But the truth is that there are many laws that can potentially impact telecommuters and web workers. You have to have a clear picture of possible problems up front.

Benjamin Wright is an attorney specializing in the issues surrounding working online. He points to six key questions that web-based workers must keep in mind:

1. Are there any legal restrictions on your ability to conduct business from your home?
2. Do you have a clear contract with the employer explaining the relationship, compensation, tax issues, reimbursement for expenses and ownership of property (such as who owns the laptop you are using)?
3. Are you an independent contractor or an employee, and do you understand your resulting tax obligations?
4. Is the actual work you’re doing legitimate and legal?
5. Have you taken care to protect any sensitive data or information you have access to?
6. Do you need any special license or credentials to do the sort of work you’ve taken on?

Disregarding any of the above questions could easily wind up leading to major issues for any virtual staffer who ignores them.

Home offices

For many web-based workers, the best work space available is a spare room or space in your home. However, many municipalities and counties put limitations on what you can do in your home. Wright notes, “Some cities limit a citizen’s ability to conduct business out of their house, especially when the activity creates traffic, deliveries or noise. Some rental leases will also forbid the conduct of business out of an apartment.”

Employment status

When you work virtually, you are more likely to be asked to work as an independent contractor than if you’re going into an office every day. As such, you need to be aware of what your obligations are. “If you are an independent contractor (rather than an employee), you need to understand your state and federal tax responsibilities, including accounting for income, payment of estimated taxes, retention of receipts, and documentation for deductions such as home-office deduction,” Wright explains.

Employment contracts

Because there can be major tax issues if an employer tries to list you as a contractor  rather than as an employee, you do need a contract in hand.You also need that contract to detail your compensation and obligations.

Legitimate work

It’s not unheard of for a web-based worker to take on a project from someone she’s never met. That can make it harder to understand exactly what you’ve been asked to do. “Make sure you understand the full nature and legality of what you are doing. Some work-from-home schemes trick people into supporting illegal activities like online gambling or money-laundering. Make sure you know who your employer really is,” Wright points out. “If the work is too good to be true, you should be suspicious.”

Security and privacy

You may very well be handling information that must be kept secure and safe. That can take the shape of requirements to lock up files or computer equipment in your own home, or even take things a step beyond. Wright suggests, “If you are handling sensitive data (like personally-identifiable information pertaining to individual customers or patients), make sure you understand and implement proper security procedures.”

Licenses

It can be surprising to see how many jobs are subject to licensing requirements, depending on where you live. Wright points out a particularly problematic example: “For example, in some states a person doing computer forensics work — which can even include some kinds of computer repair — must have a private investigator’s license.”

Image courtesy Flickr user Sam Howzit

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However, sometimes there are situations that call for building your own tools. The trick is figuring out which situations actually call for constructing a custom tool; guessing wrong could wind up costing both time and money for your organization as a whole.

When to consider building custom tools

When you’re considering building a new tool, the simple deciding factor is usually whether you can get something similar out of the box. It’s almost always cheaper, after all, to pay for a tool that someone else has built, has tested and will maintain.

But what if every tool that you’ve looked at doesn’t fit the bill? What if it doesn’t have the one crucial feature that makes your business easier to run or cuts your work load in half? That’s the deciding factor for most of us. If the application you need can save you significant money over the months or years you can use it, the cost of building it becomes less of an issue.

Sander Daniels, the co-founder of marketplace Thumbtack, faced exactly that situation. Thumbtack built its own tool to solve a problem, and wound up with much more functionality than the existing tools on the market offered. “A/B testing our website is of critical importance to the success of our company. We need to know which page designs get customers through the door — and which don’t. We built a tool internally to run A/B tests whenever we want. We implemented this tool about six months ago and have already seen a 5x increase in conversions from it. The other tools on the market were too expensive and not sufficiently rigorous for our needs. Our tool has advanced statistics built in, which allows us to know how confident we are of the success of certain experiments. A lot of the tools on the market didn’t have this statistical functionality.”

