People tempted to go it alone might find that working from home isn’t as liberating and uncomplicated as they’d hoped, says business coach Axel Henriksen.

“The excitement and trepidation rise as you take your seat at your desk realizing you are independent, answerable only to yourself, free to manage and prioritize your time, efforts and schedules. Many consultants, trainers, coaches and speakers are escapees from the corporate world; relishing the freedoms afforded self-employment and entrepreneurialism.”

But, he says in an article, the transition is rarely trouble-free, uncomplicated and without stress. “Friends will telephone while you are working, assuming you have an abundance of time to chat. Others will call in mistakenly believing you have ample time for socialisation as well. You may also consider that you have the discretionary time to quickly complete some household chores during your productive work time.”

An abundance of distractions competes for your attention when working from home – ranging from young children to dirty dishes to television – which can destroy your concentration, he says.

There are, however, steps you can take to successfully work from home, and these include:

• Formalize your working environment. It’s tempting to treat working from home informally, “especially considering you are your own boss and answerable to no one (excepting maybe your bank manager)”, Henriksen says. He advises formalising how you will manage and prioritise your work tasks at home. “This can incorporate scheduling of regular tasks, such as telephone calls to clients, report-writing, invoicing, and so on.”It will benefit you to clearly understand how you will handle various scenarios which may impinge upon productivity, like: drop-ins by friends and relatives, interruptions by family members during important telephone calls, or children’s illnesses requiring they remain home from school. You might consider designating scheduled appointments for household chores, family errands, and recreational activities that you might otherwise be tempted to slip in to your working day.”
• Maintain balance. Many work-from-home professionals “work far too hard, and not nearly smart enough”, Henriksen says. “Be realistic and be kind to yourself; emotionally, physically and creatively. Your success or otherwise will have less to do with the number of hours you work and more to do with the results and outcomes you produce.”There is no reason why home-based entrepreneurs can’t be sitting by the pool at two in the afternoon, he notes, and they shouldn’t feel guilty about dropping by the ‘office’ at nine at night to send emails and write a report. “Just because you have your office at home does not necessarily require you work ‘office’ hours. But it is incumbent upon you to be disciplined to do what is needed, when it is needed.”
• Pronouncements for the home. Just because you’re clear about your work patterns and priorities doesn’t mean your family will have the same understanding.”There is no valid reason why you cannot close the door to your home-office as a simple indicator to your family that you cannot be disturbed and/or you are on an important telephone call and quiet is important. Explain the measures to your family in advance, and then use those measures as needed, but only as needed so that they are not only understood but respected by others in your home.”
• Location, location, location. “Where your office is located within the confines of your residence will play a big role in the potential distractions and how enticing those distractions may become to you,” Henriksen says. “Ideally, your office should be away from the busiest areas of the home; not in the thoroughfare of life. Neither should it be in your bedroom! It does need a door… that closes.”You also need a separate and dedicated business telephone line “that nobody else in the family answers, ever!” he says. And it is better that you have your own office equipment that is not for family use. “Computers, printers, scanners and alike are tools of your business. Let the family have their own in another area of the home.”
• Achieve more by doing less. “Whether it be home duties or business needs, where it makes sense and is readily done with minimum supervision, outsource tasks,” Henriksen says. “Get a housekeeper, have the lawns and gardens handled for you by a contractor, hire an external bookkeeper, use a virtual assistant; you get the idea. Utilise others to quickly accomplish tasks that distract and unenthuse you so that your creative and productive energies remain focused on bringing in the high-premium business results.”

Managers need new mindset for work-from-home success

Work-from-home arrangements can also save recruitment agencies money during the downturn – by reducing the need for large office space and resources – and help consultants save on transport costs and commuting times.

But according to HR consultant Jenny Roberts, of hranywhere, managers with outdated attitudes about productivity are the main obstacle to work-from-home success.

She told Recruiter Daily’s associate publication, HR Daily, that too many managers still believe employees must be “chained to their desks from 8.30 to 5.30″ when in fact it is “outputs that are important, not the face time”.

Work-from-home arrangements require trust on both sides of the employment relationship and good communication, she says.

Consultants should clarify with managers the work that they will have completed by the end of each day or week, and managers should measure their outputs against that.

Managers must realise that if a consultant chooses to do their laundry during the day, or run errands, than that’s irrelevant if they spend the evening writing job ads, Roberts says.

She recommends managers formalise a work-from-home policy, which should cover:

• the types of jobs that can be performed from home (this might need to exclude employees required to answer the phones at work), to avoid confusion and resentment among staff;
• the process of applying to work from home; and
• the equipment required for a work station to meet proper OHS standards (consultants shouldn’t be “sitting at the kitchen table with a laptop”).

Working from home can get lonely, she adds, so there should also be measures in place to ensure consultants stay in contact with the office – such as through social networks, Skype instant messaging or other means – and they should attend the office on a regular basis for meetings.

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