RE: Long distance telecommuting

Subject: RE: Long distance telecommuting
From: "Susan Brown" <sbrown -at- texar -dot- com>
To: "TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com>
Date: Tue, 23 May 2000 08:22:27 -0700

Hi, Hi!

I have done various degrees of telecommuting, over various distances. The
most recent was where I was the writer for several projects (one in London
England, one in Dublin Ireland, one in Ottawa (where I was located), one in
Montreal, and two in Vancouver) all at the same time. Travel was not an
option.

When you are not in the same physical location you lose the ability to be a
part of the atmosphere - you miss the coffee room, hallway, etc. informal
discussions that quite often are the only way you find out that a design has
just changed. (giggle) We still haven't found a way that we can duplicate
that over the phone lines, but I am sure that day is coming . . . . . Still,
there were a couple of things that worked quite well for me

The thing that made the single biggest difference to whether these projects
worked or not was that I managed to become 'phone friends' with 2 or 3
people on each project. When they received a call from me, it wasn't only
because I needed to ask them something. When we talked we did not just talk
business. I heard about their families and told them about my cats. I think
this made me more 'real' to them. We would make regular calls to each other,
and we would talk about mostly business, but his kids first step, or her new
car, or my broken dishwasher would also make it into the conversation. This
friendship made me as much a part of their culture as sharing coffee breaks
would, and they would actively think about me when changes or slippages or
anything else that would impact me happened at their end of the project.
(That was all 2 years ago, and I still keep in touch with two of these
people. Still haven't met them face to face, either.)

The other thing that made a big difference was that I was part of the
project team. I reviewed design documents, project plans, and my signoff (on
behalf of my department) was necessary on all these before they were
accepted. I attended all project meetings, review meetings, etc. by
conference call. (Buy yourself a headset!!! I don't know how I survived
before I got mine.)

I think a big advantage that you will have that I didn't is that you
already know some of these people. You won't have to work nearly as hard to
become 'real' to them - they already know you. I found that was the biggest
hurdle: how to be something other than a disembodied voice to the people I
am working with.

Susan Brown
Senior Documentation Specialist

Texar Corporation
1101 Prince of Wales Drive, Suite 135
Ottawa, Ontario K2C 3W7
613 274 2248


"I was brought up to believe that the only thing worth doing was to add to
the sum of accurate information in the world."

-- Margaret Mead







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