Telecommuting Employees Aren't Freelancers

And they probably shouldn't be galavanting off to the coffee shop every day. That's my stance on the matter, and the so-called Crotchety Manager, Ken Hardin over at IT Business Edge, agrees. I think his analysis of what makes for bad telecommuting arrangements (a free-for-all, schedule-wise, uncertainty about what people are doing when, and other types of mayhem) is right-on.

So do it right. If you're an employee, work regular hours like the other employees. Take lunch as expected. Answer your phone when it rings. Go to your online meetings on time.

And if you're a freelancer, then do whatever you like. Work in your bathing suit at three in the morning at some crazyass rave afterparty* for all I care. Just deliver my deliverables.


* Do the kids these days still go to raves? Or rave afterparties? I have no idea. I'm old.