There is a middle ground of course. With more and more web-based applications making their APIs available, as well as open-source software, we can customize existing tools or create add-on applications that work with them. It’s much simpler, and cheaper, to bring in a coder on a contract basis to create an add-on or plug-in that will turn a so-so software package into what you need rather than creating the whole thing from scratch

Sticking with a custom tool

There’s another big a question to consider after you implement a custom tool: How long do you keep using it? If a tool comes to market that can match the solution that you’ve built yourself, you need to decide whether to keep your existing bespoke tool — and maintaining it, adding new functionality and keeping pace with technological advances — or whether to switch to the new option. It can be a tough decision, particularly if you have sunk considerable investment in your custom-built tool, and you need to consider the cost of moving your data. However, the costs of maintaining your own internal tools over time can be expensive enough that it makes sense to jump to a ready-built tool as soon as there is an alternative.

Image courtesy Flickr user Joshua Rothaas

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There’s often no way around offering internal support for most organizations. Many companies have customized software or hardware that no-one else can support. Others need tech support to happen fast and can’t don’t want to outsource it. If your organization relies on providing technical support internally, making the support process as clear as possible can help avoid problems and speed up the process.

1. Provide a process for minor or frequent issues. Many of the problems that an internal support team can find itself facing regularly are fairly minor or even repetitive. When the rest of the organization has appropriate tools, like checklists, they can diagnose those sorts of problems themselves, rather than immediately turning to the support team, which can let your team focus on the problems that are really crucial.
2. Create tutorial and reference materials. A support team’s time can also be well spent heading off potential issues. If you can sink some of that time into creating tutorials and other reference materials that can help the rest of the organization avoid potential issues, it’s possible to get ahead of the game. Tools like TeamSupport put a high priority on creating “knowledge bases” — reference materials that customers and clients can refer to quickly, rather than putting in a call to support.
3. Set expectations, especially for response times. People can get a little on edge while waiting for a solution to their problem. But if you clearly communicate when they can expect a response, if not a solution, you can at least minimize the phone calls and emails the support team receives just to check up. An internal website listing updates may be one option, while an automated email system may be another. Many companies now post statistics for the tech support they provide external customers on the web, such SiteGround’s full list of their response times, which could be an option for internal support as well.
4. Put a face on the support team. It’s hard for people to see a support team as individuals. But by making an effort to get the support team out and about with the rest of the organization, you can at least humanize them. That can mean bringing them into meetings, changing up the office space, or using social tools.

There will always be frustrations in the support process: people always want problems fixed immediately, which isn’t necessarily possible. But the more you can smooth out the process, the fewer of those problems you’ll have to face on a regular basis.

Image courtesy Flickr user Ellecer Valencia

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If you need an introduction to the concept of coworking, and some suggestions on how it can help you, Coworking: How Freelancers Escape the Coffee Shop Office provides a useful overview. If you already have an in-depth working knowledge of coworking spaces, you may find the first half of the ebook less useful. However, the real value in Coworking is in the interviews that make up the second half of the ebook. These profiles of individuals give clear ideas on the many forms that coworking can take and how people can choose to use a local coworking space. If you aren’t sure of how you might fit into a coworking space, these personal stories provide the insight you need. With almost fifty pages of information provided by real people who make a point of working out of a coworking space regularly, you’ll get views inside coworking spaces that you just can’t get any other way.

Kwiatkowski and Buczynski wrote the book to provide those interested in coworking a deeper look. Kwiatkowski has a unique perspective on coworking: she’s the founder of the Cohere Coworking Community, a space located in Fort Collins, Colorado, that offers a home to more than forty freelancers, remote workers and entrepreneurs.

Coworking: How Freelancers Escape the Coffee Shop Offic is available for $6.99.

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Choosing institutional knowledge tools

Picking the tool your organization uses for knowledge management can be complex. There are a variety of approaches to knowledge management that different tools take, from simply letting everyone add information to a shared database to a carefully curated and approved set of knowledge. It can be a question of what works with the tools you already use, what can manage the types of information you need to keep at hand, or even what is available to you. Two organizations told us what lead them to make their decisions.

Angela Carr, the VP of information technology for the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI) works with AssociatioNet, a version of the Presto knowledge management application designed specifically for use by associations. She told us,

AUVSI’s vision is to be the focal point for information and updates on the unmanned systems global community. That means we want to be the preferred resource for information seekers: academia, researchers, scientists and the media. We chose AssociatioNet because of its ability to streamline the information gathering process and link this abundance of information with AUVSI member data. The system allows [us] to provide additional benefits to . . AUVSI member [companies] by showcasing the[m] alongside important research. In addition to features . . . that . . . improve staff and organization productivity, AssociatioNet provides a low cost of ownership, flexibility, ease-of-use and rapid deployment that differentiates it from other, more costly and cumbersome tools available.

