Working from home is becoming increasingly common: more companies are offering employees the option to telecommute, and the freelance economy is growing. While it comes with some obvious benefits, such as the lack of a commute, is has its own set of challenges, too.
I recently came across this interesting post on working from home by Shala Burroughs, discussing these very challenges. In this piece, Shala discusses the importance of creating your own structure, with the suggestion that, if you have the opportunity to work from home, you don’t have to stick to the 9-5 schedule out of a sense of convention if it doesn’t work for you. In her opinion, the key to the success of working from home is to figure out your own circadian rhythm, or optimal working style. This means working out when, where and how you work best, and making sure to act on these insights.
I agree wholeheartedly with this advice, but I think that there’s another crucial dimension to consider when it comes to configuring your work day from home: that of collaboration.
The fact is, most work involves collaboration with others in some form, and when you are not in the same place (as is the case when working from home), you need to be very deliberate in your communication. This is something we have written about a lot, from considerations around communicating across multiple time zones, to tactics on managing remote teams. There’s no magic bullet, but the essentials are to make sure you have the right tools at your disposal to communicate in ways that fit your needs, as well as a flexible approach, and the ability to be clear and direct in your communication (especially when communication is asynchronous rather than real-time, as is often the case across multiple time zones). It’s certainly a challenge, but the benefits of getting it right and being productive while working from home are worth the effort of figuring out what works best for you.
For more posts on communicating effectively, check out:
How to Not be Annoying on Conference Calls
Top 5 Tips to Stop Wasting Time on Conference Calls
Online Sales Meetings: 4 Tips to Keep Online Demos on Track
4 Tips to Stop Wasting Time on Online Meetings
