Filling Your Talent Gaps with Telecommuters

We all know that there are a lot of unemployed people in this country. Tons of qualified folks are actively looking for work and would be really grateful to get a job. But there are also lots of jobs in places that go unfilled. Maybe you have somewhat lower-level programming jobs in a big expensive metropolitan area - those kinds of jobs typically don't come with relocation reimbursement, so after you've hired all the entry level programmers around you, what can you as an employer do to fill your talent gap?

Maybe you need to open your mind to telecommuting. Once you give up on the idea that all your little worker bees have to actually be in your hive, you suddenly have an enormous pool of talent to choose from. This article from the New York Times goes into more detail, but don't make your people commute between two cities or choose between their families and their jobs. Telecommuting lets you hire outside your metro area and not destroy people's lives by making them relocate.

You already have your remote working systems in place, so why not harness them to get the best talent you can, irrespective of where that talent might have a hard-to-sell house that's underwater on its mortgage.

Virtual Meeting Tips

This advice about how to stay together and seem professional during conference calls and teleconferences is all right on the money. Really the best thing to do is to treat a videoconference or online meeting as a meeting meeting. I find that I do well to pretend that I'm actually sitting in the room with people - don't do anything during the meeting that you wouldn't do in a room full of people.

Of course I do wear flip flops during meetings, which I would not normally do during a Real Office meeting. But other than that, I try hard not to get distracted and stay "in the room" even when that room is 2000 miles away.

In Praise of POTS

No, not that pot. Sheesh you people. I mean Plain Old Telephone Service. I've taken a step back in time and obtained a super old fashioned telephone line. No VoIP, no schmancy stuff. Just a telephone. What I like about it is that it doesn't compete for bandwidth with all the other things I'm shoving through my internets. It will work when the power is out so I can call people and tell them my power is out. It works when the internet is out, so I can call my internet provider and tell them the internet is out.

Simple. Maybe not the cheapest thing, but it works.

So now I forward the local Skype number I've set up for my local colleagues to the landline when I'm physically in the office, and to the cell phone when I'm wandering the streets. This preserves the illusion of "I'm right down the hall" but rings in my distant location. I can call reliably, and people can call me directly on the real number when all else fails.

Persistent Telepresence on the Cheap

This quick article talks about a couple of free tools that telecommuters like me use all the time. Seriously I'm rarely not "available" on Skype, but this guy goes one step farther: he connects to a Skype instance on a computer on a desk in the remote office and is "there" all day. So people can stop by, see him working, and he can see them. I think this is a pretty nifty idea because it gets at one of the problems that telecommuters all suffer from: out of sight out of mind.

Okay we're all outta sight, man.

But you know what I mean. People all too easily forget you're there, you're working, you are available. By being actually visible, that could help address the problem.

Maybe if the IT guys stick with their plan of replacing my overheating slow rig I'll get them to use the old machine as a disembodied head end-point. It's something to consider.

Responsiveness Works Both Ways

Stella firmly believes in relentless responsiveness. All people can see of the telecommuter is how he or she responds to email and phonecalls. That's it - other than that you might as well not even be there. But it turns out that the flip side of that equation is also true.

All you can know about your colleagues and customers is their responses.

Seriously, that's it. And as a telecommuter it can be incredibly exasperating to feel like you're the only one talking in a conversation when the other person is unresponsive. You don't have the benefit of seeing the person rushing around the office clearly harried, sitting in a conference room all day obviously occupied, or otherwise busy-but-present.

So if you're a Real Office employee (or another telecommuter in another location) do the shut-ins in your life a favor and let them know that you received their communications. You don't need to give a full-blown answer, just a shout-out that says, "Hey, I know you exist. I'll get there! Thanks!"

An Object Lesson in Availability

I've said it before and I'll say it again - working from home means you can work from anywhere. I can see where this would be a problem for those who are over-utilized to start with, or for those who must work all the time to keep the freelance fires going. If you are relying on your billable hours and work all the time, then you should set boundaries and try to be more in your real life when you can.

