How to Be a Successful Telecommuter

You have found the space for your home office. You have acquired all the necessary furniture and equipment. You have achieved the approval from your employer to become a telecommuter. Now, you need to establish yourself as a trustworthy, dependable worker with the motivation to work without direct oversight. You may have achieved that dream job as a telecommuter, but to keep the job, to be successful as a telecommuter, you must continuously prove yourself because unlike your co-workers at the company’s office, your boss can’t see you.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderate

Things You’ll Need:

• Motivation
• Sincerity
• Determination
• Dependability
• Responsibility

1. While you are getting paid by your employer, theoretically, your home office is your employer’s office. Point is, just as you wouldn’t invite family and friends to visit you at your employer’s office, you shouldn't invite them into your home office. Explain to visitors that you are at work. TIP: If you are concerned about hurting someone’s feeling, just don’t answer the door. And if that visitor asks you later why you didn’t answer the door, tell them you were on the phone with your boss. What a great time to emphasize how important your job is and that you can’t step away during the day.
2. Stay at your desk during regular working hours. That is, don’t go shopping or running errands or catch a TV show or decide that this is the perfect time to clean the oven.
3. Become smart about maintaining your equipment. Keep a backup toner cartridge for your printer/fax. Paper and other supplies you use daily should be in sufficient supply so you don’t run out.
4. Most likely, when you made a telecommuting arrangement with your employer, there was an agreement of the hours you would work, i.e., be at your desk. So be at your desk during working hours; you never know when your boss or co-workers may call. If you must be away from your desk for an extended period of time, let your boss know in advance. Short of an emergency, you should be at your desk.
5. Have you seen the TV commercial of the telecommuter wearing pajamas and fluffy slippers? Where you could get away with that, you will feel more like an office worker if you get dressed. You don’t have to wear the type of clothes needed in a business situation unless you will be meeting with a client.
6. Isolation can be your biggest obstacle. It takes a person comfortable with working alone to survive the solitude of telecommuting. You can overcome the isolation by keeping in touch with co-workers and your boss. Email or phone someone daily. And to show you are on track and responsible, let your boss know weekly what you are working on and what progress you have made since you last reported. Take advantage of these communications to let your boss know of any challenges you are experiencing.
7. If the company you work for conducts performance reviews, take advantage of that medium to sing your own praises of your success as a telecommuter. Offer to be a mentor for others entering into a telecommuting relationship.