To Work From Home or Not?
11/Jun/08 10:29 Filed in: Careers
With the economy in a slump and gas prices high, many
people wonder if it is wise to work from home. It all
depends on the situation. Here are a few questions to
help yourself solve the dilemma for your own unique
situation:
1) Is your job potentially at risk? If you fear your employer is planning to downsize it's workforce, then spend time in the office. Out of sight can mean out of mind, so the more opportunities you have to talk with people and show your value to the organization, the better.
2) How well set up are you to work from home? Do you have noise and distraction that could affect your productivity or your ability to participate in a conference call? Are there files or network ability that you won't have access to at home and will that impact your ability to do your job?
3) How much would you work from home? One day a week, or full-time? Does this fit with the needs of the company and the comfort level of your manager?
4) How long is your commute? What is the gain to you or the environment (eg., gas savings, reduced greenhouse gases, etc.)?
5) How "green" is your company? Would offering to work from home be something that the company would appreciate as part of their vision and mission?
If you're not getting the "green light" (pardon the pun) from your answers to these questions, perhaps you can meet your goals in other ways, such as biking to work, carpooling, negotiating to work four 10-hour days instead of five 8-hour days, and so on. Or you may decide that it is still something you'd like to do, but the timing is not quite right, and you can put it on the back burner until your situation stabilizes.
1) Is your job potentially at risk? If you fear your employer is planning to downsize it's workforce, then spend time in the office. Out of sight can mean out of mind, so the more opportunities you have to talk with people and show your value to the organization, the better.
2) How well set up are you to work from home? Do you have noise and distraction that could affect your productivity or your ability to participate in a conference call? Are there files or network ability that you won't have access to at home and will that impact your ability to do your job?
3) How much would you work from home? One day a week, or full-time? Does this fit with the needs of the company and the comfort level of your manager?
4) How long is your commute? What is the gain to you or the environment (eg., gas savings, reduced greenhouse gases, etc.)?
5) How "green" is your company? Would offering to work from home be something that the company would appreciate as part of their vision and mission?
If you're not getting the "green light" (pardon the pun) from your answers to these questions, perhaps you can meet your goals in other ways, such as biking to work, carpooling, negotiating to work four 10-hour days instead of five 8-hour days, and so on. Or you may decide that it is still something you'd like to do, but the timing is not quite right, and you can put it on the back burner until your situation stabilizes.