But for a Real Office employee like Stella, in an environment where people are still grudgingly getting used to the idea that you can, in fact, be a Real Office employee, you should remove boundaries and be as responsive as is humanly possible.

I received an ASAP request for data this evening on the cell, and was able to fulfill it within an hour. That's not the kind of responsiveness you'll get from a person who might have to go into the office to do a thing; that's what you get when you have people and tools that work from wherever they are.

Even if that's two thousand miles away.

Either You Work Or You Don't

This is an interesting post about an issue of Inc. that was produced entirely whilst its employees worked from home, as reported on Marketplace*. Naturally I am not surprised that they were able to do this and that they did it well. Writing is one of those tasks that's ideally suited to a shut-in lifestyle. You collaborate with people when you need to (IMterrupting others for facts, to question a turn of phrase or what have you) but focusing and doing for long periods of time.  And in the end, either you produce a written piece of work that is tolerable for others to read, or you don't. No amount of face time will excuse not getting writing done.

Nobody ever says this: "Oh, he's a great writer: he's here writing from eight in the morning until seven or later at night."

"Have you read any of his stuff?"

"Well, no, he never turns it in. But he works really hard!"

No they don't. You either write or you don't. When you do it is kind of immaterial. Like much knowledge work the proof is in the pudding. It's either done, or not. Who cares where you are when you do it?

Nobody.

Well, maybe your boss does. But maybe she should start chilling out?

*Yes, I'm blogging about a blog post about a radio report about a magazine. Metablogging indeed!

4 Tips for Tackling Telecommuting Skeptics

Stella is an unbridled telecommuting enthusiast. I think that telecommuters are more efficient, more available, and more productive than other knowledge workers, in large part because we get to structure our days in the ways that work best for our habits and proclivities.

And we get to wear slippers. Or flip flops in the summer.

But how do you address hardcore telecommuting skeptics in the workplace? There are (I know, perish the thought, but it's true) people who truly believe that telecommuters are less available and less useful than people who are sitting in the office. I work with some of these people now, and I'm really trying to think strategically about what I can do to make them feel more comfortable with working with me. I've got a few ideas about what I'm going to try:

1. Relentless responsiveness. No matter when these key opinion leaders (and telecommuting skeptics) call or email, I want to get back to them immediately. I tend to anyway, but particular aggression in problem areas is key.

2. Technology streamlining. I want to be easy to be in touch with, so reducing the complexity of working with the tools that let you get to me is key. This may mean using the cellphone instead of the Skype, just because cellphones dropping calls is "normal", and Skype doing something weird is "on the computer and therefore something weird I have to do to be in touch with this one difficult person." It means taking time at the start of every web session to go over how to use the online meeting tools and make sure everyone can see and hear okay.

3. Clear availability. I make a point of telling everyone, "Oh, don't you worry about what time it is where I am. I always work east coast hours, so if you guys are in the office, I'm in my office, too, and available for a quick conversation anytime. Just stop by!" I am also going to work on getting the casual contact tools we use (Skype for the most part) on more desks because it helps people to see that I'm online, available, and pop-in-upon-able.

4. Aggressively communicated results. If you got a problem, yo, I'll solve it. Check out the hook while my DJ revolves it. I am the guy who gets things done, and I need to not only do that, but communicate that one of the reasons that I'm able to kick out productive work so fast (and often in an urgent situation) is that I can work from wherever I am. Telecommuting means that I'm never not in the office because wherever I am is where the office is. At. I just need to make sure that the skeptics know that things are getting done because I'm not there, not in spite of the fact I'm not there.

Four simple steps. I'm doing all of this, plus going on site a lot more. What the heck, I like to fly, and Rochester is a beautiful city. We'll see how it works.

Verdict on the Netbook

You may have noticed the paucity of posts. Stella was on-site last week and not only did I not post, I also didn't even mention it before going away. Rude, I know, but it just kind of crept up on me and before I knew it I was there, and really cranking the work every day and night.

I did something completely revolutionary on this trip: I took no physical books. Yes, I had a paper notebook, and some files and stuff that I was going to need for meetings. But the only book I took was my netbook, and let me tell you this: it worked out really well.

