Telecommuting in the programming profession

Question

Who is telecommuting? What is the best way to find these arrangements?

Is it working out for you?

Answer 1

I worked remotely for a year for a company that I had previously worked for in-house, so I already knew their process and people. I think it was much easier to do it that way than to try to enter a new environment cold-turkey as a telecommuter.

I enjoyed it and would have loved to continue doing it.

There are some downsides

• out of sight, out of mind - if co-workers and mgmt can't see you, they forget about you
• general loss of personal contact and interaction with co-workers
• can be isolating
• hard to make your family understand that you're at work

Answer 2

I worked as an nearshore consultant for a fortune 100 investment bank. Although there was a few nearshore resources ( humans in this case ) , it often felt like we were telecommuting. It was great and really there were no problems other than you didn't really feel like part of the team until you physically met your counterparts.

Answer 3

I entered a position where I can telecommute part time. My friend who I currently work along-side brought me onboard with the company - timing just worked out that I was looking for a new job and this position which was not only a great working arrangement but great for my interests and skills came up.

I typically work 2 days a week in the office, 3 at home. I have a short commute as well so I really find this to be a near-perfect balance.

I find the biggest difficulty about working from home is avoiding distractions. Home is full of distractions that the office does not have, in addition to many of those that it does, and can prove to be a very poor work environment if you're not careful. Configure your work environment with this in mind.

Another difficulty I have experienced is that if you're the sort who is fortunate enough to enjoy your job, working from home blurs the line between working and not working. This can be problematic if there are other things in your life (for me, my fiancee) who are not as interested in your work and demand your attention: it's something else you need to focus on to create a balance and finding that balance can be stressful and draining until you get it right. It takes some effort to truly put your work down and out of mind but until you do, you may find the folks around you notice and take issue if your formerly undivided attention becomes regularly distracted by the problem you were last working on for work.

Answer 4

My company promotes teleworking. So i work once a week at home.

It is a great way too keep in the flow without interruptions.

Note: it(you) won't work if the kids are at home.

Answer 5

I typically work onsite so that I can be close to the users and our customers. This way I have me fingers on the pulse of what's going on - people can just pop by my desk for a quick question and vice versa.

I do have the option to telecommute when required, but the isolation makes it more challenging for me to keep the lines of communication open.

There are benefits and pitfalls to both situations, which is best depends on your needs and the type of environment that is most condusive to the work/project you are on.

Answer 6

I telecommute 1-2 days/week. With a 90 mile roundtrip drive to work, it's usually much more preferable than coming into the office. It's something I sort of pioneered in my group. I think after about 2 years of working for my current employer I planted the idea in my then manager's ear, let it grow (or fester) for about 6 months, then he approved it. Since then many others have taken up telecommuting.

It works out good for me cause I have ample face-to-face time in the office then get my time at home to really concentrate on coding or other work (like laundry; kidding, kidding).

Answer 7

If you are a full time telecommuter, you might as well consider yourself a subcontractor. Without the personal contacts with management it is doubtful that you will ever get a promotion and probably only minimal pay increases.

Part time telecommuting can work and work well, but you need a true home office. That means no personal phone calls, no TV, no kids, no spouse or significant other. Strangely enough pets seem to be OK, they sleep most of the time anyway. When you enter your office, you are at work. When you leave, you leave work. It does not have to be elaborate, but it has to be a separate area. A separate room is best, but at least a quiet corner some place.

Answer 8

I worked at home for a year and a half a while back, and the only thing I would add to Jason's answer above is that I learned to be careful to stick to regular work hours. For instance, it's not unusual for me to think of a possible solution to something I've been working on in the evening after I've finished work. When I work in an office, I just make a note to check it in the morning but when I first worked at home I would go right to the computer and try it which led to a lot of extra hours and lost sleep. Good for the company, I guess, but not good for my health and relationships long term.

Answer 9

My most recent position allows me to telecommute after the first year of employment pending my performance review. Really, this is perfect as it gives us newbies time to acclimate and be involved. Face time can never be replaced by an IM or phone call, but telecommuting has its benefits.

That said, we are encouraged not to go full-time telecommuter at first. I plan on keeping a significant time on site, as working at home can be extremely distracting. Have you ever had a cat gnaw your finger off your mouse, or your wife nag you to take out the trash while finishing up some critical .NET & SQL?

Answer 10

I work from home for a video game publisher. I was in our local office but they downsized the office and everyone else on my team was let go except for me. The rest of my team now is in California ( I am in Vancouver ) so I now work from home and VPN into the office.

