As I get to know my new communinty, people ask me where I work and what I do. Eventually it comes out that I work for a Silicon Valley based company, full time, from my home in Fort Bragg, California. The conversations can be very interesting (even with co-workers who can't understand how I can work from home) so I thought I'd start to document some of the interesting assumptions people make. Maybe others can come up with other categories but I thought I'd start with some "myths" that I've had to dispell.
Myth #1: "You can work any hours that you want and no one will know"
False: No, I can't. There are still meetings to attend and expectations that I work a certain number of hours, accomplish all my tasks, read my email. My manager and team mates expect me to be available during normal (or abnormal) working hours. Even though I work from home, this is still a real job, and I have to do real work just like everyone else.
Myth #2: "You're home all the time, I can just drop by to chat"
False: See Myth #1. No you can't. I do take breaks but I can't just drop everything because someone comes over. There are meetings, deadlines, etc. But, if you call me before you drop by, I'll let you know if I'm busy because taking a break, and talking face to face with flesh-and-blood human being would be a nice treat.
Anyone else have any good myths, misconceptions, or other interesting comments about working from home?
Tagging Pam Kong
Posted by melanie gao on June 24, 2007 at 07:50 PM PDT #