I borrowed several e-books from the library before I left, as well as my collection of the classics from the Gutenberg project, and all of it provided plenty of reading material. I finished up The Scarlet Letter, read The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, and started an Elmore Leonard novel. And I didn't have to carry them along. One little netbook with all that in it.

Plus I was able to use the netbook as a backup when we were doing a bunch of upgrades to my work laptop. Try that with your average hardcover book!

Or iPaddy.

Or Kindle.

So my verdict: I think the netbook is a win for travel. I've got an Acer AspireOne and it delivered a solid day's worth of battery power -- I read on it on and off from 6 in the morning until about 4 in the afternoon, and I still had juice to go. With the right book reading software, you can read very comfortably on screen, and the other features are nice for other forms of goofing off in your spare time. Having a backup for your main computing device is also very very very nice.

But that's just me. You should do what you want. And if you really want an iPad (and after handling my brother-in-law's iPad I must tell you they are very very compelling) -- well heck you work hard for your money, give yourself a little treat. But if you're a frugal cheapskate like Stella, a $300 netbook will do just fine.

Meetings on My Mind

Stella's fixing to go on-site again next week and so I'm thinking about meetings a lot. I need to get with people, and the people I need to get with are boooooooooked. Like until next year. Seriously, I have people who are telling me that they can see me in 2011.

What's a telecommuter to do? I've tried suggesting the office hours concept, and people just don't seem to be able to embrace it. But maybe shorter meetings as the standard might work? I feel hope when I read things like this post from Polly Pearson that talks about how 15 is the new 60. Maybe people will do that?

How Much of My Face Do You Need to Face?

I am of two minds about face-to-face meetings. On the one hand, I am a pretty social person, and I love to go to the Real Office and meet with people. I like happy hour, I like lunch meetings, I like wearing shoes, I like bumping into people in the hall way. I recognize that this is useful to me.

On the other hand, I know for a fact that the contents of meetings expands to fit the time allotted. People love to waste time in meetings, and will re-hash decided issues in a way that is not super productive if there are twenty minutes left. I would think busy people would be grateful for an extra twenty minutes to sort through their email between meetings, or make some calls or whatever, but no. Once we're in that conference room together, we're going to discuss things until it's time for our next meetings.

That said, this post from Web Worker Daily notes that there is still value in face-to-face meetings. It's absolutely true. I just wish that there were more web cams everywhere. I find that when people can see me at all (vivacious disembodied head, in person, at happy hour, whathaveyou) they feel better about our interaction. I know they know I'm listening. I need to get a way that all the people I meet with can be visible to me, so I can see their smiling faces.

Maybe it's time to talk to IT about deploying more cheap webcams.

Wait, Most Telecommuters Are Men?

I was surprised to read this analysis of a couple of studies of trends in telecommuting. Most telecommuters are 40 year men. Huh. That kind of belies those stereotypes of mommies putting in laundry and sitting there computing with babies on their laps. I hate those stereotypes -- maybe I'm a bad mom but if my children are in my office for too long I start feeling like my head is going to explode. And I have exemplary children, behavior-wise. So.

Otherwise, this article points out all the things that cause HR people to wring their hands when people telecommute. What if I slip on a grape in my own kitchen while on the clock? What if my home office consists of me perching on top of an extension ladder with my laptop actually on my lap, leading to a repetitive stress injury and weird marks on my behind? Whose time is it when I travel into the Real Office?

On all of these questions I don't have good answers. But here are my tendencies (bearing in mind that I'm not a lawyer, nor an HR person, and I really don't know much at all, actually)

