With the focus on telecommuting and remote workers in the news lately, many people are taking sides on an issue that has become quite controversial, without really knowing what it means to work virtually or how to be the best worker they can be, virtual or not.

The virtual lifestyle is idealized by many. A huge percentage of employees and those who are unemployed state they would love to work from home, without realizing that working from home is still work, it isn’t a free pass to spend your time doing what you please during your work hours.

Be realistic.

Research virtual work and understand the meaning of it. Working from your home doesn’t mean someone has waved a magic wand and you can sit at your computer all day doing nothing. The same rules apply to your job whether you’re at a corporate office or working from your home office.

Get organized.

When working from your home office you are in charge of yourself. Without someone keeping track of your work and how much time you spend at your tasks, you need to be disciplined enough to have your life in order. Working virtually is wonderful when it fits seamlessly into your lifestyle but it will be up to you to make it work that way by organizing your home and office in such a way that one isn’t interfering with the other.

Put in the time and pay your dues.

Most of us who work virtually have already spent many years working in an office and for large companies and have the skills to show for it. The experience gained and the knowledge we’ve acquired is priceless. Soft skills such as flexibility and a willingness to learn are equally if not more important than computer skills. A great work ethic as well as integrity are highly valued and will be essential if you wish to succeed.

Be aware.

Working remotely or from your home is different for an employee of a company than it is for an independent contractor. Check the guidelines for your province or state to see how this will affect your income, your tax deductions and other laws pertaining to your situation. You have to decide if working from home is something you want badly enough to overcome your reservations about the types of work that are available and, if so, put in the effort to pursue the right option for you.

Remember, working virtually isn’t easy. Just like everything else, you will have to work at it. It won’t be the perfect solution to all of your childcare and commuting problems and it also won’t work if you have problems dealing with others.

Decide if it is for you, look into the skills and experience you will need and give yourself the green light if this is an option that would work well with your life.

Chris Draper

© DemGen Inc, 2013

Image courtesy of Elisa Koehler

Your business has just received an extremely important contract. The work has to be of the highest quality and it’s time sensitive.  Can a virtual team out perform your employees? Do you gather your employees together and split up the work or do you step outside of the box and hire a virtual team?

Virtual teams offer the possibility of a 24 hour work day. You have the pick of the best, from many locations. Lack of distraction will keep these teams focused and improve their productivity. By using quality communication tools and spending less time in meetings, they will use these precious hours to accomplish more of what really needs to be done.

With the ability to choose the right tools and collaboration software, virtual team members tend to be much more tech savvy than their brick and mortar counterparts – knowing when to collaborate and how much is extremely important. Their soft skills are kept current while many of their onsite counterparts may lack the newest software and the skills to go with them.

While daily interaction, face to face, builds trust between co-workers, just the fact of having geographical distance between members of a virtual team gives them an advantage because of differing viewpoints. This can result in higher quality results. However, team members of any virtual group need to feel that they belong and share a common goal. This can be done through definitive processes and good management practises.

One problem virtual teams can improve on, is feeling that they have to work in the same way as corporate employees – boundaries should be redefined so as to differ from the office mindset and team members left to do their best work on their own as much as possible. The best virtual team members learn by hands on methods and while video conferencing and video learning has become a large part of some team education, unfortunately this is, for the most part, still reminiscent of employee based learning.

Virtual team members tend to excel at certain skills and managers need to review and reassess upgrading of all skills on a regular basis. While brick and mortar businesses tend to send staff for training there can be a lack of funding for remote workers and this is one area where companies who operate virtually need to improve and where corporate employees may have the advantage.

One thing that is noticeable is that a high percentage of highly valued remote workers tend to be introverts. They excel at this type of work so when looking for the next member of your virtual team, set aside those who do best in the corporate world and take a closer second look at applicants who have spent a large percentage of their time learning on their own. What it really comes down to, is that good employees are good employees, whether virtual or on-site

When the decision is finally made over whether to use local employees or a virtual team for important projects, it will usually fall in favor of a remote team.  A virtual team can outperform your employees! The ability to access 24 hour employees who are working within their genius abilities and the best in what they do far outweighs that of accessing what is available at the office just because it is most convenient geographically. Remember that quality employees tend to excel at setting and meeting goals. To get the best possible results, hire the workers who can meet the goals set and give you the highest quality work within the outlined timeframe.

© Chris Draper, DemGen Inc 2013

Image courtesy of wideteams.com