In the past 20+ years in IT with ColdFusion and other technologies I have
worked about 35% of the time remotely. I have also managed an uncountable
number of developers and functional team member remotely. Remote employees
that possess a strong work ethic tend to perform at a more productive rate
then in-house team member because they do not want to risk a negative
appearance. I have also found that the work quality is usually higher most
likely as a result of the lack of stress from the absence of office
politics, coworker distractions, traffic, etc. It is important though to
have a clear project direction prior to bringing a remote employee on. But
that should also be the case with an in-house team member.
Thanks
David Wilf PMP
-Original Message-
From: Dave Phillips [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Sent: Saturday, September 13, 2008 12:56 PM
To: CF-Jobs-Talk
Subject: RE: What Cold Fusion Job boards are there?
I am a full-time permanent employee of a Fortune 500 company and am a
full-time telecommuter. I live in Arlington, Texas and my boss and *most*
of my team members are in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. It works out really
well. I have full benefits as I am a regular employee.
I have also managed employees remotely, and while I will admit that there
are some challenges to managing remote employees, from a development
perspective, you can collaborate and work together just as well remotely as
you can in person, and in some cases, are even more productive. The issue
that I think most managers have with hiring remote employees is TRUST. They
don't trust the employee to be in front of their keyboard 8 hours a day, 5
days a week. What they fail to realize, is that most employees in an office
aren't in front of their keyboard 8 hours a day either. There's chatting
with their co-workers, going to coffee or smoke breaks, long lunches because
you have to drive 15 minutes to a restaurant, etc. Also, you are more
likely to be interrupted when someone (especially the end-user) can walk by
your desk than if they must pick up the phone or IM you. In fact, if you're
busy, and someone IM's you, just ignore it and answer later. If you're busy
and someone phones you, ignore it and answer later. But if you're busy and
someone walks by your desk, what are you going to do, say, sorry, I can't
talk right now, can you please leave? No, you're going to stop what your
doing, and interruptions can cost 2-5 times more than the actual time of the
interruption (for example, interrupt a programmer for 10 minutes, and it
could actually be a loss of 20-30 minutes because of the time it takes to
get ramped back up and 'in the zone', depending on what they were doing at
the time of interruption.
All that is said to say this: When I become a manager again, I won't have
any problem hiring remote employees. If they don't produce, then I will let
them go and get someone who will. The bottom line is that most remote
employees (if they have experience being remote) knows that and they will
produce oftentimes, even better than someone 'in the office'. Results are
what matters, not how much time is spent tapping on their keyboard. Are
they meeting deadlines? Are they producing quality code? Then who cares
where they are located!
Dave Phillips
-Original Message-
From: Vicky [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Sent: Saturday, September 13, 2008 11:40 AM
To: CF-Jobs-Talk
Subject: Re: What Cold Fusion Job boards are there?
That's your prerogative. I just don't want people misled that hiring
telecommuters necessarily means not having to provide benefits. While many
telecommuters are contracted, many are not.
On Sat, Sep 13, 2008 at 12:33 PM, Don Bellamy [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
I've been in business for myself for 14+ years. Have always paid for my
own
health insurance, it can be had for pretty cheap, got full coverage with a
$5k annual deductible for $280 per month for a family of 6. Adjust your
hourly rates accordingly if that seems high.
I for one don't want anyone else in charge of my health care or anything
else important to me such as my 401k plan.
Don
-Original Message-
From: Vicky [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Sent: Saturday, September 13, 2008 11:07 AM
To: CF-Jobs-Talk
Subject: Re: What Cold Fusion Job boards are there?
Agreed on just about everything but the health insurance. Full-time
telecommuters still often require full benefits with regard to health
insurance, 401k, etc. True, you still save money on the overhead. I
happen to be on my husband's insurance, but many are still the sole
providers.
On Sat, Sep 13, 2008 at 10:33 AM, Phillip M. Vector
[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
I know I've got a major bias here, but I'll say it anyway.
carl starm wrote:
Our preference is for someone to work at our location in NYC.
Carl, there are several good people out there that you are bypassing
because you are wanting someone in NYC. Did you
