the remote job - it is really remote
Years ago, a while before this current catastrophe, I was looking at how I could ply my craft while staying at home, and investigated telecommuting. I was convinced that
1. I could do more/better work from home (I am very self disciplined)
2. Any body I worked for would be happy to have me working those extra 2-3 hours I'd save in commuting
3. The technology was ready - with a phone line, a satellite dish, and electricity I could connect to any computer anywhere.
4. it was the wave of the future - no cars, no weather, no problems
BUT - I found out at the time (and unfortunately it's still too true) managers manage people, they don't manage work.
So, I decided to try to teach managers how to manage work, even when they did not know what work their people were performing.
Of course, this is in technology, back office, support services fields..manufacturing and other fields still need people on site.
I made my cases, presenting (I make really good presentations) to my former as well as new clients, but I was met with a startling resistance...
Managers did not want to learn the details of what their people did! In technology, it used to be true that the Managers came from the business side, and the techies were from Saturn. There was fear.
This is not so true any more. Many (most) managers are tech savy, even proficient, but there has been a only small increase in virtual-offices, and jobs available in those offices. I expect there will be more, with this current situation.
So, I renew my offer - Any managers out there who would like to save rent on office space, and learn how to manage the work their workers work at, remotely, let me know. I can help you make it happen, and your workforce will love it. I can train them too. It can work, with the right structure.
p.s. A lot of companies have out-sourced operations - these off-shore companies are not all bad, but the many problems experienced (language, inefficient communications, and customer dis-satisfaction) have left them in a hard place. They've grown used to the savings, but yet need to improve productivity to survive, if they have not yet died...
We have the talent, the skills, the need and the time, right now, to pull this all together. But we don't do it alone. Use the bandwidth! Use the tools and technologies we've built up all these years! Put America to back to work! let the empty cube be moved to cyberspace! The rent is cheap.
1. I could do more/better work from home (I am very self disciplined)
2. Any body I worked for would be happy to have me working those extra 2-3 hours I'd save in commuting
3. The technology was ready - with a phone line, a satellite dish, and electricity I could connect to any computer anywhere.
4. it was the wave of the future - no cars, no weather, no problems
BUT - I found out at the time (and unfortunately it's still too true) managers manage people, they don't manage work.
So, I decided to try to teach managers how to manage work, even when they did not know what work their people were performing.
Of course, this is in technology, back office, support services fields..manufacturing and other fields still need people on site.
I made my cases, presenting (I make really good presentations) to my former as well as new clients, but I was met with a startling resistance...
Managers did not want to learn the details of what their people did! In technology, it used to be true that the Managers came from the business side, and the techies were from Saturn. There was fear.
This is not so true any more. Many (most) managers are tech savy, even proficient, but there has been a only small increase in virtual-offices, and jobs available in those offices. I expect there will be more, with this current situation.
So, I renew my offer - Any managers out there who would like to save rent on office space, and learn how to manage the work their workers work at, remotely, let me know. I can help you make it happen, and your workforce will love it. I can train them too. It can work, with the right structure.
p.s. A lot of companies have out-sourced operations - these off-shore companies are not all bad, but the many problems experienced (language, inefficient communications, and customer dis-satisfaction) have left them in a hard place. They've grown used to the savings, but yet need to improve productivity to survive, if they have not yet died...
We have the talent, the skills, the need and the time, right now, to pull this all together. But we don't do it alone. Use the bandwidth! Use the tools and technologies we've built up all these years! Put America to back to work! let the empty cube be moved to cyberspace! The rent is cheap.
Comment
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Comment by Kristin Steen on April 30, 2009 at 8:48pm -
well, not exactly...
I was talking about the actual work that can be done, away from the physical office, especially in IT...jobs like mine, which is QA and Testing, or other jobs like programming, or anything that requires you to be in front of a computer, rather than in front of a person. With the technology available, I can be connected to any computer that has the right software, and don't need to be in the office to communicate with my peers, my boss or my clients.
Many places have initiated in part 'work from home', usually in response to some incident that makes going to the office difficult, or impossible, like the Swine flu. I was just saying that for some jobs, like mine, it makes a lot more sense for me to save those hours of commuting to sit at my computer, when I can sit at my computer at home.
I haven't heard of oDesk...I'll check it out, but it sounds like a time management system, which is unnecessary if you are connected to your work computer from your home computer, for daily work, and visit the office for occasional meetings, or other face-to-face events, as required.
I've worked in offices where the person sitting next to me emails or IMs me, instead of just turning around, and talking face to face!
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Comment by Lauren Bielski on April 29, 2009 at 9:40pm
- This reminds me of oDesk, a service I checked out, that requires workers to download software and get certified. Basically, aspects of work are then documented. Is this the kind of thing you are talking about?
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