Ken Carroll is the mentoring network administrator for URS Corporation, which uses Triple Creek to manage knowledge. He describes the choice:

URS [has a] wide scope of services and highly specialized talent, [so] intentional learning and knowledge transfer are strategic priorities. Triple Creek’s solution is dynamically aligning and matching our talent to the immediate learning needs across our organization. Progressive organizations like URS and Triple Creek create ah-ha moments at every turn. Our latest ah-ha moment is to pair Open Mentoring with our classroom training events bridging the gap between learning and execution. The ability to keep the group connected as they apply the learning concepts allows these peer groups to speed up learning by asking each other questions, collaboratively solving problems, and reinforce the concepts learned in the classroom. The partnership we have with Triple Creek is a competitive advantage for URS.

Institutional knowledge management is crucial to ensuring that businesses continue to thrive even if that one coder who’s the only guy that knows how the software was created or that one saleswoman who knows how to perfectly sell the main product leave the company. Across different companies that we’ve talked to, the main criteria for choosing a knowledge management tool are:

• Ease of use. A knowledge management tool isn’t worth anything if you can’t get people to use it.
• Specialized knowledge. In many industries, the types of knowledge that must be managed vary dramatically. Even something as small as the ability to upload video can make a world of difference for some industries.
• Technical management. Setup can be a crucial issue, especially for companies without large IT departments. So can connecting a knowledge management tool to the other software an organization already uses.

How does your organization manage its institutional knowledge?

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Not every situation requires a call to tech support staff. TeamSupport provides a customer portal that includes a knowledge base that makes it easy for someone with a problem to look up an answer, rather than waiting on on a response for support. Of course, TeamSupport also allows for support ticket submissions, along with ticket management, so that support staff can handle any issues that a search of the knowledge base can’t address. More advanced features, including live chat, are available as add-ons.

TeamSupport puts a major emphasis on communication, making it as easy as possible to not only track tickets but to talk to the people submitting those tickets. Customers who need support are organized into a database automatically, making it  possible to provide ongoing help to those who need it (as well as track issues against the customers who report them). For teams responsible for providing internal support, TeamSupport also offers communication tools to help simplify the support process. A wiki and other collaboration features make it easy for your support staff to stay up-to-speed on potential problems.

The app is available in three different editions, with prices ranging from $15 to $35 per month per user, going from from a package meant for small teams that need a step up from spreadsheet to manage support issues up to an edition that allows users to closely track tickets, bugs and more.

TeamSupport offers its own support portal, providing in-depth information for users interested in getting a closer look. If nothing else, it’s a great example of company eating its own dog food.

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If your team mostly works in the cloud, it can be a hassle to scan in documents and get them uploaded to the right place. ScanDrop makes the process more efficient by giving you the option to scan documents directly to cloud file storage apps like Dropbox, Evernote, Google Docs and OfficeDrop Online. You can also create a PDF immediately from a scanned document, letting you skip file format conversions.

ScanDrop works with Google Docs’ OCR feature to convert scanned documents into editable text. Other features built into ScanDrop allow you to change the order of pages or delete a few entirely. You can also organize and tag files.

The application is available for both Mac and Windows, although the feature set varies between the different platforms; the Mac version is the most recently upgraded. ScanDrop for Windows is currently available for free from OfficeDrop’s website, while ScanDrop is priced at $9.99 in the Mac App Store. The list of scanners that ScanDrop will automatically work with is impressive, listing not only well-known brands, like HP and Epson, but some more specialized tools, like NeatDesk.

Truly Going Paperless

I can see a virtual team making great use of ScanDrop: whoever is in charge of physical documents and checking the actual mail box can scan and upload files in a matter of minutes. With a little planning, it might be possible to eliminate the office entirely, beyond having a post office box.

ScanDrop is still listed as being in beta, so it’s possible that new features — perhaps a few more applications that you can send your scans too? — will be available in the future.

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It’s a Matter of Circumstance

Depending on the circumstances, the best option may simply be to focus on the financial aspect: if the team member in question chooses to work outside the office when your organization continues to maintain an office space for them, it’s difficult to financially justify helping them to use a coworking space as well. If a team member was brought on board without any possibility of providing office space, however, it may be a different matter; the cost of using a coworking space for a telecommuter is likely less than the cost of providing a dedicated office space for the same person. Coworking spaces can provide inexpensive office space for telecommuting employees.

