It was the memo heard (or, OK, read) ‘round the world. Last month, Yahoo! employees received an email from Human Resources explaining that, starting in June, they’ll no longer be allowed to telecommute. “To become the absolute best place to work,” read the memo, “communication and collaboration will be important, so we need to be working side-by-side. That is why it is critical that we are all present in our offices.”
The arguments for and against Yahoo! CEO Marissa Mayer’s telecommuting ban began immediately. Some studies show that working from home improves productivity, job satisfaction, and work-life balance; detractors contend that it decreases innovation, and gives people an opportunity to slack off. Regardless, here’s the deal: Some people—whether because their companies ask them to or because of personal reasons—just have to work from home either regularly or semi-regularly. If you’re one of them, read on for how to keep up communication, collaboration, and creativity from the desk at your house:
Establish a game plan
Propose a communication strategy to your boss, one that covers when and how often you’ll be sending updates and checking in, suggests Kelly Sakai-O’Neill, Senior Manager of Applied Research for the Families and Work Institute. And try to take your boss’s perspective when you craft it; anticipate any of the fears she might have about getting the information she needs. One possible approach to take: Schedule office hours (throwback to college!). Remember when once or twice a week any student could stop by a professor’s office for a quick review? Do the same thing with your boss, suggests Kimberly Elsbach, PhD, a professor at the University of California, Davis’s Graduate School of Management, whose own research shows that telecommuting makes it harder to get a strong manager evaluation. That way you don’t have to email or call every time you have a question—you can discuss a laundry list on the phone all at once, much like you would if you just physically popped into her office.
Be ultra-available
When you’re telecommuting, you have to deliver strong every single time, and you have to be hyper-organized in your team communication. “Show them that it’s easy to work with you even though you’re remote,” Elsbach says. One way to do that: Make sure that you’re as accessible as you would be if you were in the next cube over. “Replying to emails immediately, doing regular updates on what you’re working on, answering the phone on first ring—those seem like silly things, but they actually send a signal that says, ‘I’m here, I’m available, I’m just as accessible as if I were sitting in my office,’” Elsbach says. For that reason, it’s best if you can work the same hours as the people onsite, if not more. If you have to break it up a bit, just make sure your manager and coworkers know your schedule, Sakai-O’Neill says. Another way to up your availability even more: It’s old school, but ask your company to pay for the price of a landline in your home office. That way you never have to worry about dropped calls or bad reception. Set it up with a Google voice number that rings through to your cell phone after three unanswered rings for the moments when you’re out walking the dog.
Embrace technology
“People have what we call face time bias—they unconsciously attribute more positive traits to people whom they see a lot at work,” says Elsbach. But thanks to technology, you don’t need to be in the same room to speak face-to-face. Sakai-O’Neill is a big fan of Google+ Hangouts—video conferencing with up to nine people, which allow you to read people’s facial expressions and feel a bit more like you’re communicating normally. There’s also Skype, and even Gchat and instant messaging. “A lot of these things are free or low cost and make it possible to bring people together in different locations in a way that maybe wasn’t possible 10 years ago,” Sakai-O’Neill says. These tech tools aren’t quite the same as in-person meetings—it’s not as easy to read body language from a screen, Elsbach points out—but you and your team can test them out and decide if they’re worth using.
Use creative creativity boosters
Can’t brainstorm with a group on the regular? A bummer, yes, but telecommuters can actually refuel their inspiration levels in a way most office workers can’t. See: break time. If you’re working from home, it doesn’t have to be lunch hour for you to head outside. “One thing we find is that people think most creatively when they’re in a natural environment,” Elsbach says. You can also stop and fold the laundry, take a shower, or spend 10 minutes running on the treadmill. “Doing something that keeps the mind active but isn’t taxing—those are the situations in which people have those a-ha moments,” Elsbach explains. If you need to channel energy from other humans, spend some time at a coffee shop with free wi-fi. Another fun way to get the ideas coming: Surround yourself with the color blue; it also promotes creativity, according to research out of the University of British Columbia. (Hello, excuse to hit up West Elm!)
More from Women’s Health:
Work Less, Play More
Stay Focused: How to Get More Work Done in the Office
How to Stand Out at Work
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