The very first thing a homeschooling parent should do before seeking a telecommuting deal is understanding how you are going to work and home-school. This is true even if you are telecommuting full-time from home, even though the majority of telecommuting programs are part-time at home. Even if you are working from home most workdays, you have to have time to both telecommute and home-school.
Situations are not all the same. For example, if you are the major breadwinner and your partner (usually the wife) is at home full-time, then you can team-teach. If you like science and baseball, then you can carve out a few hours each week to teach and coach the kids.
But if you are primarily responsible for homeschooling the kids and you are telecommuting, then you will need to do more of a balancing act. It can certainly be done, I do it. But you do have to make some adjustments since these two activities are equally important, especially if you are the family's major breadwinner. You don't want to sacrifice your children's education, but on the other hand you won't be doing them any favors if you lose your job. See my post on "Flexible Homeschooling Time" for more ideas.
Your company may already have a telecommuting program in place, and this is getting far more common than it used to be. It may be formal or informal. Start with your HR department but if they say "no" then don't give up. You will be dealing directly with your boss anyway, and HR is paid to be conservative. The more flex-time and other employee satisfaction programs your employer has in place, the better chance you have to telecommute. You will also have a better chance if you are a proven performer, and many companies will require that before they let you telecommute. (There are exceptions - the small 10-person company I work for is entirely virtual, with only the owner and his assistants coming into the office.)
Do NOT under any circumstances tell them you want to telecommute so you can home-school. That is your personal business and not theirs. You will give your company your best effort and that is all they need to know; how you do it and the schedule you keep is your business.
Dr. Katherine Hansen has some excellent suggestions for crafting a telecommuting proposal that I summarize here:
* Create both a written and oral proposal. The idea is to plow the road by letting your boss absorb the written points and then calmly discussing any concerns or feedback with your boss. (Please don't do it the way I did - I burst into tears. It worked, but I don't suggest you do it too.) The written proposal will also give your boss ammunition should he or she need to get permission for you to telecommute.
* Explain the benefits of telecommuting to the company, not to you. For example, stress your ability to get your work done without constant interruption from co-workers. The benefits to you should be implicit instead of explicit. Your boss doesn't need to hear about your needs but they will be in the back of her mind. If you are a valuable employee then most companies will want to keep you happy if you demonstrate what is in it for them. Common benefits to telecommuters in general include being more productive and have higher morale and less absenteeism, and less employee turnover. Clearly this will not help you if you are already unproductive, have low morale and are absent a lot but then you should be looking for another job anyway.
* Highlight your value to the company. You will want to get across two main points here: 1) your accomplishments and contributions and 2) why you would be so effective as a telecommuter. As in the previous point, be careful to couch your points in the light of how you benefit the company. In some cases the boss may know more about your personal life, including the fact that your kids are already being home-schooled. If that is an issue, mention the fact in a straightforward way and detail why this will not impact your work. When I began telecommuting my boss and co-workers knew I was already homeschooling. (I started off with them as a freelancer, also a good way to get into a telecommuting position.) I stated that I started work early in the morning and my son got up later. By the time he was ready to begin his schoolwork I had already done my high-value work. In addition, he is a preteen and a gifted kid so does the majority of his work on his own. This was a perfectly satisfactory explanation.
* Propose a trial. This is really a good idea not just for your boss but also for you. Not everyone works successfully from home. If your kids are still in school, consider trying telecommuting at this time. You can see if this is going to work for you at all minus the pressure of homeschooling. If telecommuting works out for you, then you can add homeschooling and be successful at both. But starting a telecommuting position along with a new homeschooling program can be a good trick. You can do it, but it's a big challenge.
* Communicate, communicate, communicate. You need to make sure your boss knows you are producing. Email and phone are your keys, burn up those lines especially at first. You might do the same with your coworkers so you don't end up being sabotaged at work. You might also suggest periodic meetings, which not only help your boss know you are doing your work but also maintain good deadlines and goals for you.
* Talk about equipment. Unless your company already has telecommuting in place, do not burden your boss with a list of expensive equipment you will need to telecommute. The equipment they already provide you at the office should be sufficient for your home office along with an Internet connection. Examples include a computer, fax, printer, and a separate phone line that a sweet-voiced little child knows not to answer.
* Be prepared. If your boss feels you are not qualified for telecommuting than ask what you can do to qualify in the future. The reasons will probably vary from a general discomfort with telecommuting, uncertainty that you will do your work, or a job description that does not seem to lend itself to telecommuting. Before you talk to your boss arm yourself by thinking of every objection possible and answering it to yourself. If the subject never comes up with your boss then wonderful. If it does, you are prepared.
* If they turn you down, go to Plan B. It took me two tries to telecommute in my previous position as a journalist. An initial one-day-a-week telecommuting trial did not work out, largely due to poor communication between me and my boss. This was largely my fault and I fixed it and tried again. This time I was allowed to telecommute full-time from home, but I had also been promoted and was a more valuable employee than before. If you really cannot convince them to let you telecommute, and you have tried over a period of time, then consider either finding a telecommute-friendly company to work for instead or start your own home-based business!
If you liked this article and want more information on how to work from home and home-school, then visit [http://workfromhomeandhomeschool.com] and get my free report "Saving Time and Money for Work-at-Home Parents."
This post was made using the Auto Blogging Software from WebMagnates.org This line will not appear when posts are made after activating the software to full version.
沒有留言:
張貼留言