Get Outta Here!
Working at Home
January 21, 1998

I get envious looks at parties. My dry cleaning bill is non-existent. I'm on a first-name basis with every retired couple and pre-school-aged child in the neighborhood.

I work at home.

I won't try and snow you and give you a long list of disadvantages that a more objective journalist might tell you about it. Why? Because it would be bunk. The truth is that being a telecommuter is great. All of those people at the parties have every right to be envious.

In the seven months that I've been working from home, I've only had one "bad" experience. After spending two weeks at my parents' home in Florida (have laptop, will travel) I was driving back to Maryland when I became ill and had to make an unscheduled stop in Dahlonega, Georgia. Since Belle (a.k.a. The Best Dog in the Entire World) was with me, I had to make the choice of staying in the Days Inn that accepted pets or staying at the Holiday Inn that had dataports.

Belle won out and I found myself in the middle of nowhere, unable to connect to the "civilization" that is Fool HQ. After many phone calls, I finally stumbled upon a computer salesman named Kevin York at ATS Technologies in the great metropolis of Gainesville in the north Georgia mountains. After explaining my predicament ("I'm a writer for the Motley Fool and I can't get online! Please help!") he said in his best southern drawl, "C'mon over, Sugar, and I'll hook you up!"

So, see, I guess I really don't even have one bad experience as a telecommuter. My only quasi-bad story has a knight in shining armor coming to my technical rescue.

You, too, can go on unscheduled trips to Florida. You can have your dog sit at your feet everyday while you work. You can have cute computer salesmen feel sorry for you and offer to make your world all better.

Will you need to get a new job? Will you need to find a list of companies that let their employees work from home? Will you need to bribe your supervisor? No way, Fool! All you have to do is convince your boss that while you're doing all of those fun things you'll actually get your work done. Follow our five easy steps and the whole shebang will be all yours.

1. Work the system. Figure out who has the power to give you the go-ahead to work at home. Concentrate on that person. Sometimes you might have to get more than one person to go along with the scheme. That's OK. You probably know where the real power is in your company and how sometimes it's not the one with the title after his name. Also, go read your company's mission statement. (You never have before, right?) Think of ways to tie working at home with the overall stated goals of your company.

2. Choose your allies. Think about all of the other people in your firm who would also like to work at home. Make them your friends. Young mothers, people going to school part-time at night, and VPs who want to work on their golf swing are all likely candidates. Encourage them to get behind you. Once one person does it, it will be easier for others to do it.

3. Prepare your argument. Make a list of all of the advantages to your company of your working at home. Forget the advantages to you. Nobody cares. Sell them on why it's going to save them money, make you more productive, and increase office morale. Make a very concrete plan about how it's going to work. Answer questions like: what hours will you work, who will supervise you and how will you communicate with that supervisor, who will pay for what. Now, offer a trial period of one month. Or ask if you can try it two days a week for the slow period and see how it works out.

4. Stick to your guns. Face it, you're probably going to get shot down. But don't give up! You've planted the seed that will eventually lead to your success. As new technology or software becomes available that will make it easier and more cost effective, bring it to your bosses' attention. Don't be obnoxious about it, but slowly show them how this is the smart route to go.

5. Follow through. And finally, once you talk them into it, follow through on your plans. Don't get lazy and miss deadlines. Remember, they can always make you come back in the office and/or fire you. Don't give them a reason.

If you'd like more ideas on how to make the working at home experience a happy one, don't forget to check out our 10 Foolish Survival Tips.