Remote, But Not Forgotten

Working from Home Successfully

September, 2008
by Denise P. Kalm, DPK Coaching and CA, Inc.

About the Author
Denise P. Kalm, CA, Inc. formerly Cybermation

Denise Kalm has 30 years experience in IT including application programming, enterprise systems management and performance management/capacity planning at Pacific Telephone and Bank of America. She moved to vendor land in 2000, spending 5 ½ years with BMC on the EPA product line, then recently became the senior product marketing manager for enterprise job scheduling products at CA, Inc., formerly Cybermation. She is a regional officer of CMG, has held many volunteer positions within that organization and is a frequent contributing author. Prior to entering the IT profession, she was a biochemical geneticist. Her hobbies include flying, Jazzercise, writing and scuba diving. Her book, Lifestorm, on the Oakland Hills fire, is available on Amazon. She is an executive and personal coach as well, offering phone and in-person coaching.

IBM once meant "I've Been Moved." Now it means "I'm By Myself." Increasingly, people are asking or being asked to work remotely, typically in their homes. Though there certainly are many advantages and cost savings when you work from home, there are also many challenges. Managed poorly, this work arrangement can negatively impact both your career and your personal life. It doesn't have to. Here are some guidelines to keep you as "connected" as you ever were in an office, while ensuring you still have a life.

  1. Communicate - In an office, you are visible, even if head-down working on a project. At home, you are invisible. Keep yourself front and center by:
    1. Using the phone. Don't just email or IM - call. You need the immediacy. If IMing goes on for a while, pick up the phone.
    2. Setting up phone meetings, even if it is just to bounce ideas off others. All will benefit - this helps replace the hallway discussions that used to ignite productive creativity.
    3. Scheduling regular meetings with your manager - Prepare an agenda and connect with him or her.
    4. Keeping (and sharing) status reports - no one can "see" what you do anymore, so you need to tell them. Do not be modest or shy.
    5. Making all communications professional - They are your "face" in the office
    6. Responding promptly to calls and emails, even if you cannot complete the requested task immediately. Show up as if you are there, even when away.
  2. Team - Even when alone, you are part of a larger organization. Take advantage of it. All projects are improved by multiple perspectives. Seek out ways to work with others.
  3. Build relationships - See out people to connect with and share information. Who else does the same kind of work that you do? What can you learn from them? What can you offer? Schedule virtual lunches and virtual coffee breaks with colleagues. Send relevant articles and links you find to others. Share what you know.
  4. Be incredibly responsible - Make only work commitments you can keep and then produce work that you can take pride in. Work time is work time - just get the stuff done. Home distractions are numerous and yet, you need to find a way to ignore them. You aren't at home, when you are working.
  5. Create a good work environment. Even if the space you carve out at home is small, make it work for you. Have the tools, machines and supplies you need, near to hand. Get a good headset for your phone. Invest in a multi-machine - printer, copier and scanner. Have a sturdy file cabinet. Keep home and non-work items out of this space, and keep the space organized.
  6. Be ready to work - get showered and dressed (okay - perhaps not in work clothes, but something other than PJs). You'll take yourself and your work more seriously. And the way you look and feel shows up on the phone. They may not know why, but callers can tell.
  7. Define a work day. When at work, be at work. Communicate your hours and be there when you say you will. You can have a flexible schedule, but make sure that everyone knows.

If you behave like the professional you are, you will be seen that way. Doing this validates the company's trust in you and ensures your status as a valued contributor.

As good as it may appear to be, work from home does have the potential to impact your home life, but it shouldn't. Here are a few recommendations for maintaining good work-life balance.

  1. Define your hours - As in 7 above, work your hours and then leave work behind. Develop an ‘end of day' ritual. Except in emergencies, treat nights and weekends the same way you did when you went into an office. You have the right to your time off and more importantly, you need it. You will not be at your best working 80 hour weeks.
  2. Watch out for technical distractions. The infamous Crackberry can have you managing calls and emails into the wee hours, or on your vacation. Turn it off or leave it at your desk on low volume, unless you are officially on-call. Prioritize and only respond to what you must. Do not be leashed to devices.
  3. Eat breakfast and lunch, and take breaks. Come back refreshed and energized. It is too easy to skip these or shortchange them, but you shortchange yourself as well as your work. In the long run, you will sacrifice health if you do not take care of yourself.
  4. Family and friends should be well up in your priorities. Define time for them and for your hobbies and then, take it. Guard this time. You aren't serving anyone by putting work first all the time. If you don't get this right, you might find you have nothing else.
  5. Change clothes after work. Go out to your health club. Put on tennies and take a walk. Make an end of day ritual and "go home."
  6. Take your real sick days. Since you technically can force yourself into your office chair and answer email, it is easy to never consider yourself "too sick to work." But you will be sick longer and recover slower if you don't care for yourself first.
  7. Take real vacations. Delegate your work and leave it behind. If you don't ensure that you get real time off, no one else will be there to ensure you do.

Working from home can either be the best experience of your life. But it can also be a career-limiting experience if not handled right, or death to your personal life. Work-life balance is much harder to manage from home, so do manage it consciously.

Stay tuned next month for another edition of "Your Career Coach". If you would like additional information or personal coaching for your life and your career, contact me at or see my web site: www.DPKCoaching.com.