Microsoft SharePoint is an accepted enterprise standard for online collaboration, but unfortunately many organizations don’t use it to its fullest potential. If you’re preparing a telework pilot program, ensure that your SharePoint implementation is set up and optimized to support and assist your teleworkers. Read more »
Making the move to corporate teleworking may seem simple from the web worker’s perspective. However, the introduction of teleworking can have an impact on many facets of an organization; careful planning is a must if your organization is considering allowing its employees to work remotely. Read more »
Many corporations rely on Project Management Offices (PMOs) to centralize project management activities. Just as organizations have to change some of their processes to accommodate web working, PMOs have to be at on the forefront of those changes to manage organizational projects to successful delivery. Read more »
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Have you had a break today? It sounds simple enough, but we all know how difficult it can be to drag ourselves away from our desks during the work day. Since we’re not surrounded by colleagues heading out for lunch or coffee, and we all have […] Read more »
It’s become almost commonplace to consider teleworking as a career move. From companies wanting to reduce costs to individuals looking for alternative income streams, there’s no shortage of people interested in this option. But no matter how easy it looks on paper, successful teleworking takes time […] Read more »
Trust is probably the most crucial factor in any working relationship — indeed, in any human relationship. It can be a challenge to engender trust in your colleagues at the best of times, but when you’re not on site with them, it’s even harder. In a […] Read more »
My employer’s currently on a kick to reduce printing costs, so those in the office are being strenuously encouraged to reduce our print output, and when we do print, to print everything double-sided with black ink only, unless single-sided or colored printing is absolutely imperative. Of […] Read more »
The barriers to working from home are usually human, according to Rosabeth Moss Kanter, who presents remote working as a solution for “business growth, working families, and a green future.” Kanter, a Harvard Business School professor, cites leadership as an important factor in successful remote working, […] Read more »
There will always be times when we need to work overtime to get something finished, or because we take on responsibilities for a colleague who’s on leave, or because we’re trying to get ahead of the game for some reason.
But even without such triggers, many of us find ourselves blurring the lines between work time and down time, which is easy enough to do when your home space is your work space.
If you’re the type of person who tends to find themselves working longer hours, or doing little bits of work when you have spare moments on the weekend, these tips might help you to keep the boundaries between work and personal time nice and clear. Read more »
While some employers will pay for the equipment expenses of their teleworking employees, there’s only so much they can cover. Freelancers like myself have it in even tougher — they need to provide their own gear from the beginning. I guess the price of location independence […] Read more »
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When I started working remotely, I had the nice — if misguided — idea that I’d spend my days working away in the home office with a pot of tea at my elbow. But in the last couple of weeks I’ve done more work out of my office than in. In fact, I’m writing this post on a public bus, in the dark, at 8.40pm.
Working quite literally on the road has some serious limitations, and I’m not just talking about technicalities like power supplies and web access. It can be extremely difficult to focus if you’re in a public or unfamiliar space, or if you’re not in one place for more than an hour at a time. But as they say, necessity is the mother of invention, and over these last few weeks, I’ve developed a few tricks to help myself concentrate and be productive in the least conducive, and highly pressured circumstances. Here are my top five. Read more »
Web workers, especially those of us who are self-employed, will sometimes encounter people who, it seems, take us less seriously because we don’t have a corporate cube to work in. There are two ways to deal with this. Some web workers go to great lengths to […] Read more »
Are you having a good day today? Remote working can be great, but it can also prove a lonely proposition; some days it can seem like you never leave the house, or as if no one knows or cares whether you’re working or not. For many, remote working actually means remote: the workplace of your employer is hours away; friends and/or other colleagues aren’t much closer. And sometimes it can seem as if the people who are supposed to be working with you are too busy with what’s going on in the office to actually give you what you need to do your job.
That sense of disconnection can be significant, it can be cruel, and it can be very difficult to overcome. If you’ve never had a day like this, lucky you! I’ve had my fair share, and though I’m no psychologist, I thought I’d outline my tactics for shaking off the remote working blues, just in case you ever face the same problem. Read more »
It seems so alluring — you, your computer, your home office, and all the silence/Bach/Led Zeppelin you can handle. This is the home office ideal, right? Right.
But what happens when you put someone else in the picture? What if, right next to the potted palm in your home office, your partner or work-from-home housemate materialized?
With more and more people working remotely at least some of the time, this is a very real question that many of us face. What should you consider if you’re about to embark on a multi-person home workplace? Read more »
Like most people, I’ve worked on both sides of the remote working fence — as a remote worker, and as an office-bound staffer working with remote colleagues. From the latter perspective, there are three things that I really found difficult about working with remote colleagues. If you can overcome these in your day-to-day work, you’ll likely make life easier for yourself, as well as your on-site colleagues. Read more »
Today, I received a CD of images from another remote contractor, who included a blank with compliments slip in the envelope, but nothing else. As someone who works remotely, I can’t believe people are still doing this stuff! Are you? If so, stop it!