• I have homeowners insurance, and it covers me for stuff that happens in my house. So if I slip on a grape in the kitchen, it's my problem. Likewise if someone steals all my work gear out of my home office, that's a claim on my homeowners' insurance.
• I pay for my own high speed internet. All of it. Because I'd pay for it anyway, and I'm not about nickel-and-diming my poor employer to death. Seriously, would you not have the high speed interwebs coming into your house but for that pesky telecommuting gig? Really? Really. Dial-up it is then, kids. Have fun on the intertubes.
• I am an exempt employee so I travel on my own time. It would be different if I traveled all the time and that was a key component of my work. But I figure it all comes out in the wash. This ties into the fact that my manager treats me with respect as concerns my time management and tends to not wig out about the little bits here and there. As long as I'm gittin-r-done, it's all cool. So I give that right back. Also, I don't get reimbursed for the food I eat while I'm there, or for the gas I use. I am an employee, just like everyone else. Nobody is paying for my colleagues' breakfsts, lunches, dinners, brunches, snacks, second breakfasts, teatimes, or gas to and from work, and so I don't expect that either.
• If I were non-exempt, I would expect to be paid for the time I was logged in doing productive work, and I would expect to have my work logged or monitored to assure that I was processing claims or transcribing or whatever it is during the times I was scheduled to work. I would also expect the same logging or monitoring to go on with all employees doing my kind of work in whatever setting -- after all unless you're really going bananas with the firewall, espn.com works just as well on a computer sitting in a cubicle as it does on one sitting in my spare bedroom. And even the most deranged micro-manager can't be lurking over the shoulder of all his employees all at once.

So that's the Stella position on things. If you don't have a written telecommuting policy even for ad hoc once in a while telecommuters that addresses things like this, you should probably write up guidelines that give you some way of keeping the absolute deadwood from going home to watch Judge Judy all day and not work. But other than that, you might should trust your employees a little bit too.

I Kind of Like Saying "Texas Robot"

And I really like the idea behind this prototype mobile telepresence thingy called the Texas Robot. Basically, it's a camera, a monitor and a little drivable robot that can make a remote person be more there when they're not. There. You know. Like, in person.

I think there would be some non-trivial challenges to working with something like this -- for example, I still have trouble navigating my way to some of the conference rooms and offices in my Real Office, and I'm not sure having to drive a little robot around would necessarily improve my navigational performance. I would also like it if it had "random stagger" mode, kind of like a Roomba floor cleaning robot, where it would just drive you around, lurching into people and rooms, in a manner beyond your control.

That mode might be especially effective at the holiday office party.

You Can Say What You Want...

...but overall people seem like they're very honest around here. I know I was joking earlier about how I like going to the Real Office so I can read the notes about how people are stealing food from the fridge. But I must tell you that even though there are occasional bouts of food going missing, the two-thirds of a six pack of Diet Dr. Pepper I left there in October was still there. So either nobody in the office likes Diet Dr. Pepper, or they're really good people.

I'm leaning toward thinking they're really good people.

Do You Live Here?

Well, in one of these terrible traffic places? One of the best ways to avoid nasty traffic situations is (surprise surprise) telecommuting. So many good things about it. You can use telecommuting to start your work day early, and then hit the road to the Real Office at ten in the morning so as to avoid the hellishness. Or leave at two in the afternoon, score your kids at school and get them settled in on homework, then flex your time from home from four til seven to get things done that you would have in the afternoon time you missed.

Or anticipate that traffic will be painful if there is weather, a ball game, the Olympics, or some other drive-disrupting deterrent, and stay home on those days with work that you can do from anywhere. For goodness sake, get out of your cars, though, people. More drivers isn't going to make that better, so get off the road!

Heading to the Real Office

Stella is heading to the Real Office in beautiful Rochester, NY for the upcoming week, so posting will be even more paltry than usual. Things I like about the Real Office:

- Sitting down with colleagues and getting to see them make stink-face over what I'm proposing instead of having someone have to tell me, "So and so is making a bit of a stink face right now," during a conference call.

- Eating at Swan's Deli.

- Reading all the refrigerator, kitchen cleanliness, and bathroom related missives on the bulletin boards. Usually I have to satisfy myself with stuff like this.

Tips for Booking Your On-Site Time

In the world where Stella works (non-profit fundraising and advancement), making visits is the bread and butter of the work. Major gift officers are assigned a territory and start mining the people in those areas to find folks to visit and engage in the work of the non-profit. Ideally, you see a mix of people whom you're meeting for the first time, along with more established prospects whom you're trying to move along toward making a greater commitment to your cause. But unfortunately, what sometimes happens with gift officers is they go back and see the same people over and over again because they have developed a rapport with them, and they're fun to visit with. But if they aren't moving along toward a gift you have to focus on new faces, too.

