How I fail as a telecommuter

[digitaldiscipline]

(this was prompted by something yuki_onna shared earlier today)

I have learned that I hate working at home. Two consecutive office jobs in a row, I've had the option to work remotely via laptop. Both times, I lasted all of three days before the combination of being incommunicado (even though 98% of my direct communication takes place via phone or text) and having to use hell's little carpal tunnel and blindness device -- I mean, a laptop -- made me trade in not wearing anything but shorts and having access to good coffee for putting on shoes and pants and making a 13 mile commute.

Part of it was the lack of structure, and part of it was just the overwhelming feeling of stress: as the lead member of my team, I can't let go and trust things not to fall to shit if I'm not there to keep my hand on the tiller. Irrational or not, this is just the way I am (and why I will make a terrible, horrible, awful, no good, very bad manager). I honestly get a little twitchy if I go out for lunch.

On the other hand, when I'm on vacation, or it's my weekend not to be on call? The Office Does Not Ex Ist.¹ I draw a bright line between "at work" and "not at work" and attempting to erase or straddle it by working at home turns me into the social equivalent of a rabid wolverine.

I am a complete recluse when I'm out of the office; I'm not sure I've even been to the completely amazing goth club here in Tampa in like two years, because I just can't be arsed to get out of the house (also, I am tired in the evening after working all day and working out, and do not wish to be surrounded by loud strangers and fake smog, because either I will be surly, or I will want to dissolve my surliness in adult beverages; the former is no fun, the latter makes driving home a bad idea). So I prosecute my social life online (which is why you end up with me tweeting at you and darkening your journal, natch).

¹ This apparently blows the minds of folks in upper management, when, as we're walking in from the parking garage, they ask about some email that was sent around after-hours the day before, or on a weekend, and I have no idea what they're talking about. "When I'm here, I'm here, but when I'm not, I'm *not*."

Comments

[mschaos.livejournal.com]

right there with you. I worked from home and it was all that was available at the time (it was a live work thing)

the problem is that work never ever goes away when you live at work.

sushispook works from home and he is often working on the weekends which is rather stupid after awhile.

[mimerki.livejournal.com]

As you know, I work from home most days. I get a lot done. And I turn off the worktop at the end of my workday, and unless there's a reason to turn it on (like, I said I would check email on Sunday because I was leaving early on Friday) it doesn't get turned on again until I am supposed to start work again. But I work for a company and an org in that company where that's an acceptable set of habits. Other places, not so much.

[etcet.livejournal.com]

I think a lot of my friction comes from hating on the laptop - it physically hurts to use, and lacks the amount of screen real estate I tend to need (there are, at present, eight open and useful windows, seven of which are not this one; the machine at work has a pair of 17" displays).

The other compounding factor is that a lot of my guidance comes from being able to overhear the guys on my team talking to the people they're assisting, so I can get a feel for trending issues or offer suggestions with more proactive immediacy than if they were to pause and type something into an IM or email.

[thebigpants.livejournal.com]

I agree and feel the same way.

[sskipstress.livejournal.com]

once upon a time I had a job where I was expected to be in the office on Wednesdays for the staff meeting, otherwise, it was expected I'd work from home. I ended up working from the office most days, but seriously appreciating the flexibility to be able to work from home when I needed to for work or personal reasons.

[the_axel]

COuld you not get a plug in keyboard & hook the laptop up to your (no doubt) enormous desktop monitor?

Obviously that doesn't solve the second factor, which makes a lot of sense to go into to the office for.

[etcet.livejournal.com]

Hooking things up to the laptop is going to require buying a second desk upon which to set this stuff. I muddle through on the half-Saturdays I work hunched over it on an end table.

[critus.livejournal.com]

A message from your boss...

At the very least you recognize the reason why this is a big problem. As a leader you HAVE to be able to let go of control and leave your employees to handle things on their own. This is what I've done with you, and this is what you need to do with the rest of the team. If you can't, you're sending a very clear signal that you do not have confidence in them that they will do their job.

If that's the case you have one of two options - Replace them, or make them better. If, as a leader, you are the only determining factor of the dividing line between success and failure on your team...you're not doing your job. You're doing what you should be training others to do.

