Jatinder A* misses working from home. Today, he has his own business and manages his own team, but up until six months ago, he was working from home and he loved it. He recollects, "I was working from home for five years. I was very happy."
Telecommuting -- an arrangement which allows for flexibility when it comes to working location and hours -- is not a popular trend in India, but there are those who prefer it to the nine-to-five routine. Jatinder made a conscious decision to get away from the rat race when he chose to work from home. "It was because of the insecurity in workplaces today. You depend on someone else's conscience/ intelligence to do business right. If they go wrong, their employees suffer as well. Any day can be your last day on the job. If there is so much risk involved, I thought why not take it myself and try to build my own business?"
And so Jatinder began working as a remote systems support personnel for a US-based organisation. The company has now opened an office in India that Jatinder heads.
One of the things he misses most while working on the company premises is his interaction with his family. "While working from home, I was always available to my family," says Jatinder. "My daughter was happy about it. Now that I have to go to the office, I am not able to give as much time to my wife and kid," he says with remorse.
So, what made Jatinder give up working from home? "A time comes when you grow enough that you need other people to work for you -- then there is no choice but to begin working in an office," he says.
Sachin Joshi, an entrepreneur from Pune, agrees that working from home has its own advantages. "I rarely go to the office. What I need to do can be done from home, so I prefer working from home," he says.
What made him take this decision? "One of the most important reasons is the availability of broadband connections at home. Telecommuting is so easy that you don't have to think twice. You can talk to anyone anywhere using modern software and technology. My business does not depend on where I am," he adds.
Even he cites family time as being critical in deciding where he is working from. "My family needs me now, since my child is still small. I understand that and have accordingly adjusted my work around it," he explains.
Many of today's software professionals work from home. Nagendra Shet, a software professional from Mumbai says, "I work from home many times. In fact, many of my colleagues in the US work from home. It is convenient and if the person is dedicated, profitable too."
However, he says that telecommuting hasn't caught up in India due to insecurity in the senior managers. "People in the United States are evaluated by their work output and not by their presence in the office. In India, constant presence is a must. Managers have to be present to supervise. Junior staff can take some liberties, if they are answerable to only one individual," he explains.
The new buzzword, what with escalating real estate prices, is optimisation of resources. "Working in the office would mean that much workspace, infrastructure like a personal computer, air-conditioning, tea-coffee, food, electricity and all the overheads," explains Sachin, "Some companies are now encouraging people to work from home because they can save on their overheads too."
Sonia Pai from Bangalore says, "I had some health problems recently. However, the company I worked with refused to let me work from home. My boss actually told me that he didn't trust the work-from-home concept. So I quit. Now I do freelance projects."
The exodus of freelance projects in the market has also been a boost for people wanting to work from home. Nidhi Sharma from Delhi says, "My core profile is HR. I render freelance services to HR departments of companies. I make their recruitment calls. It helps them whenever they have a recruitment load."
She says it helps that she's freelancing, because she has a baby to take care of. "I can now work at my convenience and also take care of my baby. Yes, there are times when the workload is more than expected. I get some help from my in-laws or my parents when that happens," she adds.
Companies that offer employees the work-from-home option have to do the following:
~ Create a policy on working from home.
~ Provide broadband connections to their employees at home.
~ Provide infrastructure like laptops and accessories.
Moreover, employees have to make sure that they give telecommuting their best efforts. Jatinder gave us his mantra of making work from home a success. Here's what you need to do:
~ Have a separate work area within your home; consider this as your office.
~ Structure your time and work. Do not go lax with your timings. Discipline is very important.
~ Work more than your employer/ clients expect of you. This attitude may or may not pay off with a steady job, but it works for telecommunications.
~ Trust your clients if you feel they trust you.
~ Be willing to take some risks monetarily. Set your target risks and stick by them. If you lose more than your set limit, don't pursue the venture.
*Name has been changed to protect privacy.