Does Telecommuting work?
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I'm starting to here about this more and more. What are the downsides of telecommuting from the programmer and company's view? Is there anyone doing it successfully? How does it work? Meetings? Frequent flights to and from??? Thanks! Scott! Put the big rocks in the glass jar first!
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I'm starting to here about this more and more. What are the downsides of telecommuting from the programmer and company's view? Is there anyone doing it successfully? How does it work? Meetings? Frequent flights to and from??? Thanks! Scott! Put the big rocks in the glass jar first!
It works for me! I'm a developer at a small company where I'm in the office about once a week. The president lives in San Fran, the business office is in Kansas, myself and the lead developer live in Maine. The two of us get together in person once a week and communicate with the rest of the company via phone and email. The president of the company flies out a couple time a year to touch base with us and discuss new directions in development for us to focus on. We have a "company meeting" once a year at various vacation spots. Its definitely a unique work environment which took a bit of getting used to but I've found that I can be much more productive and happy now that I don't have to fit my life around my work. It also helps that my work is also a hobby. With no specific office hours I can work when I want and where I want. However I dont think that everyone would be comfortable or productive in this type of environment. With no managers we have to be able to manage ourselves which I wouldn't be able to do if I didn't love my job. So, there's my perspective on telecommuting. I'd recommend it as an option. Josh josh@schroff.com
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I'm starting to here about this more and more. What are the downsides of telecommuting from the programmer and company's view? Is there anyone doing it successfully? How does it work? Meetings? Frequent flights to and from??? Thanks! Scott! Put the big rocks in the glass jar first!
I did it for 8 years, and it worked great. Upside for programmer (me): --------------------------- 1) Company paid for development tools and hardware upgrades, and let me keep the stuff (I was careful not to abuse this perk). 2) No traffic hassles for me. I got up at 4:30am (i wake up without an alarm) and made a 10-second commute to "office". 3) Was able to concentrate on work better due to lack of "interferance" from co-workers. 4) If I had an idea, I could run into the computer room at any time and try it out without leaving the house. Upside for Company ------------------ 1) I put in more hours than I would have at the office. 2) My chances of dying during the commute to the office were greatly reduced. I would have said "eliminated", but I had two step over three large dogs in the dark every morning, so there was still that bit of danger to consider. 3) The company didn't have to worry about me "not being a politican". 4) They didn't need any office space for me, and they didn't have to maintain a computer at the office for me to use. Downside for Programmer (me): ----------------------------- 1) I was *always* at the office. 2) They made me come in to the office for meetings (actually, I welcomed that sometimes). 3) There were times when I wouldn't hear from anybody at the office *for days*. Downside For The Company ------------------------ 1) There were times when they wouldn't hear from me *for days*. 2) Logistic concerns where version control was concerned. We needed software that was analog dial-up friendly (we settled on StarTeam from StarBase). 3) They had to trust me to work a full eight hours every day. I did, but I'm sure there was that element of concern.
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I'm starting to here about this more and more. What are the downsides of telecommuting from the programmer and company's view? Is there anyone doing it successfully? How does it work? Meetings? Frequent flights to and from??? Thanks! Scott! Put the big rocks in the glass jar first!
There is a company called Intelligraphics that hires all of its people this way. A friend of mine works for them and he enjoys it. No commute time, they use AIM to communicate, and he "never" has to go into the office. There are some customer visits that are needed, but thats about it. He likes it because he is able to stay home with the kids. On a down note, I know that he puts in some long hours too. Steve Maier, MCSD
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I did it for 8 years, and it worked great. Upside for programmer (me): --------------------------- 1) Company paid for development tools and hardware upgrades, and let me keep the stuff (I was careful not to abuse this perk). 2) No traffic hassles for me. I got up at 4:30am (i wake up without an alarm) and made a 10-second commute to "office". 3) Was able to concentrate on work better due to lack of "interferance" from co-workers. 4) If I had an idea, I could run into the computer room at any time and try it out without leaving the house. Upside for Company ------------------ 1) I put in more hours than I would have at the office. 2) My chances of dying during the commute to the office were greatly reduced. I would have said "eliminated", but I had two step over three large dogs in the dark every morning, so there was still that bit of danger to consider. 3) The company didn't have to worry about me "not being a politican". 4) They didn't need any office space for me, and they didn't have to maintain a computer at the office for me to use. Downside for Programmer (me): ----------------------------- 1) I was *always* at the office. 2) They made me come in to the office for meetings (actually, I welcomed that sometimes). 3) There were times when I wouldn't hear from anybody at the office *for days*. Downside For The Company ------------------------ 1) There were times when they wouldn't hear from me *for days*. 2) Logistic concerns where version control was concerned. We needed software that was analog dial-up friendly (we settled on StarTeam from StarBase). 3) They had to trust me to work a full eight hours every day. I did, but I'm sure there was that element of concern.
