Halloween is a perfect example of when the ability to telecommute helps a parent maintain work/life balance.

I have 2 small children in daycare. Telecommuting today allowed me to stop working at 10:30, be at the daycare for the halloween costume parade at 10:45, and be back home again by about 11:15. Not much time away from work, but being there was important for my kids and I have some photos that I’ll cherish forever.

If I’d had to drive back and forth to work today, I’d have either had to miss a *lot* more work, or miss the parade itself.

I was talking to another dad at the parade who told me he was “working from home” today. He did the air-quotes with his fingers, implying he wasn’t really working at all. I don’t understand this. Why do people think that the occasional telecommuting is an excuse to not work? It gives telecommuting a bad name and makes people think in general that if you’re telecommuting you’re not getting work done.

I think this is, in part, a corporate culture thing. For instance, I have a number of co-workers at my company who worked from home today with the full intention of ducking out to be involved in their kids’ school activities… and to leave work a bit early to get started on trick-or-treating before dark. But these people did work the majority of the day. I’ve been on phone meetings with them, so I know. Perhaps it just depends which company you work for and what your peers do?

So don’t be a sheep! If you tell your boss you’re “working from home” today, please do get your work done. Otherwise if you ever want to start telecommuting more frequently you may be surprised when your boss says no!

Technorati Tags: telecommuting advice, work from home moms, telecommute, telecommuter

When gas prices went sky-high, a lot of people started telecommuting to save money. But now gas prices have started to drop, will more people start driving to work again? And what will that do to the environment?

Come on, you must have noticed. When prices went up there was just less traffic on the road… less crowding on the freeways. Even during rush hour the drive home (on the days you drove in) just wasn’t so bad. The hit to people’s wallet was enough to make people change their behaviors.

This was great for the environment. We all know that exchanging your old-fashioned light-bulbs with electric light-bulbs, or even driving a Prius, just reduces the energy you consume. But telecommuting, and other methods to actually avoid driving your car, are by far the absolute biggest ways for an individual to really help the environment.

But then the gas prices started to drop. Now, I’m hoping some people were so thrilled by the joys of telecommuting that they kept it up regardless. But I know that some people saw the costs go down and hopped right back on the freeway again. And I think this is a real shame. Although we all intellectually understand the dangers of global warming (I hope), and have the best of intentions to do our bit for the environment, the reality is, it can be hard to do the right thing.

But money is a much bigger motivator. When it hits our personal budget, we’ll do much more, go much further, make much greater sacrifices to save a few dollars. When these changes we make benefit the environment, all the better.

So now I’m going to say something that may shock or bother many of you.

I actually hope gas prices go up again. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t like the high prices any more than the next guy. I have 2 small children along with the pre-requisite mini-van and I’ll tell you that filling that beast up at the pumps can cost me an arm and a leg when prices are high. But I know when prices are up, more people are taking actions that are good for the environment.

So if you were telecommuting when prices were up, don’t stop when they go down. If you found some inconveniences to telecommuting or some aspects of your work or interactions with your boss and co-workers were a bit more challenging, there’s many ways to overcome these. Take a few minutes to do a little research – you’ll find plenty of tips and tools out there to help you. Make the effort and keep telecommuting. It’s good for your wallet, and it’s good for the environment!

You may have noticed I haven’t been posting much lately. That’s because I haven’t been telecommuting much lately! Aaarrrgghhh!

My boss had another 3-day face-to-face where he flew in team members from around the world to meet together. Luckily for me it was, again, in California so I didn’t have to travel. But I did have to commute. I am reminded each time I have to be in the office for an 8am meeting why I like so much to telecommute!

I will admit, the face-to-face meetings were helpful. We’re working on a major project right now with a very tight deadline. Being in person all day with my European counterparts (who I can normally only speak with by phone for an hour or two first thing in my morning before they go home for the day) was a big change. For a frequent telecommuter, all this face-time is really useful. I can really make the most of it to build up relationships - even with those who are in the same office as me.

On the downside though, a few days later I came down with an awful cold - the second reason I haven’t been blogging much lately. The cold, I’m sure, was a direct result of being in contact with so many people (the first day there were about 30 of us in one room!). All that hand-shaking passed around too many germs.  Honestly, I think we have to come up with a new greeting method that doesn’t involve touching palms. How about making brief contact with the backs of our hands. Or our elbows or something? There’s got to be a better way!

Technorati Tags: telecommuting advice, telecommuting secrets, remote workers

Wahoo! If you were hesitant before about approaching your boss for permission to telecommute, or afraid he might say no, there’s a new survey out that you need to look at now!

The Computing Technology Industry Association (CompTIA) recently conducted a survey to look at telecommuting and the benefits to the organization/company. So many surveys in the past have focused on benefits to the telecommuter -it’s nice to have some focus for a change on the company.

The survey found that the top benefits of telecommuting to the company were improved productivity (67%) and cost savings (59%). Since time is money, both of these add up to help the bottom line. With improved productivity, less employees can do the work, and cost savings from real estate and infrastructure can really add up fast.

There were also benefits to the employee resource pool. Telecommuting policies allow companies to choose from many more candidates in disperse locations to hire qualified staff (a benefit listed by 39% of the respondents) and allow for better employee retention as telecommuting can be seen as a major perk - for some people, even a deal-breaker (a benefit listed by 37% of the respondents). Finally, the benefit of improved employee health (25%) due, in no small part, to reduction of stress from commuting, is a plus for both employer and employee.

So if you’re having a hard time convincing your boss to let you work from home, arm yourself with the results from this survey and show him how it’s a win-win arangement!

Technorati Tags: telecommuting tips, telecommuter advice, work from home, work at home moms

Last night I went to an open house event for the Northern California chapter of the National Speaker Association (NSA). It was very interesting - they have a lot to offer for people who want to be professional speakers. I met the president, Ian Griffin. We had a lot in common - both being originally from England and having worked at the same company (although we didn’t know each other from there).

Ian, a professional speech writer, has a blog and enjoys interviewing people on his hanheld digital recorder that he carries everywhere. He turns the recordings into podcasts and puts them on his blog. I was privileged to have him interview me. You can read what he wrote about me and listen to the podcast on his blog entry. Check out his blog in general - he has all kinds of interesting entries on professional speaking, podcasting, and of course, speech writing.

Ian and his wife also run Step into College - a website focusing on parents who want to learn the best tips for helping their kids deal with the complexities of choosing and applying for colleges. They have recommendations for books to read when your kids are as young as middle-school aged. For those of you who telecommute to have more time to spend with your school-aged children - something to think about!

Technorati Tags: telecommuting, podcasting, professional speaking, college application