Working From Home Here’s 5 Ways Telecommuters Can Succeed Working Outside the Corporate Office

Those of us who telecommute and work from home have lots of benefits, on one hand, but we also have lots of challenges that our colleagues at “corporate headquarters”  don’t face. They have quick access to technology help and they can even get that informal “chat” from peers at the virtual “water cooler”

Dan Waldinger, Director of Marketing , Solutions & Services for Brother gives some input and advice in how we can be more productive.

Invest in proper technology - Just because you work from home, doesn’t mean you shouldn’t have full office functionality. Work with your company to obtain the proper technology needed to make you feel like you are in an office environment. This could include a telephony system, a monitor and business-level apps.

Telework goes mobile - While telework typically equates to working from home, many teleworkers visit client sites and must be able to seamlessly access data and communicate with team members from mobile devices. In fact, according to a 2012 Check Point surve more than three-quarters of the respondents said more than twice as many personal devices are connecting to corporate networks now, compared to two years ago. It’s important for teleworkers to use mobile apps that connect to company infrastructure to ensure they have everything they need to be
successful.

Leverage the same collaboration tools - Everyone has a favorite cloud storage provider or document sharing site, but using 12 different tools can lead to major version control issues. Companies with teleworkers should select one collaboration tool that all employees, whether in the office, at home or on a mobile device, can connect to. This way everyone has to most up to date version of important documents and everyone is working with the same information.

Security is not just for the IT department - With all of the cyberattacks that have been in the news, companies need to be extra careful about the documents that are accessed outside of the firewall. A 2012 survey by PricewaterhouseCoopers found that 82% of data breaches were due to staff errors, such as mobile devices that are lost or stolen with unprotected with proprietary data still on them. Teleworkers should talk with their
employers to create a secure connection to the company infrastructure in order to access secure documents from home.

Don’t get lost in online translation - Teleworkers need to feel like they are on the same page as their coworkers. Sometimes this can be complicated by email, instant messages and textsâ€"forms of communication that don’t always get the full point (or sarcasm) across. Teleworkers should have video web conferencing technology readily available for meetings to ensure nothing gets lost in translation.