For the telecommuter the same risk exists. When you are on-site, it can be tempting to go back to the old standbys -- people who always have an hour to meet with you, people who are good to have a happy hour with, people who know where the good lunch spots are. You want to fill up your on-site time with face-to-face meetings, and familiar faces make it easy.

But it's important to keep your schedule mixed up. Some tips:

• You should have a balance of people with whom you have on-going projects and relationships, and also make a big point of figuring out who the new faces, emerging trouble spots, and up-and-comers are and seek those people out. Aim for a 60% on-going business/40% new faces mix.
• Consider taking less focused meetings into overtime: put together small happy hour groups, for example, or use lunches to have those conversations that fall more into the "Remember me? I work here like you! We have a lot in common. Don't forget!" range rather than the "Let's hammer out these requirements and figure out our action plan"-type meetings.
• Be ready to rock: when you're an infrequent visitor to the Real Office, each visit is a bit like a job interview because you never know when you're going to meet someone important for the first time. Yes, of course, you already have the job, but if you flip the Bozo switch with someone recently hired into a leadership position, you may not get another chance to make a better impression for another quarter. So always be prepared to put your best foot forward.
• Have a little flexibility: don't book yourself completely before you show up. You'll discover when you're face to face with people that there are things you didn't know before you got there. Have a some room in your schedule toward the middle and end of your time to schedule follow-ups with new folks that you've identified as new faces, emerging trouble spots, or up-and-comers.

Needless to say, Stella's schedule for her next on-site doesn't completely follow all these rules. A couple of existing projects are dominating my time, and I have a feeling that a few other emergent issues will pop up that will eat into the open space that is still there on Thursday and Friday. I do have a couple of new faces in my schedule, and I'm also making a presentation to the whole staff that will max out my personal visibility in a quick ten minute show and tell, so that's promising. We'll see how it all works out.

Do What You Have To

Stella is an advocate for doing what needs to be done. While I love telecommuting with all my heart and think that nearly any job can be done effectively from any location, many companies don't share this view. If you're in a position where you need a job and the only way they'll work with you is in the Real Office, you should by all means take that job, especially if everything else about it is the right fit for you (except that part where they expect you to wear shoes every day).

Trust me (and Alexandra Levit of the WSJ), you'll adjust.

This Is a Particular Problem for Shut-Ins

Maybe you have this problem at work, too. But for Stella, staying on top of the wardrobe is really important because though I'm largely a slipper-sporting dress code-scofflaw, I do have to go to the Real Office on a regular basis. Recently I had the unpleasant experience of getting to the Real Office and discovering that my anchor suit for the trip was ... wait for it ... way too big all of a sudden.

Yes I know, you're all trying to lose ten pounds as your New Year's resolution and I should just keep my gym-going mouth shut.*

But seriously, it was a bit of an issue. I plan to wear the pants with a few things, and suddenly I'm tying a rope around my waist like a hobo and trying not to look completely lost in my clothes. And that's why I recommend that shut-ins make a practice of regularly trying on their Real Office costumes so that you don't get in a situation where you pack your standard repertoire of sensible suits only to discover that they are too big or too small.

* For the record, I think that as long as they make a size larger than what you are wearing, you should eat another Snickers bar. I also am pathologically cheap and I don't like shopping, so I work hard to stay able to wear my existing clothes. It's complicated.

Is Flying About to Become a Royal Pain?

Stella is ramping up for a post-holiday trip to her fine employer. I find that nothing says, "I really like working here," quite like showing up at the Real Office in Rochester, NY in January. But naturally I'll need to fly there, and given all the news lately, it seems like that's going to be a bigger pain than it might have been before this week.

That's okay. I can dig the need to make everyone feel safe. But I don't feel excited about the idea of not being able to do anything except sit quietly with my thoughts for the last hour of my flight. And I'm with Bruce Schneier on this:

I wish that, just once, some terrorist would try something that you can only foil by upgrading the passengers to first class and giving them free drinks.