Working from home

Esther
Esther Posts: 4,052 Former Community Manager

Hi all,

Working from home has become a real thing. Even in the jobs who are classically bound to offices.

These days - more and more people are working from home. And there is a variety of different types of "Home Office": From just a few times a year to some who are working from home in full time.

What we would like to discuss in this thread is everything around the home office.

We would like to understand more about this topic and discuss questions like:

  • What challenges are you facing when working from home?
  • What´s your Home Office set up?
  • How often are you working at home?
  • Did you need to convince your boss to work from home?
  • How do you stay in contact with your colleagues and co-workers?
  • How do you manage your lunch breaks?
  • Or even: Why do you think home office is a bad idea?

I want to invite you to join this exciting topic and share your stories or help others who just began to think about working from home some days a week. Also, side-notes about whether your desk at home looks more or less organized than in your office would be a great insight ;-)

Looking forward to an exciting discussion.

All the best (from my home office),

Esther

Former Community Manager

Comments

  • Esther
    Esther Posts: 4,052 Former Community Manager

    Hi all,

    Wow, I just checked the poll about home office we are currently running, and I saw, that a lot of people are working from home regularly. I was completely surprised by seeing so many people are working full-time from home. Well - I am one of them.

    I am happy to begin this conversation and give you some insights into my home office life.

    After working six years in the TeamViewer headquarter, I switched into a full-time home office agreement. Now I am close to celebrating my first anniversary in home office, and I am wrapping up my experiences a bit:

    A significant benefit of working from home is of course that I can always accept the parcel from the postman. No more messages about a missed delivery! Isn´t it a dream?

    A year ago, I was honestly a bit worried, I would feel alone during working time but even more in my lunch breaks. Interestingly that did not happen very often. I don´t know whether it has something to do with my role as I am always in contact with so many people, that I cannot feel alone. Although the link is all digitally, (except in the lunch breaks, where I can meet friends for a face-to-face chat). 

    The partly loneliness which I can´t and which I won´t deny, however, gives me also some space and time to fully concentrate on my tasks as there is literally no one who could interrupt me (well - I have to mute my phone and chats).

    Before moving into home office, I put some strict rules on myself. Here are two of them:

    1. Only work in your workplace. Never on the couch or any other comfortable places in the house.

    --> This rule worked out pretty well, and I never broke it. Only when being in a phone call, I walk around in the house and garden as it helps me concentrate, (but always in circles around my desk as I sometimes need to get a file or information from my computer.) Also, as my home office desk and the hardware set up looks exactly like the one I had in the headquarter, I feel like I am still sitting at my old desk.

    2. Always go a walk before starting to work to imitate a work-way and to make a clear difference between working time and non-working time.

    --> Well - I completely failed as I never thought about uncomfortable things like rain, wind, darkness, ice, and snow when making that rule. But, at least I try to stick to the rule as often as I can (=the weather allows it).

    Now it´s your turn: Do you have rules as well? Do you have best practices to share?

    Thanks and best, Esther

    Former Community Manager

  • Our company a rather large organization has supported working from home as long as no issues arise relevant to actually working.  Simply be honest and work when you say you are.   There are however squabbles between those allowed to work from home and those who have lost the privilege due to credibility issues.  Sad but true.  

  • Esther
    Esther Posts: 4,052 Former Community Manager

    Hi @LarryO

    Thanks for your post!

    Yes, I wholeheartedly agree. When someone is allowed to work from home, he/she should not abuse this privilege. But I think it is great that the possibility has not been taken away from all employees within your company - only from those who abused it.

    Being honest and act according to the trust the company put on you is the essence of such a settlement.

    Best, Esther

     

    Former Community Manager

  • Yes, many Korean really working at home. Seriously... :(

  • Esther
    Esther Posts: 4,052 Former Community Manager

    Hi @JoonTae_Kim

    Thanks a lot for your post.

    Are you also working from home? If yes: How many times a week and do you have -by any chance- any best practices to share with us?

    I am looking forward to your tips and experiences with home office.

    Thanks and best,

    Esther

    Former Community Manager

  • PDSTORY
    PDSTORY Posts: 4 ✭✭

    We, Koreans have no freetime, as it were, 24 hours are all working time and have to make one's own time and enjoy it at office or home or anywhere.

  • Esther
    Esther Posts: 4,052 Former Community Manager

    Hi all,

    Thanks for all interested in this topic and all who voted in our poll.

    The results are interesting as well as impressive, and I am happy to share them with you.

    With 27% (=232 votes) the top choice was doing home office Once or twice a week

    HomeOffice_Result.png

    With just a few votes less, we see the ones working at home in full time. I have to admit, that I was not expecting that many people are working from home in full time, and I am happy to see this innovative kind of working evolving and being accepted in more and more businesses.

    I would love to discuss this topic with you even more, and I am inviting all of you to join this thread to discuss the topic Home Office in more detail.

    Thanks and best, 

    Esther

    Former Community Manager

  • macovea
    macovea Posts: 1

    Hello all!

    Maybe I'm writing on the wrong topic, if it so - tell me that please.

    BUT!

    Can anyone explain to me why access via TeamViewer from home to a work computer is considered commercial? After all, this is my PERSONAL computer, I spend my PERSONAL time at work WITHOUT getting ANY benefit from it - so why is it a commercial use?

    I can't understand this...

  • DJ_Benny62
    DJ_Benny62 Posts: 1

    I'm in the same situation - self employed - accessing files from one computer to another . I spoke to a sales rep via their online chat and because it's a "work" computer, that automatically puts us in the "commercial" license criteria. As I cannot afford $50/month for looking at my own files, I will be moving on from Team Viewer