What is Teleworking?

    Teleworking

    Teleworking is basically a term for performing the work which you used to perform in the office away from the office.  And the “away from the office” part of this is most commonly at home, but can really be anywhere with connectivity and facilities to support connectivity (maybe cyber cafes, in a tent, on the beach, or an office unit away from the main office)

    Telecommuting is a similar term often used but I prefer the word Teleworking as it describes much better what you are doing .. working through a telecommunications connection… Furthermore telecommuting tends to be used when talking about working from home whereas teleworking could be literally anywhere as long as the tools are available to do the job.

    So What is Teleworking?

    Wikipedia answers the question of what is teleworking very well, making the distinction between teleworking and telecommuting. It also makes the point about the shift in management philosophy from large companies away from management by observation to management by objectives. Most modern companies have made that shift, and that is why many are in a position to encourage teleworking and telecommuting, as there are also many advantages for them.

    Indeed, teleworking has become more and more popular in recent times, especially as companies look to cut down on their office and infrastructure costs.  Indeed, a lot of companies are actively encouraging their employees to work from home.

    Teleworking is basically  where you are fully employed by a company and are paid the same salary as you would be paid if you were in the office, the difference being that you do the job from home or remotely either full time, part time, or just occasionally.

    Teleworking therefore differs from most other work from home ideas in that you are an employee of the company you work for. Just as you would be if you worked in the office.

    But you work away from the office.  Most people work from home (and as this is a work from home site this is the most common scenario for us)

    If you are currently employed by a company, particularly one with a robust IT infrastructure you may be able to telework.

    And to find out whether you can get teleworking the best thing to do is ask your line manager and/or Human Resources… you may be surprised at the response you get because many companies will encourage working from home, because it cuts down on valuable and costly office space and infrastructure.

    Of course there are some jobs and roles which cannot be performed from home teleworking, but a lot can

    In order to work from home most people (and recognizing that jobs do differ) will require a laptop, a phone and some way of communicating with the office computer systems and email.

    Let’s assume your company is able to provide this, the next question to ask yourself is simply “can the job I do be done from home?” or possibly “can the job I do be done from home part time”

    And you might surprise yourself in your response because if you are on office worker I bet that a fair proportion of what you do can be done from home:

    If you

    • Write documents or do typing of any description
    • Work with spreadsheets
    • Run a remote team
    • Deal with customers and colleagues over the phone rather than face to face
    • Deal with customers and colleagues primarily via email …

    Then you are a really good candidate for teleworking and working from home, because in essence, you could simply do your job from anywhere

    What Will Teleworking Friendly Companies Provide?

    And most companies who do encourage working from home and teleworking do have a robust infrastructure which will support the teleworker.

    • They will usually provide a laptop and software
    • They will usually provide a mobile phone
    • They may provide a printer, fax, pay for a portion of your broadband
    • They may also, on order to meet Health and Safety requirements, provide a desk and office chair
    • They will also provide some way of remote access and provide the ability to access company networks from home
    • They are also likely to provide teleconferencing, video conferencing and/or instant messaging so you can do the job effectively
    • They may also (depending on the requirements of the job) be flexible in terms of working hours and when you fulfil those hours

    There are many advantages to teleworking (the main and obvious one being no daily commute) but if you are teleworking you must guard against getting isolated, both on a day to day basis, and also in terms of “being noticed” when promotions and opportunities come up.  There is also (in my opinion) nothing like face to face contact once in a while so my advice is, if you are thinking of teleworking is to maybe pencil in a day in the office once a week or once a fortnight, it will actually do you the power of good.

    But what if you don’t work for a company who encourage teleworking?

    Or what if you currently do a job that would be difficult to do from home?

    My answer is find a job and/or company that will allow you to!

    There are lots of companies out there whose employees telework and work from home for a portion of their working week.  Some full time, most part time, some maybe only on a Friday, but they do exist and it is worth seeking them out and applying to them.

    Go seek them out and apply, teleworking may just be the change of working environment you need, and may actually provide the lifestyle solution you need whilst still working with the safety net of having a regularly salary coming in.

     

    If you choose to pursue teleworking as a work at home career then good luck!