Remote working: what is the employers' problem?

Sorry, can't stop to chat, too busy even for virtual watercooler

Here I'm again, banging on about remote working. I have been posting about it on this blog, tweeted sarcastic comments (i.e. Join the digital revolution chained to a desk in Central London), ranted about it in various professional forums, but I'm going nowhere fast. After working on three huge marketing campaigns for a global brand, my copywriting career is stalling again. Yes, I do have a bread and butter editorial job that I can do remotely but where are my challenges?

Why nobody cares that I write award-winning copy, one of my newsletters won a regional award, I have heaps of experience.... I know why, I live out of Oz, in the sticks (not that far, though, I can still take a train), i.e. not in London. When I left London I kind of knew that it could have been career suicide but I thought, surely this digital lark will help me out? Surely I can raise my daughter somewhere with a higher quality of life? My partner too, he hoped that it would happen, that we would find local jobs or at least use remote technology to work from home. The reality is that he had to commute to London on 99% of cases and I could only do local jobs inhouse (there aren't that many and lots of competition for anything, think flexible admin jobs with 60 applications, some from people with PhDs).

So I decided to try to sell SEO services as I'm told content is king (and I got the content crown back from Mouse Converter just in case) and it's building up but I'm still dissatisfied by employers' attitudes to remote working. Yes, I know there are jobs that can be done only in an office, but many don't. I was particularly annoyed by a social media job at Mumsnet, a site that should be flexible due to its ethos of supporting parents, but no, they wouldn't even consider a part inhouse and part remote arrangement.

I tell you, my wheel was spinning faster and faster when I got that reply via email. So if you are raising a child with partial (or none) childcare, what do you do? Pay for full-time childcare, never see your child and work on the grindstone doing a job you can do wholly or partly from home? Yes, that's it. And it's not only women who are not happy about it, men aren't. I hear it from many men here in Cambridge (including my partner), but sadly there aren't that many flexible jobs.

So with face-to-face conference calls (or Hangouts for free), email, remote access to company networks, the humble phone... Isn't this enough to breath on an employee's neck? Because that's what I suspect it is, it's about control not productivity or being one of the team. Yes, did I tell you that I'm paid to read excerpts of international business research? Well, I can tell you that misery management techniques don't increase profits, there is research that proves it. Job satisfaction makes for higher profits, so flexible working should be a winner... And if you are a doubting Thomas, this research is based on case studies, it's not pure theory.

Come on, employers, enter the brave new 21st century and let your employees work remote, it will save you desk costs, less energy spend (less carbon overall) and you will get motivated employees. And despite employers' perceptions, homeworkers are more productive because there are less distractions. See how much work you get done in an office and compare with homeworking where you have zero commuting time loss and no distractions from colleagues or external callers (yes, the postman might right the bell to deliver a parcel, but that's it).

Homeworking blog carnival - the results

My breakfast of choice: half dulce de leche (basically spreadable toffee sauce) and half peanut butter. Goes well with my builder's tea (two brown sugars or one and a half white). Send me pics of your work food! Read about my own experience of home working by clicking here.

 

This is ‘the army’ of homeworkers who sent their stories and links after I spread the word about my homeworking post on British Mummy Bloggers, Mumsnet and media/PR forums Fleetstreet, journalism.co.uk and UK Press.

All quiet on the home front? 

Not likely if you have a young child trying to get attention by switching off your computer, tugging at your phone cord and banging a drum when you are speaking to a client. Even if you have childcare, your child is bound to be around for a few of your working hours unless you get up really early in the morning and work after they have gone to bed.

Writers, PRs, techies, even an online retailer, life coach and an artist - here are some inspirational stories about homeworking today... If you’d like to tell your story, feel free to leave a comment with a link (optional) below.

Themes:

• Career change and homeworking
• Working and family life
• Running an online retail business from home
• Build your own office

If you can’t have office banter, create a virtual watercooler (and reinvent yourself)!

Rebecca is a work-at-home parent who had a taste of the home front even when she was in full-time employment. She says: “Unfortunately the end of my contract came just as the recession was picking up speed and as I was in a niche job, it became obvious that I wouldn't find another one.” She retrained as a coach and set up The Mummy Grapevine. She confesses: “I sometimes yearn after the kudos of being an academic, but the stress is not missed.” Check out http://www.themummygrapevineblog.com.

Emily is a freelance writer who does some social media PR for parenting websites. She works at her dining table so she can keep an eye on her three children: a four year old, a two year old and a 10- month-old baby! She says, “Life is manic but never boring”, and tries hard to do it all! Find out more at http://babyrambles.blogspot.com/2010/11/its-harder-being-at-home-with-children.html

Ellen's immaculate office - check out that patterned cushion!

Ellen works from home most of the time, although she does occasional shifts inhouse. She used to work for tabloids and do some PR, but she now writes for “people who pay me”. She has three boys so she is a master of the juggle jive (any Strictly scout out there?).

Ellen misses ‘human’ contact but finds Twitter and Facebook of some help, although they “can be a dashed good way of avoiding nasty jobs”. Learn her dance routine at http://bundance.blogspot.com/

Amelia is an artist who has recently decided to work from home. She took her art teaching experience into the digital word by setting up experimental art e-courses and workshops. She also does the occasional CV work. She took a huge financial risk as she is a single income household but it has been worthwhile in term of personal happiness and wellbeing. She says: “Working from home has also freed up time to start my MA in Fine Art, which I love as working at home can be isolating.”

