Home office vs working from the employers office

[Christel]

[QUOTE=wynn;105207]Think of the money you will save on make up alone and the convenience of working comfortably in your slippers!

Yes... was also thinking about this...definitely a lot of "savings" everywhere.

I'm having the final discussion with them on Thursday.

thanks for all the comments & suggestions.

[Dave A]

...definitely a lot of "savings" everywhere.

Even if it's a "desk job", there is still the issue of space allocated to the function which doesn't seem to have come up so far...

Looking at broader issues, everyone so far is making light of working from home - but it's not without its challenges.
For example - Even if you have the personal discipline to separate "work time" from "home time", that doesn't mean that everyone around you (in the home environment) has the same picture in their mind. The potential for "hey, you're available because you're at home" type distractions climbs dramatically.

[Christel]

Hi Dave,
I know this is not going to be "all fun" but I've been working the past 7 years every school holiday from home to look after the kiddies, so I know what it can be all about...
We also stay in town now, (till Oct 2013 we stayed just out of town on a farm - me & my husbands' combined fuel exp p/month was R3500, so working from home & fetching kids would not have worked then)... But now I stay right across the road from the high school where my daughter is and my son's primary school is about 5km away (one way). He stays at aftercare (because he loves it) and my daughter walks to and from school. I'm very disciplined and love my work, so I might need to check on myself not to "over work" rather than chasing friends and family away.

[pmbguy]

Ideally working from home means a dedicated space only for business/work. Once you mix up spaces it’s a cluster f. I operate my business from a flat-office in the yard separate from the house. In it I have a workshop, office, Kitchenette (coffee/tea), bathroom shower, so I don’t need to go into the house. (Obviously lunch time I enjoy my lounge). If your office is in the house then keep it as separate/dedicated as possible.

Obviously it should be equipped in the same manner as a normal office – a productive space.

One upside is being able to work comfortably and work longer hours if need be. Just try and have some sort of general “closing time” (allowing midnight ideas). Otherwise you will naturally start working later and later at night, that’s what I tend to do. That’s one downside, you may work too much and/or fuss about the office unnecessarily, annoying your spouse

[adam232]

This is very interesting i guess your answer lies in your choice of working at home rather than the office. Its your benefit to work at home not the company.

[Mike C]

Sometimes when circumstances dictate that I have to ride through the "rush" traffic (never know why they call it that, because it is the slowest moving) it is enough to make me very grateful that I don't have to do that twice a day, every day.

[eina26]

I think your boss kinda has a point. You are working from home, although it is going to be a challenge for you to be motivated to work, you are also working from the comforts of your home, you don't have to commute, etc. My question is, who's idea was it for you to telecommute?

[Christel]

Hi Eina26,
We have a few people that we call "processors" that works from home. Because my company mainly have farmers as clients, we have people staying on the "platteland", where we have no offices. obviously their setup is different because there is no office nearby. Then we have a few "in town" processors, but they are also treated differently as they are not only working for us, but could have "private" clients too. Then we have me... I work on my own, I don't need to be in the office, that is why I was "transferred" to our consulting offices last year to free up space for more students etc. at the main offices. I had the option last year to either work from home or be transferred to the other offices (where my boss rents the space for me as it's a different trading entity to hers). I had to choose the other offices as at that stage we were staying out of town on a farm and it would not have worked out for me... but now, we stay in town, so I'm wanting to now go for the "work from home" option. I'm meeting my boss today... so I should know by later today what and when and how it will all work out.

[HR Solutions]

Good luck Christel. It sounds like you are quite used to working "on your own", so you know what it involved. It does take a special kind of person that is disciplined etc and gets quite lonely. So just be aware that there are benefits, but there are downsides to it as well. But if you are the kind of person that can handle it, then its great. Another problem is if you don't have too much interaction with other people one tends to fall behind a bit in all sorts of ways. I know working with young people (myself) sometimes has its challenges, but it certainly forces me to keep up with the times

[samanthaflax02]

You save a lot by working from home. Its your benefit not their.

[xcorporation]

Sounds like your boss is fonded of you and fully confident in your capabilities :-)

i wouldn't kick a giving horse ...