Think about it: as a remote worker, your contact is limited. You need to see each point of contact as an opportunity to build rapport. I promise: this is what makes the difference between remote workers who are fun to work with and really part of the team, and remote workers you’d happily never work with again. Read more »
A lot is written about the things you don’t miss when you telecommute — the cube farm, having to wear a suit, the politics, and so on. But, believe it or not, working in an office delivers a few benefits, too, and I’m not just talking about free stationery. The good news is, once you know what you’re missing, you can find ways to enjoy those same benefits while working remotely. Read more »
Neil Kay-Jones — of screensharing vendor Yuuguu — has put together a useful overview of recent shifts in UK employment law regarding flexible working arrangements. These changes allow working parents the right to request more flexible working arrangements and could swell the ranks of web workers. […] Read more »
As organizations and businesses loosen their geographic borders, their teams will be composed of members from all over the globe. From a small web design group to an entire staff of offshore workers, we’ll soon find ourselves working with people from different time zones. But working […] Read more »
What effect does having an international team have on the individual web worker and the team as a whole? Read more »
Do you have a need to capture screenshots for personal or work use? If so, you are in luck as the market for these tools is improving. In case you did not know, Apple provides default screenshot capturing within OS X (via command keys) and also […] Read more »
In a recent post here at WWD, Dawn Foster brought up a discussion about the direction that online freelancing is likely to take this year. It might be interesting to look at the other half of the web working population – corporate employees who are telecommuting […] Read more »
Long-time reader Hector Gomez drove hours to meet up at the tablet gathering in Vegas. Hector had some cool gear with him, the MSI Wind running Windows 7 and the sweet little Kojhinsha SC3. Thanks for coming out Hector! Read more »
Sling to Launch Blackberry Application; SlingPlayer Mobile for Blackberry, which lets you control your home TV and DVR while on the go, will be available as a public beta starting on Dec. 30. (jkOnTheRun) Macrovision Sells Off TV Guide Network and TV Guide Online; units sold […] Read more »
It’s hard work to set up and supervise a teleworking team for some projects. In the web content service I run, I need to gather work-from-home writers together and help them work as a team. This is especially important for projects that require group cooperation and […] Read more »
When our grandparents said that an apple a day keeps the doctor away, they were referring to the fruit, not the computer. But it’s not far-fetched that the same thing could be said about teleworking. By opting to telework, employees and freelancers have a better chance […] Read more »
When the benefits of teleworking are discussed, one of the major points raised is that teleworking is better for the environment. One of the more obvious causes of this is that if more people work from home, lesser people drive to work, reducing petrol consumption and […] Read more »
In today’s turbulent economic times, it’s important to have lower expenses and increased income – especially for teleworkers. While many independent contractors are getting more business, it’s still wise to make deliberate efforts to thrive. Here are some ways we will be able to do that. Read more »
Our colleagues at jkOnTheRun thought we’d like this article from Digital Nomad, and they were right. It’s now been 3 years and 3 months since I accepted a fulltime, salaried position working out of a home office, and I’d have to agree with just about all […] Read more »
If you’re really determined, you can survive as a freelancing web worker. It takes a few months of trial and error, learning all you can, and finding the tools and processes that work for you. After that, most people are glad to find that they’ve survived […] Read more »
Presence and availability information has been one of the key enabling technologies for web workers, providing signaling mechanisms for indicating the ability and willingness of users to communicate, whether by instant message, VoIP call, caller ID or even an email auto-responder. Together presence and status indicators […] Read more »
Kurt Cagle, the managing editor of XML.com, recently explored Telework as the New Face of the Agile Workforce in a piece for O’Reilly Media. The article examines the intersection of rising fuel prices, the credit crunch, rising real estate prices and congested transport networks, contrasting them […] Read more »
If you’re like me, you have more to do than you could realistically get done in a month. How do you keep up with it all? There are dozens of productivity applications for your Mac, and a few for your iPhone. But there’s one application that’s […] Read more »
After toiling on the web for years, online sitcom Break A Leg has finally landed a sponsorship deal…for its season finale. Holiday Inn Express will sponsor the show, which according to series creator Yuri Baranovsky will be broken up into seven or eight parts that are […] Read more »
Not to be left behind by the download revolution, video rental company Blockbuster is reportedly working on a set-top box to pipe movies directly to your TV. The move isn’t entirely unexpected — what else was it going to do with Movielink, the movie download service […] Read more »
Teleworking has been gaining traction for years and now more than 2.44 million people spend at least part of their work week at home. But recently some major employers have been pulling telecommuters back into the office. The goal of any would-be teleworker is to show your boss how working from home will benefit him and the company. If you’re having trouble getting your point across, here are some possible reasons he wants you in the office. Read more »
A key issue staring companies directly in the eye is the ability to acquire and retain highly qualified workers. This is especially true in the coming years as a main chunk of the workforce, the baby boomer generation, transitions into retirement. As the baby boomers trade […] Read more »
After finally admitting that the company did a poor job with the Apple TV, Steve Jobs in his Macworld keynote today unveiled a totally new interface with loads of functionality that should be enough for any Apple zealot to jump for joy. But how much faith […] Read more »
Today Yahoo! Buzz unveils its Top Trends in Search for 2007 with the top ten news stories, top ten troubled celebrities, and the top ten in tech. But beyond those categories, Yahoo’s lists reminded me that web search is not simply about finding information; it’s often […] Read more »
Ok, it’s not a pretty solution, but for many, it’s the result that counts. Ashish Derhgawen did some self-education on the tones that phones make and decided to put his newfound knowledge to good use. Using a pull-solenoid and an old Nokia phone to accept calls, […] Read more »
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