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CTA
members tell their stories: Part 8
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Albertan
has 14 years teleworking experience I have been a
telecommuter for 14 years for several top 10 employers in
Canada. In the late eighties even before Corporations started
programs for teleworkers, I ran a sole office for Aetna Health
Management from the comfort of my home. I ran a professional
office, set-up for me in COMPLETE by my employer. I had state
of the art IT equipment linked to a global intranet& World
Renowned Health System; I had executive designer furniture
corporate discounts you know!) and had "virtual"
assistants, colleagues and bosses. We communicated in
virtuosso. That's what I call it. My part in the organization
was to provide customer service...meet people, coordinate
projects, I was always on the move and in the community doing
my job. But when it came to administration the reports,
meetings, conference calls, human resource tasks,...all done
in virtuosso. I had a successful position, was supported and
trained by my Employer and was able to bring in A huge profit
for them. It was a great fit my position didn't require I be
in Corporate Headquarters nor did I NEED to be on the 25th
Floor Office Tower overlooking the River...It was a FIT! This
goes to show that the trusted and pro-active employee is the
one driving the business no matter where their office is
located or what the scenery is! I have since given courses on
telework and helped employers start programs that support
telecommuting! Have a Good One. Rita
Larose. St Albert, Alberta
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Hurricane
Isabel: AgilQuest VP works right through with telework
(despite being right in the path): "I have to
tell you, teleworking at its finest here in Virginia in the
midst of hurricane Isabel. I decided not to go into Richmond
office from where I live in Newport News, Virginia (Hampton
Roads peninsula) about an hour and half drive. The winds are
hollowing outside and I am staying productive from my home
office, communicating, networking, surfing, etc. (as long as
power stays on!) My productivity couldn't be higher since I
won't be going outside for the next 12 hours or so! Otherwise,
a few years back this would have been an official day off due
to weather conditions. Matthew
D. Fahy, Vice President - Finance, AgilQuest
Corporation
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After
teleworking for 8 years, Ottawa-based Insurance Company
manager considers telework a wonderful benefit. In
1996, with our company growing rapidly, space became limited.
It was determined that due to the nature of my job (extensive
travel and outside meetings), that I did not need an 'office'.
The decision was made to set me up at home. I thought that
this was one of the best thing to happen to me in my entire
career. I soon learned about the many challenges involved:
getting started in the morning (with the many household
distractions), and then, stopping in the evening. Also,
avoiding working weekends was a challenge. I have been able to
incorporate Telework into both my professional and personal
life, and consider it a benefit that my company has given me.
I love it (one of the reasons that I have remained with this
organization to this date!). Aaron
Parker, Manager, Account Development, The Personal
Insurance Company
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Call
centre performance specialist says telework 'worth it'.
A few years back, I started teleworking one day a week to
spend time with my new daughter. I was lucky that my boss at
the time understood the importance of work life balance and
benefits of teleworking. With some creative scheduling and
teleworking, my wife and I were able to save money on day care
and spend more quality time with our daughter. Since I was a
senior manager, the only challenge I experienced was
separating work and home time since you are always connected
to the office by e-mail. But in the end, it was all worth it! Ken
Matthews, Director, Business Development, Call
Evaluation Group
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TDM
Coordinator from Markham working on telework project
"My responsibility is to deliver programs and services to
local employers that will reduce the number of vehicle trips
arriving at various worksites in Markham. To support these
efforts we're working on creating a draft telework policy to
support a planned telework pilot project scheduled for later
this year." Lorenzo
Mele, Transportation Demand Management Coordinator. Town
of Markham, Ontario
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Telework
from BC allows more time with family. Having done
remote support for computer software for 10 years, teleworking
was a given when I started my own consulting company 12 years
ago. Working from home has enabled me to spend more time with
my family. A number of years ago, we moved out of the city to
a much smaller community in British Columbia. While I still
travel to see clients in person, I am able to do most of my
work from my home office. Cliff
Enquist, Database Designer, SQL
By Design Inc.
