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Working from home

Howzat

Howzat

I'd Rather Be At The Hideaway
Joined
Mar 28, 2011
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I work for a Fortune 100 company but maybe see another company employee or even my boss maybe 4 times a year in person. Working at home is great and I have no problem getting my work done or have any performance issues. I do feel like I am on an island most days and lack a connection to the rest of the organization. I was curious how others in a similar situation stay involved with what is going on with the rest of the company and maybe what your employers do to try and enhance the work environment?
 
Howzat said:
I work for a Fortune 100 company but maybe see another company employee or even my boss maybe 4 times a year in person. Working at home is great and I have no problem getting my work done or have any performance issues. I do feel like I am on an island most days and lack a connection to the rest of the organization. I was curious how others in a similar situation stay involved with what is going on with the rest of the company and maybe what your employers do to try and enhance the work environment?
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My wife works from home, but I'm sure it's not to the same degree as you. She does technical layouts and drafting type of work for a construction company in KC. So, she's working on Chief Architect when they give her work to do. It is very much a situation where one day she might not have anything to do, and the next she's on the computer for 6 hours straight. They don't, however have or try to do anything to enhance the work environment.
 
Our entire company is distributed (and we actually run a conference for leaders of similar companies http://yonder.io).

I've worked for a handful of similar companies in my career, and to me the key is that everyone uses a chat tool (we're using Slack) as a virtual water cooler.

Especially in the long cold winters, when cabin fever sets in, it helps keep me sane.
 
blakehall said:
Our entire company is distributed (and we actually run a conference for leaders of similar companies http://yonder.io).

I've worked for a handful of similar companies in my career, and to me the key is that everyone uses a chat tool (we're using Slack) as a virtual water cooler.

Especially in the long cold winters, when cabin fever sets in, it helps keep me sane.
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How many are on the chat?
 
When I lived in North Carolina for 7 years I tried to work at home (when I wasn't traveling) and I just couldn't get into a rhythm. My wife, who I adore, would not respect the boundaries of work time and free time. Couple that with 3 daughters and dogs and despite the fact that the French doors to my home office shut they rarely seemed to be shut. I eventually rented an office at a Regus office suite and everyone was better off for that decision.
 
NoLine said:
When I lived in North Carolina for 7 years I tried to work at home (when I wasn't traveling) and I just couldn't get into a rhythm. My wife, who I adore, would not respect the boundaries of work time and free time. Couple that with 3 daughters and dogs and despite the fact that the French doors to my home office shut they rarely seemed to be shut. I eventually rented an office at a Regus office suite and everyone was better off for that decision.
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Haha. I think I would have that issue too but with the wife at work and kids in school it works just fine.
 
Howzat said:
How many are on the chat?
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Our full company (~60 people). Slack allows you to create project or topic specific rooms too (so we have one called "sportsballs")
 
I have had to transition into this full time with my new position and let me say it's difficult. I have more reasons to stop working and play with my daughter once she gets out of preschool. Definitely a transition I am still trying to master as I have way to many 4am mornings and 2am nigh times.
 
Working from home is difficult when there are distractions but it's a great for flexibility when packages are delivered or having something repaired.

iv been working from home for almost 4 years. We have instant Messenger as a corporate application. Many of the teams have their individual chat rooms including my team and a couple of our sister support teams. Between weekly team call and IM we are constantly communicating. I am only one of a couple members in our org that work in the same office area and we are rarely in the office so like you I may see them 4 times a year.

From a company perspective the organization has quarterly all hands via live webcast. The company does one 3-4 times a year as well.

the company also has small segments they call news now that comes out twice a week to let us know what's goimg on around the company that's interesting.
 
I work from home for my company a day or so a week and love it. Mainly because there is no way for people to interrupt me and I can just get my work done and focus.
 
We have an IM program (Microsoft Lync) but never thought about using a chat room. We also have monthly conference calls but nobody really pays attention or participates. There is also a company newsletter of sorts but it never seems to pertain to what we are doing on a more local level. I need to find something that gives the team more cohesion when we see each other as a group only once or twice a year.
 
I've been working from home for the last 8 months or so (since moving to San Diego). For the most part I enjoy it, though it can be easy to get distracted. We do have like 3 different IM/Chat programs we use for communication as well as conference calls and such, still not quite the same though. The hardest part for me is in the past most of my friends have been coworkers, so now moving to a new place where I don't have coworkers as such it's been harder to meet people. It's also harder for my wife to get 'alone time' since I'm practically always home.
 
Howzat said:
We have an IM program (Microsoft Lync) but never thought about using a chat room. We also have monthly conference calls but nobody really pays attention or participates. There is also a company newsletter of sorts but it never seems to pertain to what we are doing on a more local level. I need to find something that gives the team more cohesion when we see each other as a group only once or twice a year.
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The chat room would be a good start IMO. This way you can b.s during the day or talk business. Our team chat is lively with banter most of the day and techie stuff trian in when needed.
 
I find it takes a bit to make it efficient, but working from home is awesome (especially when it is on the range, or from the golf cart!)

I do travel into the office on average 1-2x a month, and make sure i talk, video chat, and IM with my teams as much as possible. I find calling and talking on the phone is the most efficient overall, with video chat being close behind it. IM is a quick fix communication method when Email is not approrpaite or to formal.
 
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