I'm not saying you *have* to be in the office to be successful, but I *am* saying that you also should not underrate the value and importance of at least occasional face time. I worked for a few years for one company totally on a telecommuting basis, and I was quite successful at it. No problem.
However, I did notice that, after I was able to make a trip to the company's headquarters and physically meet and interact with the people I'd been working with already for a couple years, the quality of interactions when I went home got even better. There were some folks with whom I'd been pulling teeth to get anything from who, after I had met and lunched with them, were much more responsive and helpful than before the visit. There were others with whom my professional relationship got better, for which I am still thankful and with whom I am still cultivating relationships, years later (and I probably would not have, had I not met them personally). And I can't tell you how many times I have had a "chance" encounter with someone in the office--by the water cooler or in the hallway--that was immensely valuable. In some cases, I learned some bit of extremely valuable information that I would not otherwise have been privy to. In other cases, it was just the chance to talk face-to-face and get some comprehension with something that I'd been struggling with. It doesn't happen on a daily basis, but it happens often enough that I have been able to say, too many times to count, Boy, I sure am glad I was here today if only for this "chance" conversation. So, can you be very successful without the personal interaction and "face time"? Sure you can. But can you enhance that success even more in lots of tangible and intangible ways *with* the personal interaction and "face time"? Absolutely. Chuck Beck Sr. Technical Writer | Infor | Office: 614.523.7302 | [EMAIL PROTECTED] -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Sue Heim Sent: Sunday, November 25, 2007 15:10 To: McLauchlan, Kevin Cc: [email protected] Subject: Re: [TCP] Telecommuting has mostly positive consequences No, it doesn't miss the point. If you work in a progressive company that recognizes the value of excellent employees who may not want to relocate, there is no need for "serendipity and unplanned encounters." I've been quite successful working remotely. In fact, I'd say I'm more successful than the on-site writer. I'm quite visible, have a great working relationship with several VPs (which astonishes those writers who are not remote), as well as others with whom I work closely (including several remote developers as well as on-site folks). If you work for a company who does not consider the value of telecommuting, or you are not the type of person who can discipline yourself to work at home, then obviously, it's not for you. But saying "you must be in the office to be successful" or you must be in the office at 5am to greet the president (WTH?), is, well, total baloney. ...sue On 11/23/07, McLauchlan, Kevin <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > On Behalf Of Jones, Donna said: > > > Face time is good, but you can achieve "presence" over the phone and > via > > e-mail as well. Respond to e-mail quickly, and be prepared to speak > > up if you're participating in a meeting by phone. That makes people > realize > > that you're out there. > > But this misses the point about serendipity and unplanned encounters. > > Craig (I think) mentioned being seen and greeted by honchos whom you > wouldn't normally encounter if the encounters were not accidental. Ok, > so it's not an accident that you are in the hall to greet the boss > before sunup, but I'm contrasting that with deliberately arranged > meetings where it's deliberate on both sides. > > Invariably, individual phone calls are between individuals (duh :-) ) > thus kinda precluding the people walking by in the hall from hearing > your voice or knowing that it's you (who?) on the other end of the line. > They don't see much of your face, either. Perhaps if you remotely > hacked all their computers and substituted your passport photo for > their desktop wallpaper? > > Conference calls will involve more people, and often involve a group > congregating around a speakerphone, but you are still talking to only > the select group who were gathered for that meeting/call. You remain > invisible and unheard by anyone who's not in the room with the > speakerphone... like the owner of the company. Or, like the guy who > took over your parking spot because, well, it was always empty anyway. > > You could raise your profile by, say, parachuting into the company > picnic ... unless it was our company, where the picnic area is > directly under the 750,000-volt regional power lines... that would _really_ raise > your profile, but only once... but I digress. :-) > > Perhaps you should arrive early for your infrequent physical visits, > so you have time to pass out the premium Belgian chocolate that you > brought, or the ingratiating goodies that you stayed up baking past > midnight. > > I'll shut up now. I'm getting hungry. > > Kevin > > The information contained in this electronic mail transmission may be > privileged and confidential, and therefore, protected from disclosure. > If you have received this communication in error, please notify us > immediately by replying to this message and deleting it from your > computer without copying or disclosing it. > > ______________________________________________ > > Author Help files and create printed documentation with Doc-To-Help. > New release adds Team Authoring Support, enhanced Web-based help > technology and PDF output. 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