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John Gilger reports: <<I'm in the middle of writing a proposal/whitepaper in
an attempt to convince management that I can do this job just as well, or
better, without wasting a couple hours each day fighting my way through the
looney bin they call a freeway here. Anybody care to share?>>
Haven't done the telecommuting thing, but the key to persuasion is always
threefold: reassuring management that their anxieties are groundless,
showing a willingness to compromise when necessary or efficient, and
explaining the benefits for them.
Fears: Keep records for a month of how often they actually require your
physical presence, and include times during the previous year (monthly,
quarterly, or annually) when you had to be there. Emphasize (my second
point) that you'll come to the office 1 day per week (or whatever) to be
personally available if required. Confirm your availability by phone or
e-mail: set "office hours" that largely overlap their office hours so they
know they can reach you immediately during their work day. That might be 4
hours during _their_ work day and 4 hours at night if that's the way you
prefer to work, but the point is that you're available to them.
What other objections are they likely to raise? (Staff meetings,
accountability, etc.) How can you address those objections? (Check in with a
colleague to identify upcoming meetings, use "time tracking" software to
prove that you're still working 8 hours/day, etc.)
Benefits: Try to collect statistics on how often per day you're interrupted
by colleagues and thus lose time. Present statistics on productivity
improvements from working alone (from techwr-l and the Web). Just don't do
anything suicidal like showing them that you (personally) lose 4 hours per
day to chatting by the coffee machine. <g>) You can try bringing in
intangibles, such as "I'll be better rested, thus more able to devote my
full mind to the job", but it's much harder to make your case using such
subjective claims.
Good luck!
--Geoff Hart, geoff-h -at- mtl -dot- feric -dot- ca
Forest Engineering Research Institute of Canada
580 boul. St-Jean
Pointe-Claire, Que., H9R 3J9 Canada
Hofstadter's Law--"The time and effort required to complete a project are
always more than you expect, even when you take into account Hofstadter's
Law."
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