Striving to Keep Teleworkers Happy 146
coondoggie writes "Employees who work from home or in remote branch offices often feel disconnected from corporate life and worry they will be forgotten and bypassed for promotions. Managers and employees have to make a concerted effort to stay in touch, experts say. At IBM, Pelino and others set out to improve corporate culture. The company sparked new life into an old tradition: IBM Club, which brings together employees for intramural sports, picnics, movies and other types of social, cultural and recreational activities."
A promotion would be nice.. (Score:5, Interesting)
40% of IBM's employees are sales or on site cons (Score:1, Interesting)
Spin (Score:5, Interesting)
Disconnected from corporate life? Woot! (Score:2, Interesting)
That's exactly why I freelance instead of work for a corporation.
I live in the mountains and can go skiing, paragliding, mountain biking, climbing etc whenever the weather permits and fit my work (about two days a week is enough to pay the rent/bar tab) around my play. Sure, I don't have a lot of money but if I worked full time in London I'd spend it all on going to the mountains on holidays.
I have the answer (Score:5, Interesting)
It never fails, it seems every quarter some moron in Finance or some new manager in some department questions the value of teleworkers and other stupid comments or questions about the people they dont see daily.
When you have to defend yourself in SPITE of your work quality and quantity on a regular basis it kind of makes us really pissy.
Re:Spin (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Don't worry. (Score:5, Interesting)
As bad as it sounds, promotions typically come to those who are willing to drop everything for their employer.
I can tell you that statement is actually quite often crap. Working extra hours and dropping all sense of personal life for your employer is like putting a giant sign on your forehead that says DOORMAT. Why should they promote you and pay you more when they can pay you exactly what your getting now for the same price?. Aside from that it shows you have no backbone and therefore no leadership abilities. If you can't stand up for yourself now how will you stand up to people under you?
This is a lesson I learned the hard way. I used to spend all my free time at work and put in whatever hours the boss asked for. Now I find I get taken much more seriously now that I have learned to stand up for myself.
Professional vs. social communication (Score:5, Interesting)
We have found that short and sweet daily "stand-up" meetings in the morning with only the immediate team members (others of whom work from home as well) are far more helpful than weekly or monthly all-staffs or get togethers. In my experience it is rare that more than 2-3 people actually speak on an all-staff conference call of more than 10 people - how can that help improve communication? Get togethers at a restaurant or park, what have you, are fun and allow for familiarization but they are outside of work and do nothing to improve the day to day communication of the issues at hand.
We have also found webcams to be unhelpful, the concensus being that without eye contact it's just TV. Screen sharing tools like VNC or webex paired with a speaker phone are far more effective when extended collaboration has to happen, while IM takes care of the rest.
As far as the promotions go if the team you're on isn't communicating professionally and producing crap code you have no chance of getting promoted - no matter how many funny jokes you tell at the IBM "Lunch 'n Bowl"
Purest of spin (Score:2, Interesting)
Other way around (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Don't worry. (Score:3, Interesting)
Housing is more expensive in the city. Then again, salaries are higher. And, yes, you can live 15 minutes away from work - if you're lucky, you won't even have to drive in. As far as the corporate ladder, there are plenty of opportunities with small companies in the cities and opportunities to start your own business. In fact, with a large density of potential clients in the area, finding clients seems to be easier than in BFE.
-b.
Re:Don't worry. (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Spin (Score:2, Interesting)
Different kind of telecommuter here. In this case, we've just been moved from cubes back into our own homes. No traveling, no customers. Just doing the work that would normally be done from the cube farm. Almost all communication is via email and IM, with the occasional conference call thrown in.
The team I've been working with lately is all based out of Poughkeepsie, and I live near RTP. A VPN connection is cheaper for my department than office rental, network port rental, and phone port rental, so it's encouraged
Every now and then I wake up and feel very disoriented (like those old dreams of being late for school, not knowing about what your homework was, or what classes you need to be in), and will have a sort of panic attack, because I'll feel like I've just forgotten to go to work. That's a bizarre feeling to have, and it's hard to shake.
Also, it's hard to separate where work stops and life begins. Especially if you spend a lot of time on the internet anyway. I'm always signed on to Sametime, 24/7, and check my work email as often as my regular email. I effectively live in my work now. That's got to be a great deal for IBM!
Re:Spin (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:Easier to change jobs than get promoted (Score:2, Interesting)
I've teleworked over 5 years and received good raises every year. Telework had no impact, positive or negative, on promotions. They were based on performance, and keeping the customer happy. I was actually more organized working offsite, because 1) I could work without interuption and 2) I knew I had something to prove and that was fine with me, they granted a great perk and I stepped it up in return.
Getting paid is all about being valuable (and making sure your value is known.) It has nothing to do with keeping a seat warm in the office. I'd telework at my next job too, in fact I probably won't take a job that doesn't offer it as a perk.