The socialthing! team has been telecommuting for about a week and a half now and it’s been a pretty big experiment. As a team, can we be away from each other and still stay just as productive? The simplest answer is: Not really. But that’s not the whole answer, and there’s a lot of factors that go into this, so this will be my own made up primer for telecommuting.
Ben and I came back to the midwest for a few weeks both for our own reasons, and Brian took a trip out to California to do a little schmoozing with the locals (what we call “Business Development”). While we’ve been away, we’ve done what we can to keep in touch and work together on the project, and in most cases were able to, but it’s been less than ideal for sure. The project has definitely continued and we’re prepping our next release; this one more than likely will be our “Release Candidate” product, meaning that a few weeks after we’ve tested it, we’ll be able to get more people in on the game. There are a few things, however, that we could have done to improve the telecommuting experience.
Communication
Mobile Email - Now, the guys and I, we’ve all got BlackBerry’s and they really help out. No matter where we are, we can stay connected and communicate really easily (that is, if there’s good signal). I’ve personally been able to keep up with all of my email despite my being out and about while at “home” (in Central IL), so this is a must if you’re a traveler.
IM - This is a no-brainer. Anyone that’s telecommuting should be “always-on” with their IM client, but likewise, the party you’re telecommuting with should also have their IM on whenever they’re at their desk. This is basically just a replacement for turning around and talking to someone while at the office. If someone’s not at their desk, you obviously can’t talk to them, but for the most part, it helps to keep communication solid.
Project Management Software - This can be anything, in the case of socialthing!, we use Basecamp and Lighthouse. Now I’m not going to go into an explanation for the reason that we use these, that’s for another time, but realizing the necessity of project management software while away from the HQ is important. Using these can help you continue to be on task, just like you were back in the office. As long as you update the timelines and tasks, etc. you’ll be able to keep on track with all of your co-workers.
Time Management
Just like having hours for when you’re going to be in the office, if you plan to work from home or some other location, make sure you set aside some time to do as such. The hard part of working from home is getting motivated to work, but so long as you give yourself “office hours” it’s much easier. For me, it was waking up at 7:30a and being ready to work by 8a. As the day goes along, sometimes you have things to do in the meantime, but you can always come back to work. If you can, leave your computer (laptop in my case) set up back at basecamp so that as soon as you can get the time, you can get back to work.
Eat Well
Now I may sound seriously insane here, but trust me…there’s a point. This goes especially if you’re telecommuting from home. The temptation is there to just turn around and grab that bag of chips and just go for it. You don’t quite have this problem in the office as these types of snacks (unless you’re a Google-er) aren’t always readily available. But elsewhere, you might have lots of stuff to just grab and munch on. Simple answer: don’t do it. Most likely, you don’t do it in the office, and you really shouldn’t do it at home. This is one easy way to mess up your health. Even a few days on greasy snacks can set your daily routine back a bit. If you must eat compulsively while you’re at home…just do it in a healthy manner…fruit is always a good choice.
Scenery
If you’ve got the ability to (meaning you’ve got WiFi or some 3G cellular card), get out of the house, or hotel or whatever. Go down to the local coffee shop (and I mean local, not a Starbucks, you can get that back home). Head over to the park, wherever…just give yourself some nice place to sit while you’re working. This can make all the difference in the world. If you can keep to a happy disposition, your work will reflect that. In your office, you’re in “the zone” and can typically bare down and work well, but outside of the office, you might get discouraged by your surroundings. So uproot, get out, and enjoy some fresh air with your laptop.
So this was a pretty “out there” primer for telecommuting, but it would be my best suggestions for doing something a little different, while you’re doing something a little different (with your working environment).
Who knows what tangent I’ll go on next 