Her youngest child has a disability, which was also a factor in her decision to work for herself - illness and hospital appointments were affecting her job and juggling it all was stressful. Amelia’s workspace is under the stairs and on her dining table. See her pictorial blog at http://www.101birdtales.blogspot.com/.

Lynn has a home office, as well as a store-room-cum-spare-bedroom. Her maternity retail business is also taking over the garage. 

She can be found at the kitchen table during the day when her four years old is at home and her sister at school. Read about her home/work life balance at http://www.more4mums.co.uk/blog/.

Helen runs Business Plus Baby, which is all about mumpreneurs – visit http://businessplusbaby.com/about to find out more. She writes ebooks, offers advice and "blogs away".

She has two children, who were born close to each other. Her “excuse”? Like many of us, she couldn’t face going back to work after maternity leave. She says: “I love reading stories of how mums start out in self-employment after having babies, so if you’d like to tell your story on Business Plus Baby, visit http://businessplusbaby.com/2010/04/07/did-you-start-a-business-with-a-baby-or-a-toddler.”

Last of not least, we have two Dads. As my partner went self-employed around the time our daughter was born and has been striving to work from home (not always succeeding as corporate culture often requires inhouse presence), I really enjoyed reading their stories. Hope you do, too.

Peter at his power station - great working space!

 

Peter started to work from home out of necessity - "it was purely a location thing". Family obligations meant giving up an international city career - and life - for a bucolic idyll. 

He says: “Karma intervened when our market town became one of the first to get broadband, so squirting a 10MB file to Asia was no biggie wherever I was.”

He admits that life has been a roller-coaster. “Professionally, you don't get to network without a two-hour drive each way. Personally, I have as a father enjoyed every moment of my sons' 14 years like no other. It has also meant that now I am able to devote invaluable time to a dementia-stricken parent during the twilight of her years, beside her bed with a lappy and MiFi. I am writing a book about the experiences - good, bad, and worth sharing - for others in this situation.”

Peter misses the social aspects and “buzz” of corporate life, but this is the hand dealt and “a not too shabby one”. His commute is about 30 seconds tops – “two minutes if it's down the shed to make a new design up”. Meet Peter at http://junkk.blogspot.com.

Phil is a hands-on homeworker with Grand Design aspirations. He actually built his own office in his back garden (see http://pthane.co.uk/?page_id=159).

Phil is a virtual ‘colleague/friend’, we have had chats through various media forums on a variety of subjects. He writes about techie stuff, is an online copywriter and has turned his lifetime’s experience of DIY into income by writing articles and books.

That’s it, folks. Thanks for your submissions... Leave a comment below if you wish. If you want a say on Twitter, find #homeworkerchat and leave your comments with that tag.

First impressions on living in Cambridge

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

We have been in Cambridge barely over a week and I feel at home already.

On the day of our move, the Queen visited the city to participate in the University's 800th anniversary celebrations. We missed the pageantry, all we saw were boxes and massive pieces of furniture being unloaded from two huge trucks.

Having relocated from London to Rugby and then from Rugby to Cambridge, I have lost a fair amount of friends and acquaintances. But I can recommend volunteering as a way to fit in quickly wherever you live.

Since the birth of my daughter I have been volunteering for two children’s charities: the NCT and the BfN. So as soon as I knew I was heading here, I contacted them both. Soon after my arrival, I went to an NCT meeting and a social, tomorrow I am going to a BfN drop-in for breastfeeding mums.

Today another opportunity to get involved locally arose when the organiser of the neighbourhood watch turned up, so yes, I’m going to a meeting next week.

This week I also met with an NCT member I used to know when we both lived in London and also with a mum from mumsnet. So internet forums can be handy too. And talking about the internet, there is a great local site for people living in Cambridge: Cambride Online. It has reviews and links to anything in the city.

I’m looking forward to experience all Cambridge has to offer. When I was living in Rugby, I did miss the buzz I get from living in a city, the cosmopolitan mix and the amenities. I'm not looking forward to buying our home as the property market is hard to crack here. For the moment we are renting and it's such a quiet area, despite being not too far from the centre.

Code 2ZJB8MW8R943

Why are people scared of the breastfeeding doll?

I came across this toy through a forum on Mumsnet. A bit of web research yielded a vitriolic article in the Daily Mail, which I find ridiculous. Aside the fact that I'm a breastfeeding helper, I find dolls that come with bottles hypocritical (in my case since my daughter always disliked bottles, no matter what was inside), so I got rid of it and encouraged my daughter to copy me. As I am still breastfeeding her and she loves aping whatever I do, she didn't find it 'disturbing'.

At the time it was released, Bebe Gloton made headlines in the US too and even across the pond, where breastmilk is on sale and is bought by adoptive parents and cancer sufferers, there were parents who said: 'Yes, I support breastfeeding, but my child is too young to know about it'.

As a positive parent I'm all for being open with my child. The other day I showed my toddler a picture of myself when pregnant and her scan and told her she was inside my belly before she was born. So I guess I made a start explaining the facts of life!

Breastfeeding dolls are not such a novelty anyway, we have the Boobie Buddy pictured below at the breastfeeding cafe, which is a hit with the toddlers. The dolly and her baby have magnets in strategic parts (mouth, hands, breasts of mummy, etc) and she's great as a demonstration tool, too.