It's working great for me, but I've been in the business for 20+ years and have proven myself. I don't think it would work well for newbies as they would have a hard time proving themselves without the day to day personal interaction.

Answer 11

It depends on how your team is managed (surprise surprise) and what kind of connection there is. When I've done it, it has been fine. You need to be in enough to pick up on group chatter, but if you are e.g. a contractor, it's probably great.

Answer 12

I live 65 km away from the office and have been telecommuting once a week for about five years. During the winter when there's bad weather, I sometimes work from home several days a week. I love my arrangement, though I don't think I'd want to do it every day.

One guy in my department moved a thousand miles away a few years ago and has been telecommuting ever since. For the last year, he has done it using a remote control robot.

Answer 13

During the past seven years as a software contractor I've set foot in a client offices exactly twice. While I know people who transition from on-site to telecommuting, I've always insisted on remote work from day one. I find all my gigs through networking with friends, so I either know the client already or come personally recommended, establishing a sufficient level of trust for this arrangement.

Telecommute wanna-be’s often have delusions about flexible work schedule and hours. If your job involves interaction with other humans, chances are you’ll need to be available during regular business hours. I quickly discovered flexibility didn’t work out for me either—when I’d play hookey during the day I knew I’d have to work late, and that sucked. I settled on a pretty normal workday. Everyone I know who works remotely has reached this state.

I have young, home-schooled children. I’d be screwed without a quiet, isolated home office. Don’t underestimate the importance of a good place to work.

I have no ambition for ladder-climbing, so the lack of personal contact and schmoozing hasn’t bothered me. YMMV. Telecommuting is definitely better suited to freelancers than corporate zoo animals.

Now, after all the caveats, there are great reasons to work remotely. I’ll skip the really obvious ones.

• If you're self-disciplined you can accomplish an amazing amount of work this way. (Be serious with yourself about your level of discipline.) My useful work output is many times higher since escaping the cube.
• Avoiding distractions is far easier. I don’t have to see, hear or smell my cow-orkers. Lonely, bored people no longer stop by to chat. This point directly relates to the first one.
• I feel much more like a free man. Sure, I still work for “the man”, but it’s far more palatable working in my own place instead of the veal-fattening pen.
• As a remote worker I am judged more by what I produce. If you are a producer, this rocks.

Answer 14

I manage a team of developers, all of whom have the option of telecommuting up to four days each week. I'll provide some feedback from my point of view.

Your first question was about the best way to find these arrangements. My first piece of advice is to ask during the hiring process. Even though I work for a company whose culture is not telecommuting, my company provides a high degree of autonomy to managers. Some managers at my company frown on the practice. Furthermore, Jason's comment about working in-house first is spot on. New team members spend more time in the office to acclimate to the processes and communication channels, formal and informal. Telecommuting is mostly a matter of trust. Once you've proven that you can deliver, it doesn't much matter where you're working. Of course, you should also make sure that you're available when somebody calls or IMs with a question. In general, I find that my telecommuters are more responsive/available than those in the office.

Is it working out for me? Absolutely. Jason's concerns about out of sight, out of mind, isolation, and loss of contact are all very real hazards. But from where I sit, they are partially my responsibility to overcome.

• I schedule regular team meetings and one-on-ones to make sure people are staying connected.
• We have an informal policy of 'no crazy email threads, just pick up the dang phone.' More can often be accomplished on a five minute conference call with three people than a dozen emails back and forth.
• When people are in the office at the same time, we maximize our meeting times. I think knowing that some of the informal communication channels are stunted makes the formal communication channels more important, and ultimately, more productive.
• I ask my team to check in periodically. Nothing onerous - just an email or a quick call so that I'm not blindsided by issues and can tell my director 'I've been in contact with him; he's working on project X.'

Answer 15

I work exclusively by chat and Internet for a firm in the US. I am in Argentina (but fiscally in the US). I get paid by the hour and have an Excel punchclock with some cool macros to handle that (it's awesome, if you want it just send me an email). I bill, they pay.

One problem is that we use a VPN for most things and for some reason my connection is slow (and I can't ask about it on StackOverflow because they close my questions). Aside from that, the work is pieced apart in such a way that it works perfectly. We work through chat, SVN, and a ticket-tracking system. Most of the communication is done through SVN and the ticket tracker, which is perfect.

Another problem is that to work 4 hours it takes 8, because I only bill the time that I work. Every time I look at SO or make some coffee I punch out!

I have a perfect client who is technical, demanding, and responsible. How did I find them? By working on the stuff I like in my free time... they saw one of my pet projects (OO Flash programming) and hired me to do that. Now we're doing PHP (which I didn't know before) and next, Ruby, and still doing Flash stuff...