What Does the Coworking Space Provide?

It’s also worth discovering what the coworking space offers your team member that isn’t available elsewhere. For many people, a coworking space is simply a way to have easy access to a work space that isn’t in their home — without having to buy numerous cups of coffee. Such a space can be extremely beneficial: not all employees are able to work effectively from home.

But some spaces provide other benefits, too, ranging from a stable and fast Internet connection to access to printers and other technology that an individual may not have in his home. Depending on what your team needs to function, even part-time access to a coworking space may be beneficial and cost effective. However, it’s worth considering coworking spaces on a case-by-case basis, because each space is different. For instance, they will have varying security measures, which may be a concern for some organizations.

The Costs You Can Expect

For most coworking spaces, prices are pegged to the amount of time a member will use the space — there’s usually a daily rate as well as an option or two for monthly access. The exact price tends to vary by geographic region: it’s more expensive to use a coworking space in New York City than in Denver. That said, plans providing full-time access are rarely more than a few hundred dollars per month. If you choose to provide a team member with the funds to use a coworking space, the budget can be kept to a reasonable level.

Photo courtesy Flickr user Mike Schinkel

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TribeHR attempts to automate and streamline as many human resources tasks as it can. The web-based application will, under different plans, handle anything from a handful of employees to an unlimited number. Whether you are the owner of a small business and handle all of your human resources needs yourself or you have an entire HR department, TribeHR can provide you with the tools you need.

Get the Ordinary Out of the Way

The thing about human resources is that as it involves people, unexpected situations will always pop up that need your full attention. That’s not going to change, but the more you can do to get routine form-filling matters off your desk, the more you can focus on those issues that actually require you to make decisions. TribeHR’s approach is to simplify those standard HR tasks and let software do the heavy lifting.

Through TribeHR, you can handle vacation requests, plan employee development and hire new employees. The application is set up so that each employee in your organization can have a login, making it easy to share information, like new policies. There are permissions controls in place so that while you maintain employees’ records online, not everyone with a login has access to all the information in the system.

Switching to TribeHR

The problem with switching to any new human resources setup is that, no matter how good the new tools are, getting switched over can be expensive and time-consuming. TribeHR has tried to minimize the stress, though, by implementing the capability to import different kinds of data, as well as data export and an API. You can also access setup services by email. There is support available through TribeHR’s support site and Twitter. My only complaint is that I’d like to see at least one support or contact method that doesn’t require Internet access.

TribeHR is not the only online HR app available. Competitors include BambooHR and Effortless HR, but TribeHR has a fairly comprehensive set of features and is priced reasonably, starting at $19 per month, with plans based on the number of employees you’re working with, the number of job openings you have and how much information you need to store. There is an absolutely unlimited plan available at $399 per month. All plans include a fifteen-day free trial.

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In some cases, the responses I get include comments about how much users absolutely loathe particular tools, but they are forced to work with them due to their employers’ choices.

Have You Talked to Your Team?

There are plenty of teams that are happy with their tools. But it seems there are also many people who feel like they work in spite of their tools, rather than with them. You don’t want your team to fall into that second group, so how can you ensure that your team is happy withe the tools you select?

You’ll need to get feedback from employees at all levels of organizations.. It’s probably impossible to please everyone, but it’s a bad sign if your team members are willing to go on Twitter and explain every last detail of what they don’t like about the tools that they have to use.

Don’t frame this conversation by asking your team what they’re not happy about — find out how they think things could be improved. A fair number of the complaints I hear are, at the most basic level, about how things could be made better. This can be an opportunity: Your team sees a problem, but has also identified a solution that you can take advantage of.

A Conversation That Needs to Be Had

You probably already know if your team isn’t particularly excited about a particular tool. But it’s worth sitting down and actually having the conversation and asking a few simple questions: What could be improved? Are there any simple fixes? Are there any big fixes? Sometimes it’s not the case that a tool needs to be completely replaced; it could be a problem with a particular feature, or how the tool integrates with another product or a particular workflow.

You may not be able to act on the information you receive right away. The negative comments I routinely get about certain tools often come out of giant organizations— not exactly companies known for being able to turn on a dime. But knowing that a plan for better tools is in place will improve matters, and even just being heard can help make a less-than-ideal situation more palatable.

Image courtesy Flickr user Petras Gagilas

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