Working At Home
As an employee, you might be able to reduce your need to travel to work by working at home or another office/location closer to your home on one or more days per week.
Advantages of working at home include being able to focus on project tasks away from the office, and working at a time that suits you best. You also have more time in your day by not having to commute, and more money in your pocket at the end of it. Try it once a week.
For the employer, allowing your employees to work at home on occasion can lead to better productivity (as staff have a break from their daily commute and are away from the distractions of the office) and reduced absenteeism (as staff can e.g. be at home to accept deliveries and deal with other short personal matters without having to take a whole day off work).
To be able to work from home, you might need to ask your employer to provide some of the following:
- Work telephone/mobile phone, IT equipment (including printer if necessary), broadband/WiFi connections, office space and furniture at home
- Portable and compact laptop computer
"By investing in technology to reduce travel your business will reduce costs and benefit from increased productivity. You are also protecting your business against losses associated with travel disruption (snow, volcanic ash, accidents and major incidents, etc.)"
ways2work website
For people who work at home or away from their base office more regularly, some of the following might also be desirable:
- Alternative workplaces/hubs or hot-desking, e.g. shared desks at local offices
- A work-based online discussion forum to reduce feeling of social exclusion from work, and email and access to files via a web browser
- Internet telephony (e.g. VoIP)
- Corporate subscription to a range of public wireless networks/hotspots
- Advice about healthy eating and taking exercise when working from home
"In this interconnected world, technological and social networking advances are enabling better ways of working and collaborating..."
ways2work website