There is a certain person in our group who was recently promoted again that has not learned this lesson. There's also a name we have for that type of manager - "Control Freak."

Don't be that guy.

[hellsop.livejournal.com]

I've got a laptop dock and a KVM switch hooking both of them up. (Sort of, anyway. The K&M switch properly, but dock is VGA, and the desktop is DVI, so I have to also push a button on the monitor to switch the video.)

[etcet.livejournal.com]

I get what you're saying about the "help, don't do it for everyone" thing.

Parenting: Probably good training to be a manager, and vice versa.

I think this is why I have cats. ;-)

[yokes1971.livejournal.com]

Hardest thing about being a leader/manager is letting people fail. Dont kill em, if ya kill em he wont learn nuttin.

Telecommuting is tough. I have a whole setup here at the house, keyboard, monitor, etc its the only way I can do it. the laptop drives me nuts after a while

[anarcha.livejournal.com]

Interesting. I LOVE telecommuting, and cringe at the thought of ever having to swap to an office job. But it also sounds like your workstye and mine are polar opposites. I always blend work and home life, and prefer it that way -- it means I can do things like early conference calls with europe, balanced by getting to run AFTER the sun has risen in the winter.

I'm a bit of an introvert, and like the ability to focus on something without having somebody stop by "to chat". I also prefer to let my people work things out and succeed or fail on their own (I do keep an eye out in case things look like they're going very badly, and also am very much in control of each person's workload -- essentially I decide what they will execute, but let them figure out how to execute it).

Heck -- I even prefer laptops to desktops (small hands like small keyboards)

Huge pluses to being at home:
a) I don't have to get dressed
b) I don't have to see people face to face (I'm ever so slightly on the spectrum, in that I prefer phone to in-person, and email to phone)
c) I take breaks during the day to do my foot strengthening exercises, or massage my rear with a tennis ball (piriformis), or do laundry.
d) I can snack all day, rather then be forced into breakfast/lunch/dinner
e) I don't have to sit at a desk with a chair, which I personally believe to be horrible for one's back.
f) I have control over my schedule, to some extent. I don't feel compelled to be in front of the computer at exactly 9, and until 5:30.

Overall, I really dislike imposed structure in my work environment, so telecommuting is fantastic for me. But obviously, different strokes for different folks. :)

[sor-eye-ah.livejournal.com]

Agree with you, I love 5pm on Friday when I walk out and forget about what's going to happen until Monday.

Just this week we had a snooty e-mail from a designer at another company who at 5:28pm e-mailed us and demanded we send a piece of cloth to her for the next day, 9am. Needless to say, nobody saw this e-mail (until the next day) and I kindly reminded her that TNT picks up well before 5:28pm anyway....

That and I couldn't justify a £60 TNT delivery for a piece of cloth that will probably come to nothing (but we don't mention that)

Downsides of working at home for me?
a) work has a bigger table, at a good height. This is vital
b) I forget to eat, at work I will graze all day.
c) I don't take breaks; at work i'll take my lunch break, at home I won't.
d) I feel a constant pressure to have something to 'show' for the day, which will see me working through lunch and until after 5:30pm
e) Most importantly, for my industry so much vital (and important!) information is picked up by listening out to other peoples conversations.
f) Fun. I like my co-workers. We laugh, occasionally order kebabs and motivate each other.

On the flip side, I dearly wish I could have flexi time (which is pretty unheard of in my industry)

[inulro.livejournal.com]

I've always considered the fact that I failed to finish my PhD told me everything I need to know about my motivation to work from home.

That said, I could do with being able to work from home for the occasional day or half day for when I'm feeling OK but mobility is shot, or to let in the plumber etc. and not use my holiday.

[fitfool.livejournal.com]

Do you have a desktop at home? I got a KVM switch so all I had to do for space at home was to clear a patch of space on my desk to put my laptop, then hook it into the existing monitor, keyboard, and mouse. I agree, working while hunched over the laptop uncomfortably would be annoying. Sounds like the bigger problem is not being willing to let go of things at work when you're working. Don't be a micromanager!