Home Sweet…Office?The women of Connect: Professional Women’s Network tackle

the hot-button issue of working remotely, and offer advice

on how to do it successfully.

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I found that I was more productive working in my home. I got up in

the morning and prepared for work just as I would if commuting. I

could focus better without people stopping by to chat or being

called in for meetings. Colleen FordProgram Manager

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Time management is key, even more so than in an office, where

certain cues are available (like seeing people go to lunch, get up

for meetings, etc.). Jennie Oyola

Senior Performance Analyst

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I work with colleagues globally. Finding a good web-conference

solution is important, and if you can have video, that can also be

helpful. Having collaboration tools is important, too. We use

Google Docs frequently, and it's great for these purposes. Amanda SommaConsulting Director

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Working from home has allowed me some benefits as a parent. I

could get up at 5 a.m. and work for an hour or two before getting

my kids up and off to school. I also did not have to get them to a

before-school day care so I could commute to the office on time.

That makes it a plus to my employers already.

Laura Jones Consultant, Business

Development

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I have a team style that works well in person and am trying to

translate it to remote because in my current company, none of us

are co-located. What's worked is being proactive on outbound

communication and checking in frequently, not just on progress,

but to throw ideas around or just goof around a bit.

.

Cheryl KellondCEO and Co-Founder at

Bia Sport

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I work from home. Every day. The flexibility is great. It is all about

getting the work done. Not WHEN you do the work or where you

are when you do it. Katrina LarrabeeAnalyst, AVP, Citi and

Co-Owner CELA, LLC

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Telecommuting can work effectively with a very clear set of

guidelines and programs for communications. The key is

documentation. Everything needs to be documented so that

everyone is on the same page. Dorothy DistefanoWriter on the Verge

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I have worked with teams spanning multiple time zones and find

that Basecamp (or similar) is a great way to organize project

details (with or without time-zone issues). That and a quality

shared calendar usually works well for us.

Julie PetrarcaPrincipal at Studio 754

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FLICKR PHOTO CREDITS:Slide 8: Dvortygirl

Join the conversation!Connect: Professional Women’s Network, Powered by Citi, is an online community on LinkedIn that helps women achieve the careers they want and discuss the issues relevant to their success.

For more great insights from Connect members, check out the discussions: Any women not in a 9-5 office environment?, Do any of you telecommute? , Anyone else here work remotely?and Remote Employee Pros and Cons?

Visit linkedin.com/womenconnect for more information and to join the group!

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