"[W]hy does this perception of a Home Office persist as not being as a capable or established as someone who pays extra for commercial space?
In my response, I mentioned that while I worked for Fortune 500 company, many of the service providers I chose operated out of home offices, and I never had a problem with it. As long as the work got done and the individual's household didn't disrupt our important calls or projects, it worked out well.
In fact, I often had a more positive view of those working at home. Why?
Value-based Pricing
Without paying a ton of overhead for a large office, home-based professionals almost always offered more competitive rates than their agency counterparts.
Flexible Schedules
The freelancers I worked with were significantly more flexible than those working in a larger corporate environment. Very often, I was able to condense project schedules because my virtual team members could jump on a conference call at the end of my workday or after they put kids to bed.
Then, they'd begin working on a web page, article, or other item we had just discussed, rather than waiting until the next day. It made a significant difference for me -- especially on days when I had a calendar packed with meetings -- to have a contractor hit a project milestone before I even arrived at the office the next morning.
Flash Forward: Promoting My Home Office
As a freelancer, I'm now on the other side of the equation and using this experience to my advantage. My clients know that I'm offline at certain points throughout the day. But, they also know that I always get their work done on time.
Email is My Friend
To ensure that all of my communications are professional -- even when my daughter is having a bad day -- I use email for about 80% of my communications. And, I schedule calls for early morning or mid-afternoon, while she's asleep and the house is quiet.
I Stay Connected
I also check email on my handheld throughout the day and reply to client messages immediately, even if it's to say "I'm not at my desk right now, but I will be in about an hour. Can I call you then, or do we need to discuss this right away?" This reassures everyone that I'm still connected and available, even if I've stepped away briefly.
After-Hours Are Mine
When my clients need something turned around quickly, they know they can call or email me -- even after hours or on weekends. I'll either pick up or call them back as soon as I'm able to. Ultimately, the balance works out well for everyone.
So, while I've worked with and have a great respect for some large agencies, I know I can provide the same quality with a few added perks. And, if I'm choosing someone to partner work with on a project, I'll choose other home-based professionals any day.
2 comments:
Work-at-home-phobia is antediluvian in today's electronically connected workplaces, but home offices and their occupants will continue to suffer irrational assessments because of the human tendency to mistrust change. Mistrust, fear, and envy all contribute to misguide perceptions. Public edification will be a slow process, but it will eventually bear fruit.
You cite some important benefits provided by the home office, and I agree with your analysis. I would like to point out one other significant benefit that was overlooked. Not only is the home office worker the beneficiary of being able to get to the job without using a drop of gasoline, the environment also wins because there is one less tailpipe spewing hydrocarbon insults. When someone works from home, the car sits idly in the driveway and no time is spent driving crowded freeways, no cash is deposited at the pump for $4-a-gallon-gasoline, and the environment receives a measure of relief.
It is time for public and corporate policies to embrace telecommuting. Those of us who do it, at least part of the time, have learned how to make it work, and we are in the forefront of cultural change that is inevitable. Recent news reports have highlighted several companies and government agencies which are investigating 4-day work weeks and other creative schedules that allow their employees to work from home part of the time. It just makes sense.
For more thoughts on the subject, please see my blog article on telecommuting.
Great point, RCA. Thanks for sharing. I hadn't thought to include them, but environmental benefits are a significant outcome of working from home.
I mentioned your comment in another post here:
Are Work at Home Moms (and Dads) Green?
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