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CTA members tell
their stories: part 5
Canadian
Federal worker does it all: I started teleworking in June 2000
in order to spend more time with my two young children and to avoid mega
daycare costs. What I like best about teleworking is I can still accomplish
a full days work and spend a great deal of time with my family. However,
teleworking is not easy to get into, you have to gain the trust of new
employers and really prove yourself. Getting your foot in the door is
extremely difficult, but once you get in - you must impress them with all
your work ability! Jennifer Cheslock,
Val-des-Monts, Quebec
Nortel
Manager overcomes impossible commute, becomes full-time teleworker. As
part of Nortel's on-going consolidation, the Toronto facility where I have
been working is being moved to Belleville, Ontario. Since it is impossible
to commute from Brantford to Belleville, I have opted to move from being a
part-time teleworker to being a full-time teleworker. Chris
Armour, Brantford Ontario
VP
from Gartner Group studies e-work and
telework I am a researcher of the e-workplace and delve into all
aspects of virtual work: workplace issues, virtual teaming, communities,
applications, and the associated management and leadership issues. Many of
the articles posted in CTA have been authored by me. I have been teleworking
now for almost 2 years. I have found the experience both liberating and
enormously productive. And it has provided tremendous insights to the issues
and benefits of teleworking and remote work. My greatest interest is how do
professionals truly collaborate effectively on a virtual basis? What are the
success factors of high performance virtual teams? What is the role of
community in building and sustaining relationships in the virtual workplace?
And how can enterprises more effectively implement telework programs to
drive performance and efficiencies? Michael A.
Bell, VP Gartner Group. Noank, CT
IT Director from
Praxair
is a real tele-manager. "Teleworking
and the associated new technologies (e-mail, teleconferences, Net Meeting,
collaborative databases, etc.) have allowed us to retain high performance
employees who do not wish to relocate or commute long distances. In the four
departments reporting to me, there are two managers and two staff that are
full time telecommuters. Twelve of the remaining staff are part time
telecommuters. Management has had to develop the new skill of "tele-managing"
Of the three departments only one has their employees in one location. The
other three managers have direct reports across several time zones. The
greatest challenge has been the need to develop new methods of distributing,
managing, and monitoring workload and project progress outside the typical
office interfaces".
Colin Ward
Kingstonite happy
teleworking for Ottawa firm,
until...... "Although I had
completed many hours of research at home for previous employers, I found
myself actually teleworking when I landed a position with an Ottawa
company...and I was living in Kingston! It was a wonderful experience and I
was extremely productive. My focus was on the work at hand, not the million
little distractions an office provides. Using the telephone for any reports
or conferences with the boss avoided any deviation from the topic at hand. I
can't imagine ever working in an office again; tight pantyhose and tighter
girlie shoes making me uncomfortable as I squint through the day under
fluorescent lights - never again! Now that I have been downsized by the
Ottawa co., I am struggling to make my own way in the telework world, but I
am passionate about working this way - it's just an efficient, and healthy
way to work".
Holly Murphy
Toronto
web designer loves her
telework I fell in love with
teleworking while I was working towards my Master of Information Studies at
the University of Toronto. My affair with it began when I was hired to work
on The Internet Guide.
The experience was and is fantastic. Since graduating I have gone on to
develop various web sites for clients from the sanctity of my own home. I
quite enjoy working one to one with my clients, developing a relationship
with them without intermediaries. As well, the ability to set my own working
hours allows me to prioritize my daily tasks in ways I see fit for my life.
I would like to note that telework is not for everyone. It takes a certain
amount of business and social skill as well as the ability to focus on the
task at hand. At times it can be difficult to ignore the fact that there is
no one stopping me from walking out the door to take in the sunshine but I
have noted some key observations that may help others alleviate the desire.
- it helps to have a limited view of the
outside world by way of a small or non-existent window in your workspace
- disconnecting the home phone line and
relying solely on a cell phone to which only clients have the number to
is a wise move
- there is direct correlation between the
fascination with the project at hand and the ability to ignore friends
when they stop by for a chat
it is extremely important to have the self-confidence required to buffer
comments from friends and relatives who do not see you as having a
'real' job because you a) do not fight traffic to get to work everyday
b) you are not tied up at work from 9:00-5:00 during the week c) you
have the ability to create your own long weekends.
