Work from home in 10

“ Yahoo Employees Can’t Work From Home Anymore”

When I read this tweet last week, was taken aback and yes not to miss thanked my stars for not being in Yahoo at least ;)

So the topic has been hot for a while now and it being very close to my heart and needless to say invariably my favorite pick I thought to pen down my thoughts as well. Again without taking any sides I quote, Sairee Chahal, Founder Fleximoms, ‘work from home is one of the many formats of work flex’ and honestly require lot of ‘MATURITY’ from both employees as well as employers. Only when both are in sync with the model will it work otherwise without arguments its failure is inevitable.

I have personally been practicing it for couple of months now but again my employer plugHR has been successfully doing it for many years. Still recall meeting Prashant Bhaskar, Founder plugHR saying he started on his own enterprise for wanted more flexibility and now loves the providing the same to others. Here both parties have a very clear picture of what’s happening around on the other side, the reason is ‘CONNECT’. We make sure the all work flex professional are connected on all possible ways. So my day starts with a ‘Sabse Bolo’ call meeting @ 9:15 am with all status update on the day and if I really need to speak to somebody I am rest assured that they are just a call/watsapp/BBM/gtalk away. Trust me sometimes these apps are more effective than face to face follow ups…try it to believe it!!

‘SOCIAL MEDIA’ definitely has been a boon for such set ups, it not just keeps me informed about latest happening but also is a good way for a team connect. I know my virtual colleagues as much as I knew mine with last employer. Also meeting physically once in a week helps a lot in rapport building, taking over gotomeeting or Skype with webcams on trust me works wonders. Why not... you can always show off your latest wardrobe addition!!

Having a ‘SCHEDULE’ and work space like the one you have in office would always help you focus on the job. Pursuing personal chores while at work should be avoided, though you can have breaks. Working from home need lot of ‘SELF DISCIPLINE’ and is mostly suited for people who are self motivated and for jobs which requires more concentrations.

Another approach which really helps is being PROACTIVE. In a physical office I could have explained about not meeting deadlines much more easily but when operating from home one has to very sure before giving up. Here only results a visible not efforts and to make it more transparent it’s the individual who has to be vocal enough to share concerns rather than waiting for the ugly turn.

A very important aspect of work from home is that many think it’s only boon for working moms, but in the changing dynamics men too prefer it. For now just it saves on ‘TRAVEL TIME’ but also ‘COST’ both for employee and employer. This work format also provide employers to target a potential latent talent which are otherwise females on sabbatical and for organizations which can’t afford to have a full fledged in-house crèche facility , this work as wonders.

But yes one size can’t fit to all!!

However in profiles where team work/brainstorming/product development is required one might to operate face to face then virtually .Again expecting fresher’s /junior members to be productive in this model can be a challenge. So as much as it can be a benefit of one, many might just be demotivated enough to give up.

Infact, many individuals find it difficult to operate remotely and are more comfortable in physical set up with people around. I remember we hired somebody recently and she quit because found it boring, working all by herself. We can’t blame anybody here, for humans are social and that’s the secret, why social networking is so useful in connecting virtual beings. Any achievements or failure which we would have shared with our team member otherwise are now shared with a larger audience. Trust me many people envy me for being on Face book and Twitter the whole day J

So guys to be honest this works for me, because I want it to work for me. At the end of the day I am ‘ACCOUNTABLE’ to perform and by virtue of my experience can be productive without much surveillance. If you are ready for such high ‘COMMITMENT’, you are in….