Category Archives: Self-Employment

The Work From Home Disadvantage

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Reblogged from Ramblings of a Remote Worker:

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Internetprovider.org have created a new infographic on
The Work From Home Disadvantage. It takes a global look at the challenges of remote working: distractions, noise, equipment problems, bad internet connection, bad posture and so on.

Some of the issues rang true for me. Since our move almost 2 years ago we have suffered from 'temperamental broadband' - it's a little like a teenager and has its good days and bad days!

Read more… 48 more words

I just love this wonderful depiction of realities associated with working from home that has been displayed by Marieke Guy. I've heard a lot about these same distractions and concur that such problems are very real. Regardless of distractions at home vs. at a centralized office however, what puts working at home over working at an office for me is greater freedom to exercise control over distractions at home whereas making environmental changes at an office necessitates an approval process (involving a greater number of other people's needs and wants), the result of which might not go your way.

I'd also love for this graphical representation of work-at-home distractions to include distractions experienced by regular office workers for a visual, side-by-side comparison. I'd start that list off with frequently experienced distractions and time-wasters (cutting into time spent being productive for employee and employer alike I might add) from the beginning of the day due to the requirement to commute: (1) finding misplaced car keys, (2) getting out of car and running back to make sure front door is locked, (3) circling back around to make sure garage is closed, (4) circling back around to pick up a forgotten item you're supposed to bring to work... I better stop here or it'll be a long time before I get on with the rest of my life, haha! Plus, I'm sure the large numbers of office workers out there can mentally fill in the rest. :-P
 
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Thoughts on the “This or That? Work-Life Preferences” Survey

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Work-Life Balance

Work-Life Balance (Photo credit: Tanja FÖHR)

If you haven’t yet participated in the “This or That? Work-Life Preferences” survey, then you may do so by clicking here! This survey is ongoing. Although just a handful of people have given voice to their preferences so far, these early results have taken me by surprise. I anticipated that there would be a diversity of preferences reflecting the diversity of participants themselves though. Some of the participants explained their choices to me through private messaging conversations which confirmed what I anticipated. The following are just some of the factors that impact people’s preferences.

  1. Familiarity - Some people enjoy familiarity and, in this case, what’s familiar would be the practice of regularly traveling to a centralized office and working face-to-face with a group of people. Hence it is even conceivable for some to choose 40 hours of traditional employment over 40 hours of working when and where they want.
  2. Time devoted to work and work-related activities - Some indicated that they weighed hours spent commuting against the extra hours of work. Thus, if the extra hours of work is less than or equal to the hours spent commuting, they chose to work the extra hours where and when they wanted. However once the extra hours of work surpassed the hours spent commuting, they selected the traditional employment option.
  3. Autonomy (i.e., being able to exercise as much control over the work as possible) - Many of us don’t mind working more hours but have a greater desire to decide when and where we perform the work. This explains why some people have chosen the option of working 80 hours per week over traditional employment.
  4. Distaste for the 9-to-5 office lifestyle – This may or may not be related to autonomy needs. Some of us just hate various aspects of office culture so much that we would choose up to 80 hours of work per week if it meant being able to get as far away as possible from the 9-to-5 office culture.

Finally, I did not spell out whether the condition under which people worked extra hours but had control over when and where they work was equated with regular employment or self-employment. However, one survey taker commented on how favoring control over the hours of work is so much more important to her. As someone who is self-employed, she pointed out that no matter how many hours of work she was receiving, she could bill them and contract out some of the work to others.

Thanks to all those who took the survey so far. I’m looking forward to seeing what others will choose and to any feedback you have! Sharing this survey with others is also appreciated.

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This or That? Work-Life Preferences Survey

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From each of the following 4 pairs, select one answer:

This survey is based on:

  • My reading of telework related literature and websites showing that a substantial number of people would not mind working more hours if it meant that they have more control over their working conditions.
  • Observations and personal experience comparing self-employment (where it is typical to be working more than 40 hours per week) with regular employment (working 40 hours per week).

I’m just trying to gauge, to the best of my ability here, where this trade-off preference might end. I welcome comments that expand on the selections you’ve made. I’m looking forward to seeing your answers to the survey!

With regard to my own experiences, I would say that it’s easier for me to achieve work-life balance in a work-from-home, self-employed situation even though I frequently worked more than 8 hours in a day while being able to structure the work day around other non-work related tasks as I see fit. That is, the specificity of a work-shift and work location is more of an issue than the number of hours worked per week.

To round out this discussion, here’s a video of Nigel Marsh’s presentation, “Work Life Balance is an Ongoing Battle,” at TED Talks in Sydney, Australia. My favorite takeaway message from this:

“… governments and corporations aren’t going to solve this issue for us. Just stop looking outside. It’s up to us as individuals to take control and responsibility for the type of lives that we want to lead. If you don’t design your life, someone else will design it for you and you may just not like their idea of balance.” ~ Nigel Marsh

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Work-Life Detours: Reflections on Yahoo’s Remote Work Policy Change

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English: Yahoo! headquarters

English: Yahoo! headquarters (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

By now many of you have heard the news about Yahoo’s CEO, Marissa Mayer, requiring all remote workers, regardless of where they live, to become onsite office workers or else quit. Even those who telecommute one or two days a week will no longer be able to do so. If you haven’t heard about this, here’s the story in a nutshell:



I don’t know, of course, the details of the situation and, much less, Mayer’s decision-making process when she chose to steer things in this direction. However I will say that, from an outsider’s perspective, moves like this one will damage the trust and faith of productive remote workers towards organizations that can’t take steps to resolve problems without yanking employees back and forth with changes in policy. Organizational leaders do have the prerogative to change their minds and take things in another direction. However extreme policies requiring hundreds of employees to suddenly uproot their lives and relocate so suddenly will have negative repercussions as a side effect.