Of course my experience with telework, like
my character, is my own, so my advice to anyone thinking of teleworking is
to imagine teleworking as an empty room. Decorate it in your style and move
the furniture around until the arrangement pleases you. Then invite some
people over to entertain and assess the mood of the party. Above all, have
fun with it. Laryssa Tyson
Floridian feels
telework makes him a bargain: Well, I don't have any humorous
stuff, but I thought I'd pass along my current situation (I've never worked
telecommuting before). I am retiring soon from my technical job, but I am
not going to quit work! I want to help a company with their office overload
and help them with their Internet presence or to build an Internet presence
for them. The computer applications for which I am skilled makes me more
ideal to become a very big asset to any company at a price they can afford.
Normally, a person with my qualifications would be asking for $90,000 per
year... a lucky company can get me for half that price, providing they allow
me to telecommute. Dan, the
Automated Office
Husband
and wife telework team from Markdale Ontario maintain lifestyle with
telework "My husband and I are both teleworkers. IntelliSys
Solutions is a small, home-based IT consulting company. We moved out of the
Toronto area to the 'country' to improve our quality of life. Telework is a
critical factor in this lifestyle. Our business allows us to telework about
60% of the time. Our change has definitely improved the quality of our life
and we believe that there is enough business out there that can support
teleworking." Liane Coates,
Markdale Ontario
Internet
expert lives and works from home two hours out of Toronto
"I started working via the internet around 1993 or so. Since 1996 I
have done this full time. I have worked as a web producer for Sympatico and
have also designed and/or coded about 50 web sites. I am now working full
time for Workopolis as their job seeker tech support person. I live two
hours outside of Toronto and live and work here (check out Carolyn's website
for great-looking pictures of her unique home). My husband also teleworks. I
will let him know about this site." Carolyn
Poulter, Marmora, Ontario.
Here's
why it's great to telework from an island the BC coast "Why
I tele-commute - I tele-commute because while I adore Vancouver - I hate
working in the city. I love working from my summer home (now winter home
too) on Hornby Island, BC. I take great pleasure in drinking my morning
coffee while listening to CBC Radio as I log on to my computer in my comfy
clothes. During “work”, one of my cats sleeps by my monitor while my
Irish Wolfhound, George dreams at my feet. For my morning coffee break, I
take George to the beach, for lunch I ride my mountain bike to Co-op and
pick up the Globe and Mail and the Province, and for my afternoon coffee
break I walk over to the other side of my living room and lift weights. I
love working in my comfy clothes at my computer while I listen to the waves
crashing in (rather than traffic noise). I welcome storms and power outages
because they force me to stop working, barbeque dinner and then for dessert
paint my toenails red by the candlelight. I divide my work into three
distinct categories: 1) consulting and government policy writing, 2)
brainstorming and researching web businesses & writing articles about
anything and everything for anyone and everyone and last but defiantly not
least, 3) writing the great Canadian Novel. To date I haven’t made any
money, I have only been at “it” for a few days - but I am very confident
that I will succeed as a tele-commuter and free-lance writer - because I
have to. That is my vision and I will make it happen. I my former life (up
until a couple of weeks ago) I was employed by the both the Provincial and
Federal Governments as a policy and procedures writer/researcher with an
undergraduate degree in Criminal Justice and a Masters in Public
Administration. I quit my job on the spur of the moment, with no savings and
no real plan - just a computer and enough money to rent a Budget Cube truck
to get my beloved personal belongings on to the Island. Although I quit my
job at abruptly, it was a long time coming. I had just been back at work for
six months after being off for over a year on “stress-leave”. I suffered
from a serious bought of depression that began when I realized that I wasn’t
in control of my life. I didn’t take pleasure in spending my weekends with
my lap-top in international airports only to come home to the empty house
that I bought with all my extra money, but I couldn’t enjoy because I was
always thinking and working for somebody else. I felt trapped, working hard
to pay for things that I couldn’t enjoy because I had to keep on working
to hold on to them. So, in response to my “problem” I rented out my home
and in turn took over my parents mortgage on their home on Hornby Island.
