Telecommuters: Here’s How to Prove You’re Working

From the May 14, 2008 Wall Street Journal

Telecommuters: Here’s How to Prove You’re Working

Posted by Ben Worthen

The Business Technology Blog likes to pick on remote workers, in part because the pajama-clad are more likely to look at pornography and create security problems. They can also make work more difficult for their office-bound colleagues.

In an effort to save the environment one commute at a time, HR World came out with a list of six things remote workers can do to prove to you colleagues that you really are working – even if you’re not.

1. Make your presence felt. At the office, everyone sees one another in the morning and partakes in casual banter. Remote workers need to do the same thing. HR World suggests calling, emailing or sending instant messages to colleagues each morning. But it warns to keep the exchanges brief.

2. Publish your calendar. People get suspicious when phone calls and emails to remote workers go unanswered. The office-bound assume their remote colleagues are at the beach or the movies. Instead of letting colleagues speculate, HR World suggests that you share your calendar so everyone can see when you’re in a meeting.

3. Blow your own horn. Remote workers should spare the play-by-play, but you shouldn’t be afraid to let people know about the challenges you face, what you’ve done to overcome them, and when you’ve successfully completed a project.

4. Speak up. One way for remote workers to make sure colleagues know you’re contributing is to make comments on conference calls and email threads. Again, don’t comment for the sake of commenting or people will assume it’s just virtual face time.

5. Check in with the rest of the company. It isn’t enough for your boss to know you’re working hard – you need to make sure the rest of company knows you exist. Besides, how else will you find about the latest office rumors?

6. Visit every once in a while. At the end of the day, nothing beats a face-to-face meeting to convince colleagues that you really have your stuff together.

Employers, give us a call, we can help.

John Schneyer
Boca Consultants