I’ve been telecommuting all my work life. From 1974-76 it was to call reporters before or after going to high school, and when I wasn’t in the office. From 1976 to 1988 a good part of my work was done at home or in ice rinks and meeting rooms around my college and office work life with the Philadelphia Flyers. Only for the period I was in Denver in 1988 did I actually only work in the office or when calling on clients, and of course at the arena. From 1989-91 in the ad agency world, I was a remote, field executive. I had a fax machine, a Fed Ex account and a calling card, plus my own AMEX card. Then in late 1992 after leaving the world of The Upper Deck Company, where I spent two years in an office or on the road, I decided to work permanently from home.
Today, the New York Times has a first person account that pretty much sums up how to work at home, and not worry about it. It is a very accurate account and one that not only I can relate to, but which echoes a lot of the same thoughts I’ve shared with others who will be entering the work at home life.
My entire company is a work at home business. Over 30 people work from their homes, some locally stop by my house for meetings in addition to my personal assistants who keep the house organized when I travel. We use online tools like Yammer, Basecamp, Skype, HiDef Conferencing, Google Docs, Salesforce.com and more to stay in touch, on the same page. So, when I look at my office, I see the USA Map. I don’t see miles between us, only the distance of a laptop or now even an iPad. If you don’t look at things that way, you’ll never work virtually, nor have any virtual workers. You see. Working as a telecommuter is all a state of mind.