10 Things to Consider Before Deciding to Telecommute

Telecommuting, or working from home for a specific company, is a popular trend in business right now. Many workers are envious of those who seem to be privileged to work from home. However, not everyone is cut out to telecommute.

These are a few things to consider before asking your company to convert your job to a teleworking position.

1. Is your home environment supportive of telecommuting? If you will have small children underfoot while you are working, this is not supportive of a highly productive telecommuter. You should have a confined space where you can work without interruption if needed. It is not professional to have a child crying while you are conducting a conference call, or listening to instructions from your boss. Many telecommuters also do not work regular hours. Their hours are more flexible, which makes it inviting, but it often means working longer hours as well.
2. Do you have the technical know-how to telecommute? Most telecommuters are savvy in the use of instant messaging, mobile faxes, shared calendars, several email networks, tiling windows, file sharing, creating pdf files, archiving and shared databases. Many can also fix the day-to-day quirks of their computer.
3. Can you afford to be a teleworker? Telecommuters are often responsible for maintaining high-speed internet connections, phone lines with unlimited long distance, a printer, a fax machine, a copier, and a scanner. They may also be required to purchase their own office supplies. Many companies will pay for some if not all of this, but you should be aware of your company's policies.
4. Are you good at prioritizing tasks? In an office, it is easier to tell whether a task needs immediate attention or can be set aside for a while. When work is arriving by email, courier, or phone, it can be more difficult to prioritize tasks. Who needs what when is harder to classify.
5. Do you have self-discipline? When it comes down to seeing the dust bunnies float across the floor for one more day or leaving a report to be finished at another time, solid telecommuters shut their eyes to the dust bunnies until the report is finished. And when the weather is gorgeous outside after a dismal weekend, it is very inviting to shove the work to the side and take a long walk. If you take that walk, be aware that you may have to work at another time that is less convenient.
6. Do you need the social contact of an office? Telecommuters are often isolated and their only contact with co-workers may come by telephone or email. Surveys show that many telecommuters feel left out of the loop because they miss the “water cooler chat” and don't have a way to keep up with the day-to-day events in the office.
7. Do you regularly use tools or documents that are only available in the office? If you support attorneys for example and use the office law library in your job, you can't bring that library to your house. If your job is rating or processing documents that come in throughout the day, it will be difficult to accomplish the job away from the office unless there is a process in place for converting those into electronic form.
8. Can your work be assessed as a telecommuter? You don't want to place yourself in a position of not being able to receive a fair performance review because your behavior can't be observed. If you telecommute, you have to be sure there are measures in place for your performance that will fairly and completely assess the contribution you are making.
9. Are your communications skills up to par for telecommuting? A telecommuter often spends a large amount of their time talking on the phone and/or writing emails and documents for review. If you struggle with listening skills, or with writing concise, clear emails, you may struggle as a telecommuter. Some “invisible” skills that are required to efficiently telecommute are note taking, clarifying conversations, action plans, organization, being proactive in the role, and making good decisions.
10. Can you fully and clearly document your value as a telecommuter? Most companies require a business case to convert a job function to telecommuting. You have to be prepared to outline the values of converting the position as well as demonstrate that no benefits to the company will be lost.