telecommuting
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| Author | Content |
|---|---|
| Bob_Robertson Oct 30, 2005 12:38 PM EDT |
A large portion of what I've done as a network engineer could have been done by telecommuting. However, management has (almost) always been staunchly against it. It reduces their ability to monitor and control me. I say "control me" because my work still has standards and timelines which would have to be met. I would much rather be judged by my work than by what hours that I work, but there are many in management who do not understand that those are separate issues. There is also a need for hands on stuff, but it's eratic. Sometimes I spend the whole day up to my elbows in hardware, sometimes I go weeks without touching anything but a keyboard remote from the machines themselves. Has anyone else read Marc Stiegler's _David's Sling_? He puts in some interesting twists about wide-spread telecommuting that are germane to the discussion. |
| PaulFerris Oct 30, 2005 6:41 PM EDT |
Bob, haven't read it. My thoughts, though. I've done serious time doing both the true telecommute gig, mixed (some telecommute/work in office) and at companies that simply didn't support it. First, if it's going to happen at a large company, things like very good network infrastructure, group meeting software and very, very good phone conferencing equipment are necessary items. In other words, it's not a thing that one day just happens -- someone has to realize the value, push for it at the top and make it happen. Second, you have to have people that are motivated to do the work regardless if they're in a cubicle, on an ocean liner or on their living room couch. You would think this would be something that every manager would want in an employee, but it's surprising to me how many people still don't understand the concept of hiring people that really love what they do and get things done. Third, You have to have a corporate culture that realizes the above and the context of when you truly need people in the office or not. I know that some things are best done face to face, and therefore even when faced with the option of being able to do it via teleconference, I'll often make sure I'm at an important meeting. There's an interesting side note here -- leave your laptop at your desk if you're not presenting something or in dire need of it. Laptop computers (and PDAs, cell phones with built in toys and so on) can get in the way of good conversation. Nothing beats a pen and paper for taking good notes when you're trying to keep everyones' attention. I've seen rare exception to this rule, but it's surprising to me how many technology people will drag a laptop to a meeting, open it and tune everyone out. They think they're coming off as tech-savvy in the process, but everyone in the room is thinking "what a jerk". Other experiences. Full-time telecommuting was great -- I got a lot done. Unfortunately, from what I see, you're more of a number that way. It's easier to lay off someone you rarely see face to face. Too much telecommuting takes you away from the people that need to understand you (your co-workers) and you begin to be more of an email bot than a valued friend. It's a balance, in other words. Long stretches, if you can't be there, should be tempered with frequent, friendly phone calls, just so people know the sound of your voice and that you truly care about their needs. Finally, when things go bad, working from home, they're really bad. A bad day at the office ends (usually, if you're healthy) when you walk out of the building. That doesn't happen if the building you're in is your home. A similar issue results if you work full-time from home on things you love -- you have a tendency to be at work all the time. The bad side of this is that your feelings about your work can rub off on your house. You begin to hate being home when the work is bad, or you resent your dwelling because you can't get away from your work. These may all sound trivial, but they're not. They're real problems that people will face. Those of you with telecommute jobs are probably silently nodding your heads. Just wanted to share. I'll shut up now. --FeriCyde |
| dinotrac Oct 31, 2005 2:43 AM EDT |
I can only echo what Paul said -- and that really burns me, BTW. I worked from home for a couple of years, and it can become oppressive. Mind you, I'm not sure it was as oppressive as the nearly three hours a day I spend commuting at the moment...but...you gotta get out of the house! |
| phsolide Oct 31, 2005 3:35 AM EDT |
I have to confirm "Bob_Robertson's" statement that management is STAUNCHLY against telecommuting. I have this suspicion that most straight-ahead "managers" (business or liberal arts degree, mostly on-the-job tech experience) just don't understand what their underlings do on a day-to-day basis, so they grade people not on how much they get done, or the quality of their work, but rather on how incomprehensible the work appears to them, and how much pain the underling appears to suffer in doing it. If you're at your desk 9+ hours a day, sweating and muttering, churning out painfully-worded emails and instructions, participating in marathon SWAT calls, then you're doing A Good Job. Even if you do this while telecommuting, they CAN'T SEE IT. The average manager doesn't feel like they inflict any pain if the sufferer is only on the phone in his/her bathrobe. It's no fun for them. Hence, mandatory presence in the office. |
| dinotrac Oct 31, 2005 4:00 AM EDT |
Be careful what you wish for, guys... If you define your job in a way that it can be effectively handled without ever coming into the office, then it can effectively be handled from India for half the price. |
| PaulFerris Oct 31, 2005 4:17 AM EDT |
dino: for true full-time telecommute, yes. For the kind of infrastructure work I do, I don't see it for the forseeable future. I'm in the office most of the time lately. |
| phsolide Oct 31, 2005 4:17 AM EDT |
Sure, most of this could be handled from India. But won't the management-type personalities that fill middle-management (first level "supervisors" to just under "vice president") in major corporations have the same or worse problems with cheap Indian labor that they have with telecommuters here? If not, why not? The reasons given for forbidding telecommuting here apply at least as much if you send work 11.5 timezones away. |
| PaulFerris Oct 31, 2005 4:28 AM EDT |
There's some rumor in the NE Ohio area at least, of some large financial institutions restaffing everything back to the US. They did some cost analysis, and found it was simply not worth it. I don't know how pervasive (it was a rumor regarding a company that I've never worked for, but the source was good), but the problems are time zone, language, culture and other issues that on the face were so quickly overlooked. |
| number6x Oct 31, 2005 4:56 AM EDT |
Paul, Most of the clients I've worked at here in the Chicago area have scaled back their rush to offshore IT infrastructure. The cost of running a project and getting it done was too great, even with the lower cost of programmers in India. Most of the businesses seem to have trouble with managing a project in the time shifted mode. The staff in India is working while the management is sleeping. The turnaround on questions getting answered is one or two days longer than in a normal project. If the management staff shifts to working nights, their India project improves, but all their other projects start to slow down. The things that seem to work best are using staff in India, or somewhere in Asia, to provide the help and support while Europe and America are sleeping, but not to lose the staff in the west. Banking and Markets are open in Tokyo, Singapore and Honk Kong overnight. A staff in Asia can handle the corporation's needs real-time while those markets are open. This can eliminate some European and American staffing needs, if all of the firm's work was originally handled in the west, but its not the large scale job loss people were originally scared of. |
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