Very well said. I can relate to all of it. Especially the part of not communicating for days. It seemed strange at first but then figured I wouldn't worry and just keep on doin' what I'm doin'. I remember my first few weeks on the job coming to the office every day to get up to speed until one day my 'boss' told me I didn't have to come in to work if I didn't feel like it. It's worked great ever since. I'm never late. Josh josh@schroff.com
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I'm starting to here about this more and more. What are the downsides of telecommuting from the programmer and company's view? Is there anyone doing it successfully? How does it work? Meetings? Frequent flights to and from??? Thanks! Scott! Put the big rocks in the glass jar first!
Telecommuting can work, and it can fail, horribly. I've had three telecommuting jobs, as well as a variety of contract and royalty arrangements done from home. The first one was, I'd say, a failure. Communications were pretty crappy back then - I was lucky to get a 9600 baud connection to the company office. I was also the only telecommuter, and, when the company hit bad times, I was the first laid off. The second telecommuting job I had was more successful. Everyone worked at home, so the company was geared towards remote work. Other than some bad decisions regarding the communications technology (direct ISDN connections and Lotus Notes as groupware) things worked fairly well. I'm telecommuting now; my employer in California, me in Oregon. Right now I fly down every two weeks, but that is an unusually high amount, necessary because of some changes in the group structure. The company has a few telecommuters, and is happy to accomodate our needs. However, for a while we were in a "toxic boss" situation, and as the project started to unravel around the jerk, he started blaming things on the fact that all his senior people were telecommuting. (It's great to read in a public email that "we won't be hiring any nore remote employees, but Jim, since we already have you, we'll continue to accomodate you"!) But now that he's gone, things are better. Bottom line, if you're planning on telecommuting (as an employee) - make sure that the company has the infrastructure and the will to support telecommuting. And make sure that your co-workers and supervisors are either very good communicators, or willing to delegate responsibility.
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I'm starting to here about this more and more. What are the downsides of telecommuting from the programmer and company's view? Is there anyone doing it successfully? How does it work? Meetings? Frequent flights to and from??? Thanks! Scott! Put the big rocks in the glass jar first!
I TC'd for a year and a half. I got to know the FedEx guys and the people at Kinkos who handled the Faxes. There were a lot of teleconferences and email storms. I never had to fly anywhere. In my opinion, the ideal situation is when the remote people can work on very focused sections/modules with well-defined interfaces. -c ------------------------------ Smaller Animals Software, Inc. http://www.smalleranimals.com
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I'm starting to here about this more and more. What are the downsides of telecommuting from the programmer and company's view? Is there anyone doing it successfully? How does it work? Meetings? Frequent flights to and from??? Thanks! Scott! Put the big rocks in the glass jar first!
I telecommute and I've only got one real issue with it. I still over-snooze for work and end up running late, which wouldn't be so bad except that I like to sleep au Natural (nekkid). The problem comes into play when I get slammed during the first half of my day and end up spending those hours in my work attire. If my coworkers only knew.....
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I'm starting to here about this more and more. What are the downsides of telecommuting from the programmer and company's view? Is there anyone doing it successfully? How does it work? Meetings? Frequent flights to and from??? Thanks! Scott! Put the big rocks in the glass jar first!