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Brampton
Ontario worker less stressed with telework. Medical
Transcriptionist, home based for local area hospitals. I
started this because my daughter is enrolled in an E-arts
school. Homebased business allows me to have the freedom to
tend to her needs and still have time to work without the
added stress of traffic and running around to do other things
in between. While working at home, I am less stressed. Sandra
Sylburne
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Manager
has teleworked from 'day one'. Actually, I do
telework- and have never done otherwise. As a matter of fact I
have teleworked for over 6 years and have never even worked in
an office environment. I absolutely love it! I can get so much
done- and to my employers advantage, I often work after hours
or through lunch. Of course- not everything is perfect--and it
does get lonely at times... so I recommend getting a kitty or
puppy to get you company. I'm up to four cats now, so I never
get bored. I think eventually, teleworking will become the
standard, rather than the expectation. Thanks for such a great
site- what a wealth of information! Amber
Frye, Business Development Manager, Teltone
Corporation
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Global
company thrives with telework My
employer is Namzak Labs Inc. and the founders are located in
Toronto, Kingston (Ontario), Pittsburgh, Honolulu and Tokyo so
it not possible for everyone to work in a single office. We
sell the WebArrow product line of real-time remote
collaboration services. Using our own web conferencing
services makes it easier to work from home like I do. It also
helps us to work together while we are geographically
separated. Flexible hours and convenience are really important
when there are so many different time zones involved. Ralph
Roberts, Toronto Canada
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Calgary
lawyer
finds working from home highly effective! I am a
lawyer working from my home office. Most of my work is done by
phone and fax. I meet clients in their business and homes,
restaurants, and occasionally in public office space that I
rent. About once every two months, I take my most active files
and visit another city for a few weeks, and keep working.
Thanks to smart use of technology, my clients rarely, if ever,
know when I am in town or out-of-town. My work gets done, and
I'm a lot less stressed since I'm able to spend time with
friends and family who are important to me - wherever they
are. Charles Fair,
Calgary Alberta
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Federal
web services coordinator finds telework more productive:
I have an agreement with my supervisor which has me working
from home 1 day a week. I find I get more correspondence done
when I telework and use it as means of catching up when I feel
the crunch. Dale Clark,
Environment Canada
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Toronto
transportation executive touts telework to reduce commuting
woes: I'm interested in tele-commuting as a
way to reduce traffic gridlock, smog and greenhouse gas
emissions that result from driving to work everyday. While
I am very committed to taking transit everyday to work, it
takes me about 2 1/2 hours roundtrip. I usually spend this
time reading, writing or editing (or napping!), but
occasionally I take the opportunity to tele-commute instead
which allows me to cut out the 2 1/2 hour commute time. This
extra time is very precious and allows me to do errands that I
normally don't have time for, and helps me to make time for
exercise, relaxation and a leisurely, healthy and delicious
dinner. I find that my work life is typically hectic and that
I work long hours, and the flexibility and ability to cut down
on my commuting is particularly valuable for my well-being and
sanity! In turn, I encourage and support this policy for my
own staff - my Sustainable Transportation Coordinator.
To facilitate this, we discuss
types of activities that are a good fit for working from home
and arrange a schedule that allows for tele-commuting where
possible. There are times where we must be in the office or in
a face-to-face meeting, and we plan ahead to attend using
transit or ride-sharing. We definitely encourage our members
who implement trip reduction programs at their workplaces to
include tele-commuting as an option for staff. Janet
Lo, Executive Director, Black
Creek Regional Transportation Management Association
Toronto, Ontario
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Statistics
Canada allows teleworking: I have been doing it for
just over a year and I know of several others doing the same. Ingrid
Friesen, Canadian Cancer Registry, Statistics Canada
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Programmer
/ web designer from Woodstock, ON absolutely loves
telecommuting: I started working with a company on
a contract business about a year ago. With the contract
position, I have had the opportunity to work from home. I have
found out that I absolutely love telecommuting! I am great at
managing my time and multiple projects. I would love to
continue to work from home with varying projects. Jenny
Moore
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Stratford
Ontario fundraiser searching for work she can do from home:
When our first son was seven months old I returned to work
full time as Manager of Special Programs at the Stratford
Festival. I decided before long that I needed a better balance
to my life and asked to resign my position and take a few
responsibilities to be fulfilled from my home office. I worked
10-15 hours a week mostly writing sponsor proposals and
solicitation materials and doing online donor research.
Unfortunately, my position was lost to some organizational
restructuring. I wanted to continue my part-time career from
home and worked as Director of Development at Theatre on the
Grand (I worked on-site one day a week) and also fulfilled a 5
hour a week contract proposal writing and researching for
Toronto Rehab Institute. Our second son is now 7 1/2 months
old and I am once again searching for work that I can do from
home. Michelle
Purdy
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See dozens of other telework
stories in our telework
story archives
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