Hopefully, the level of attention this news is receiving will open up the necessary discourse to instigate more serious inquiry into how to objectively assess employees’ productivity. As I detailed in a previous post, They need to see you there to know that you are working… Not!, serious investigation has not been happening! Visual confirmation of people arriving and leaving the office at certain, appointed times does not constitute objective assessment of productivity. Visual confirmation that people have spent nearly 8 hours at their workstation does not constitute objective assessment of productivity. Tracking and measuring results however, is the way to objectively assess productivity.

So you think that having employees work side-by-side and interacting face-to-face will enhance collaboration? Yes, a certain amount of that may help some come up with new ideas, although many writers and artists do this very well on their own. Moreover, anyone who’s ever been in a relationship before knows that too much time spent together can also cause friction, fallout, and unnecessary drama. Being forced to share the same physical space for 40 hours a week is a recipe for magnifying all the little, irritating traits and behaviors you find in your fellow coworkers. I’m going to go out on a limb by saying that more studies should be conducted on the impact of forced “togetherness” (according to time duration) on the quality of relationships with coworkers.

Often I have stated that the only way to guarantee that you can dictate when, where, and how you work is through self-employment, tough though it is to become established. I had been a huge supporter for clients who’re trying to launch their small business but, alas, I watched as some of them had to eventually give up and return to the 9-to-5 world. This news comes at a time when I’m also compelled by extenuating circumstances, for the time being, to focus less on self-employment and take up an employment opportunity beginning next week. It’s a good opportunity though, somewhere further down the line, I expect to keep chipping away at establishing a situation in which I can dictate the manner by which I work. I just figure this way I won’t have to be at the mercy of situations such as the one Yahoo’s remote workers are currently facing. For the movement towards accepting remote work options however, I hope that the overwhelming responses to Yahoo’s policy change will help turn this into a case of “one step back, two steps forward.”

Note to readers:

I’ll continue to contribute content 2 or 3 times per week and will soon make available a list of source materials that are readily accessible online. Also, look forward to future posts by guest blogger, Frederick Pilot, on the subject of work system transitional strategy and infrastructure.

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The Move Towards Self-Employment: A Big Picture & “Little Picture” View

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Nowadays you don’t have to search very hard to find well-respected thinkers forecasting the decline of traditional employment and a corresponding rise in self-employment. Daniel Pink, author of Free Agent Nation: The Future of Working For Yourself, had been tracking the decreasing average “half-life” of organizations well before this book was published in 2001. During his time as former speechwriter for Al Gore, he was one of the first to see the information that the Bureau of Labor Statistics churned out on a weekly basis. The relationship between organizations and employees is changing thanks to technological advancement and, in particular, the Internet. Pink foresees a future in which a great proportion of the population will be working as contractors, getting together and working on one project, dispersing when the project ends, then getting together with a different group to work on another project in the fashion of film crews.  Here is Daniel Pink discussing this scenario in the following video:



In Race Against the Machine, authors Erik Brynjolfsson and Andrew McAfee agree with the forecast. Moreover, they suggest a plethora of recommendations aimed at institutions to facilitate and support people as they transition from traditional employment to self-employment. Andrew McAfree holds an optimistic view of the future in this interesting presentation at a TED Conference in Boston:



At this moment in time, however, I’ve encountered people struggling with their attempt at self-employment. As a freelance researcher, some of my clients called upon me to look up requirements and procedures as they set about establishing their business. Some of the tasks seemed intimidating to them. Skimping on knowledge gathering in particular left them vulnerable to ridiculously huge liabilities and problems.

My experimental attempt at self-employment began only recently as well. So, I don’t have very many recommendations that would help those seeking self-employment succeed in their endeavor. However, when it comes to acquiring the necessary knowledge, a bit of stamina will go a long way. One of the first steps you should take, and one that I’ve witnessed so many people neglecting to take, is grabbing a comprehensive guide such as Working For Yourself: Law & Taxes for Independent Contractors, Freelancers, & Consultants by Stephen Fishman, J.D., instead of looking for information here and there at various websites. First of all, many of these websites aren’t checked for accuracy. Secondly, seeking answers to questions only when they come to mind leaves you open to missing out on information you hadn’t thought to look up. Yes, reading reference materials doesn’t sound like fun however, for many of us, plowing through the numerous, complex requirements and laws is only the tip of the iceberg.

As I proceed, I will, hopefully, be able to offer up more about my experiences – especially with regard to being self-employed as an extreme introvert. If you are like me, you’ve probably had people tell you that you can’t do this because you’re not likely to go out and schmooze enough. I know that a bunch of us out there are struggling with this. However, putting myself out there on the Internet has helped me build valuable connections. Some people I’ve met online have offered good, constructive feedback with regard to my first attempt at blogging. For that, I’m saying thank you! Self-employment is certainly a challenging experience, but it is one that I enjoy and one that I would like to master in case that future scenario suddenly arrives.

See my follow-up post, The End of Organizations as We Know Them.