Telecommuting isn't a license to play hooky on someone else's dollar. It's an alternative work arrangement that buys you a lot more flexibility, but depends on your ability to produce results from afar.
A computer software consultant was transferred from his New Orleans home to Washington, DC. It did wonders for his career but wasn't that great for the rest of his life. After three years, he was terribly homesick for his friends.
He submitted his resignation, intending to return to New Orleans to look for a new job. But since the company valued him greatly, they suggested that he set up an office in his home in New Orleans and remain on their payroll. He accepted eagerly: He loved his job; he just loved New Orleans more.
The arrangement proved win-win. Not only does he love the freedom of working at home, he's amazed at how much he actually accomplishes in a day without the distractions of office life. Solutions like these aren't easy to come by. Nor are they dumb luck. They result from on-the-job brilliance. When you're great at what you do and your bosses appreciate your work, you almost always have more options available to you.
Obviously, brilliance alone won't get you permission for an alternative work arrangement. You'll also probably have to do some skillful prodding of your employer.
When Wall Street Journal columnist Hal Lancaster interviewed Rosemary Mans, she discussed her desire to carve out more time for her family, without destroying her career credibility with San Francisco-based Bank of America. It took a full year of convincing to get the bank to allow her to become a part-time vice president of flexibility programs. She admits it was a hard decision and a hard sell. Flexible work options - such as a part-time schedule or telecommuting - are generally considered career poison. If you try this approach, you'll probably be considered less committed to the organization, less serious about your career and a nuisance to management (since you're never there when they need you).
Still, if you want to go ahead, there are ways to sell your employer on the idea. For example, you can say that as a part-timer, you'll be more focused and productive during the hours you work. You'll be able to provide better customer service because you'll have more energy for it. You might even save your employer some money on benefits (although this isn't a great advantage for you).
Job-sharing offers another viable way to balance work and family responsibilities without burning yourself out or destroying your career path. Working Woman magazine recently applauded Laura Palumbo Meier and Loriann Meagher for their career savvy in lobbying Xerox to let them share a sales-management position in their Lexington, Massachusetts office.
No manager had ever asked to job-share before. But the former sales rivals (each were 13-year veterans) convinced their bosses to let them try. Now they're among the highest-ranking Xerox executives to successfully job-share. For those who are interested in more flexible options, Lancaster recommends the following guidelines:
1. Don't just ask for favors. Put together a realistic proposal that outlines the performance goals and objectives you'll meet under your new schedule.
Meier and Meagher drafted a detailed, 30-page proposal and revised it three times until it adequately addressed the concerns of their immediate boss and the human resources department. In it, they spelled out their schedules, day-to-day tasks and plans for managing the sales team.
2. Make your manager your best friend. Your boss needs to trust you and feel comfortable with your working arrangement.
Before Meier and Meagher ever submitted their plan, they talked it over with their boss, Janice Orlando Duplisea. A working mom herself, Duplisea empathized with their concerns and challenged them to convince her they could really make it work. Once the two demonstrated their commitment to the idea, Duplisea became the real catalyst.
3. Stay abreast of developments. When you're out of the information loop, it's easy for things to fall through the cracks.
Meagher and Meier make it their business to share information so neither one of them will fall from grace. They have a formal communication system to update each other, as well as a flowchart of how issues will be resolved. It's difficult to anticipate every problem that will occur under a more flexible schedule and to have systems in place to resolve them. Thus, you need to have people you trust to keep you informed, or else run the risk of obsolescence.
Meier and Meagher were smart enough to understand that they each had different strengths and weaknesses. They divvied up their responsibilities and schedules accordingly. Ex ample: Since Meagher has an extensive background in leasing and financing, she's responsible for writing up the sales forecasts. Meier, who's stronger at personnel issues, handles the lion's share of employee reviews. But before they finalize and sign off on any documents, they go over them together.
4. Make sure that home and family commitments don't completely outweigh work priorities. If you don't adjust your schedule to accommodate true office emergencies, you'll quickly send the message that (a) you're not a team player; and (b) you can't be counted on. After that, don't be surprised to find your credibility seriously in jeopardy. You'll be left out of important meetings, miss out on information (large and small) and generally feel alienated from workplace events.
Meagher and Meier make a point of showing their dedication to the workplace team. Although they're both working moms with family commitments, they also make sure they look like ambitious, goal-oriented professionals who take their careers equally seriously.
When you deviate from tradition, you'll undoubtedly en counter some skeptics and critics who prefer conformity to imaginative problem-solving. You can follow their tired prescriptions for success or take your cues from someone like Robert Shaw, conductor of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. At the 20th anniversary of the Kennedy Center, Shaw was one of six performing artists honored for a lifetime of achievement. Said Shaw: "The only crescendo of importance is the crescendo of the human heart."
Another musical great gave similar advice. In a conversation between pianist Vladimir Horowitz and Arturo Toscanini, the great conductor cautioned Horowitz to take his own counsel: "If you want to please the critics, don't play too loud, too soft, too fast, too slow."
