TAKE THE QUIZ

IS TELECOMMUTING for YOU?

First of all, telecommuting has several benefits for both employer and employee. Moreover, companies need spend only $5,000 per employee to set up and maintain an e-work program. For such a small investment, telecommuting also:

• Boosts productivity, with documented gains of up to 70% for the same number of hours worked.
• Reduces the need for office space and parking spots.
• Reduces absenteeism substantially.
• Eliminates commuting time and related costs.
• Reduces clothing budgets and meal costs.
• Provides flexible time scheduling around family time.
• Achieves a better blending of work–life activities.
• Simplifies childcare and eldercare responsibilities.

Second, neither you nor your boss can argue that your job is not suited to telecommuting. Almost any info-based task is suitable. Telecommuting is most common in banking, insurance, business services, construction, transport, and communications companies. But just about every North American industry has telecommuters. Obviously, if you are a baker or a dentist, most of your work cannot be done over the phone or the Web, at least not yet. But there is astonishing ignorance about what can and cannot be done online.

Maybe you feel you are just not suited to telecommuting. If you think you need the discipline of a 9–5 schedule that forces you to waste 7-10 hours a week commuting and takes you away from your family, then there is no helping you. But I don’t believe you have truly thought about it. Nobody gets fulfilled in a cubicle.

Take the following quiz to find out for sure.

QUIZ: Is Telecommuting for You?

Part 1: YOUR JOB: Is it suitable for telecommuting?
To determine if your job is suitable for telecommuting, evaluate its telecommuting potential, as follows:

• List all the individual job tasks that you can do away from the worksite.
• How frequently are each of these tasks performed? How long does each take?
• In total, what % of your overall on-the-job time is taken up by these tasks?
• Can they be performed away from the worksite?

Part 2: YOUR HOME: Is it suitable for telecommuting?
Evaluate, objectively, whether you have the proper work environment at home.

• Do you have the proper equipment, or will the employer need to provide it? What will it cost?
• Do you have a suitable workspace at home to allow for effective productivity?
• Will you be able to work in that space without interruption?

Part 3: YOUR PERSONALITY: Do you and your workstyle suit telecommuting?
It takes time to become used to working several hours alone. The best telecommuters tend to be:

• Experienced at their job; how well do you know this job to be able to work without guidance?
• Flexible in their work arrangements; how much flexibility will you have at home?
• Self-motivated and goal oriented; how good are you at setting deadlines and meeting them?
• Innovative and creative on the job; can you come up with solutions to knotty problems?
• Self-organized and disciplined; can you plan your daily timetable and stick to it?

Review each of these matters carefully and give yourself a rating out of 10 on each bullet point.
This is quite arbitrary. But there are 12 bullets for a total score of 120. If you score 50% of better on each of Parts 1-3 and better than 60% overall, then I suggest you and your job – or at least a major chunk of it – are indeed suited to telecommuting. Examine the areas where you scored low and consider how it might be improved. Then write a proposal to your boss recommending how to proceed.