.

Very interesting also the way people take the structures of work (dressing up, time-keeping, having a specific workspace) and use them at home, and maybe this is the most significant element. Teleworking is strongly promoted in some quarters as “allowing a very flexible work/life balance” and from what I’m hearing here from people who do work from home that’s just not possible/true. Could it be that people work long hours anyway, whether it’s at the office or at home, so the issue of a good work/life will have to wait until things pick up again?

daigo75

mlhynes wrote: »

Teleworking is strongly promoted in some quarters as “allowing a very flexible work/life balance” and from what I’m hearing here from people who do work from home that’s just not possible/true. Could it be that people work long hours anyway, whether it’s at the office or at home, so the issue of a good work/life will have to wait until things pick up again?

I'm actually sure it IS possible to have a more flexible work/life balance by working from home, but I believe it depends on the individual. Personally, I'd never accept a job where I could work from home, but still 9 to 5. Flexibility to me means "work when you want, as long as you reach the expected results". And I know that there are jobs like that out there, I just have to find them.

Once again, this requires discipline, I think it's the key of everything.

antomack

I work from home, have done so for almost 5 years now and have to say I find it great. Saying that it all depends on your personality and whether you have the self-discipline to do the work required, whether you can hack being on your own, etc..

My situation is somewhat different than a complete work from home in that I don't have broadband in my own house so I have to commute 11 miles (only takes about 20 minutes max) over to my parents where I've my office based in a converted garage/flat. I am not altogether sure if I'd be as effective if my office was in my own house as it would be so easy to lie on, watch telly, do odd jobs around the house and so on.

I go to the HO in Dublin roughly every fortnight so I still keep some direct interaction with work colleagues, etc..

As others have said I find that I can get more work done working from home as there are less interruptions, in fact people seem to avoid phoning you at home and store up questions for when you're in the office, to such an extent that my HO visits result in very little concrete work as they're filled with meetings, etc..

From time to time you might find you spend more hours at work especially if you're on a roll as you don't have the prompt of other colleagues leaving for home to flag that it's quitting time, but this could easily be handled by setting an alarm if it was becoming a problem.

One issue I find is that you can miss out on training, etc. since people 'assume' it won't suit for you to come in for the training or if like me priority is given to having you working on essential projects. You just need to ensure you highlight your flexibility in making yourself available for any such opportunities that arise and keep highlighting it.

Blonde27

Hi There

I have been working from home for the last year. I travel to my office once a fortnight in Dublin and it does kill me to do so.

I have a strict routine where I am at my desk at 9, work until 6 and then I might do some work later in the evening. I take a quick lunch break, I dont do any household chores, or watch television or anything that you may suspect working from home.

I love the flexibility that I have as I have had to travel quite a long distance to go to work previously and I fine my work is lot more efficiently dont working from home and also I am dont waste my time which i possibly would in the office (going for tea breaks, smoking breaks, and just generally chit chatting).

I think if you discipline yourself and tell yourself that your work hours are x and this is what needs to be done, you will be fine, although I have to say, I m inclined to work more overtime.

mlhynes

Just another inquisitive question for teleworking or e-working people, are you aware of any legislation that specifically refers to this form of working and offers protection (or indeed just doesn’t penalise you) for working from home? I presume that every individual worker that opts for this way of working is covered under ordinary employee legislation, i.e. safety at work, equality, etc or am I just being a bit naive? I can find no mention of this way of working in any legislation I’ve scrutinised, so far.

Eoin

That's a good question actually - I think my last company had to do some sort of inspection to ensure that your working environment at home was up to scratch, but I don't know if that was driven by specific legislation or just voluntary ass-covering.

dory

I think this comic strip is quite apt and informative: http://theoatmeal.com/comics/working_home

jimoc

One thing you might need to do is to inform your insurance company that you are using your home as an office as it may make your insurance void if something happens and they have not been informed.

When I had to work from home this was the first thing my employer made me do, thankfully my insurance company just said it was fine, but they did say that it could have caused problems down the line if I had needed to make a claim and didn't inform them that I was working from home.

RunHomerRun

Thanks to all for the excellent replies.
Lots of fantastic information, thoughts, opinions and stuff to consider.

I'm still in a bit of a limbo....
Senior manager of the division in US is off work sick, so everything has been put on hold.
I was initially excited about the prospect, but now I am getting very settled in my present job (only started here approx 6 months ago - not in exactly the area I had planned to be, but in this current economic climate, delighted to have a job) - and the initial buzz of the possibility of the role, is starting to fade a bit.
The reality of a case of fear of the unknown, i.e. working alone from home, is as I outlined at the very start - a genuine concern.
I have started to look into the option of hot desking somewhere, but again that is very much dependent on the company paying the extra to cover the office / hot desk cost.

Rody - I absolutely love the comic strip, its brillant, seriously funny....:D
It puts in pictures exactly whats been going through my head.

But, as said above I don't know when / if the role will have to be seriously decided upon.....

mlhynes

Some great advice and direction for working from home posted here. Just another question; do people feel it 'costs' them money to work from home (additional electricity, heating, etc) or does the lack of a commute make up for that, or indeed there may be family in the home during the day anyway. I’m also curious to know if people make other car trips that they wouldn’t make if they were at work (picking up children from school, shopping, etc)

professore

mlhynes wrote: »

Some great advice and direction for working from home posted here. Just another question; do people feel it 'costs' them money to work from home (additional electricity, heating, etc) or does the lack of a commute make up for that, or indeed there may be family in the home during the day anyway. I’m also curious to know if people make other car trips that they wouldn’t make if they were at work (picking up children from school, shopping, etc)

Would say that if you sell a second car you will save a fortune. If not then depends how long your commute was but would say you still come out on top working from home.

Eoin

mlhynes wrote:

do people feel it 'costs' them money to work from home (additional electricity, heating, etc) or does the lack of a commute make up for that, or indeed there may be family in the home during the day anyway.

If you don't save much money or time by commuting, then you're probably close enough to the office for teleworking to not really be that much of a benefit.

It would save me about 160 a month on diesel, not to mention wear & tear on the car and over an hour a day. This would comfortably make up for any extra household bills.

mlhynes

When people are working from home do they find that neighbours and friends get you to look out for their home, property, etc a bit more? In other words, do you notice an increase in local community activity just because you're working from home and, given what Mr Presentable wrote earlier, is it wise to take on this extra community responsibility?