This lifestyle has always been one of my visions, and now I am making it a
reality. The worst thing that can happen is that I fail. Failure isn’t
usually fatal, it just hurts the ego a little bit. Sure I still fantasize
about the city, night clubbing, getting my hair done, cock-tail parties,
outdoor cafes, hobnobbing with the beautiful people and designer shoes, but
the beauty of it is that when I feel these urges I can hop in my car, travel
on a few BC ferries to Vancouver, indulge myself and then return to my
beautiful retreat here. This is my paradise, my very own garden of Eden. I
couldn’t be happier. Now all that is left for me to do is to ensure a
substantial income so that I can have a 35th floor ocean view highrise condo
in Yaletown as the place where I spend my downtime - that day will come soon
as well. Why wouldn’t it? All it takes is hard work, imagination and
little bit of good luck." Barbara
Svec, Hornby Island, British Columbia
Canadian
MD, working in Rome feels right at home with telework. Up until
now, I've only had the pleasure of working for a U.K. based website,
specializing in biotechnical industry licensing opportunities, as news
editor. It has been a wonderful, definitely novel experience, during which
I've had to research biotech news from around the world. I'm a Canadian
living in Italy, and ever since I've begun this type of work I feel I'm
"at home" when I'm on the job. Leslie
Scott, Rome Italy
New
Jersey teleworker wonders how she managed before telework. I am a
teleworker who has been working from home full time for 1 and 1/2 years and
for several years part time prior to that. I love it! It saves me money,
time and my sanity. I have 2 children (9&12) which I am able to spend
more time with because of my working from home. I don't think I will ever be
able to go back to working in an office environment full time. How did I
ever do it before? Kristin
DeMond, Alpha New Jersey
Telework
can provide employment for military spouses: "Zipperhedz
Technologies was founded in Dec 1999 by two military spouses. The core of
the business is internet consulting. Currently we are building the
e-business infrastructure for an agency of Health Canada. The military
spouse detail referred to above is important since it is is an integral part
of what the company is all about. The company as it stands right now is
staffed 100% by Canadian military spouses. We do not exclude individuals who
do not meet this profile, however we do try to provide employment and
professional development opportunities to this group. Currently, we are
interested in leveraging our knowledge of internet technologies to provide
employment opportunities to this disadvantaged group. We believe that
telework is the vehicle that can provide employment stability for military
spouses who are often forced to move as often as every one to two years to
follow the career of the serving member of the household. Zipperhedz has had
the opportunity to provide telework contracts to military spouses living in
Debert NS, Petawawa ON, Quebec City and Vancouver over the last year and a
half. Now we intend to expand on this business activity. It is the intention
of the company to be recognized in Canada as a leader in this area, and as a
company who can assist military spouses maintain employment opportunities
regardless of where they may be transferred." Angela
Malejczuk, Managing Partner (Executive VP)
Consultant
works much better with telework. "I began teleworking
in 1999. I find that I can add more value to a client's project because I
don't have to show up at their site after a demoralizing commute (via
automobile), and that I can give them only 'quality' time. Instead of
sitting in a cube for 8 hours plus per day (even hours when I'm fatigued)
and billing them for that time, I can work at home on their project when I'm
rested and my head is clear. This leads to higher quality code per hour,
fewer bugs due to fatigue for the client, and a more pleasant experience for
me. It's a "win-win". Additionally, I charge clients less for
telework as my expenses are much lower (and margins higher). What's not to
like?" Roger Langille, Winter,
WI
New Graduate had positive telework
experience during internship: I'm currently looking for
companies that allow telework. Personally I had experienced a telework
scenario for the first time on a internship to a research organization.
Everybody would telework in every Monday, and I found that it happened to be
one of the most productive days of the week. Lateef
Yang, Waterloo, Ontario.
Greek
freelancer teleworks all over the world: I work from home in
Greece, as a translator, mainly in Portuguese, Spanish and English, with
clients in Portugal and Spain. I am a mother of two daughters, and due to my
husband's work we move countries every three years, so I decided, a few
years ago, that the only solution for me was to become a teleworker. As a
translator, I can work from anywhere in the World!! Eugénia
Lisboa, Athens
Self-employed music
editor's children see a lot more of their father "I've only
just started. I'm sure I will have stories to follow but I already love not
driving for 1 hour plus or taking public transit for 2 hours. My kids see a
lot more of Dad. Whether or not that is a good thing would be a question to
ask them." Stephen Hudecki,
Hamilton, Ontario
Productive Executive Editor
can slip out for walks in the sunshine "I edit reports and
articles for a daily corporate investment newsletter. Although I have no
formal agreement in writing, it is understood that I shall make myself
available every workday evening and early morning to receive material by
e-mail and return the edited text in time for the morning deadline. I also
work on the company's occasional, longer stand-alone pieces as they arrive
in my inbox. Mid-day I do work for other, non-competing clients under my own
business name, as well as writing books (a children's novel, poetry, a
literary study). I enjoy the variety and flexibility of my work, and the
chance to slip out for a walk in the sunshine". Susan
Ioannou, Executive Editor, ClearTEXT Rewriting and Editing, Toronto
Telework can make
difference in small town: We are setting up our first office in a
small town, that presently has a very high unemployment rate. We have very
high hopes that through training and minimal experience we can make a
difference in this town. We have discovered a niche market and a product
that is quite in demand these days, due to the low setup costs of a
teleworking office we believe we will be successful. Myles
Rimmer, Elgin, Quebec
-- See dozens of other telework stories in our telework
story archives
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