I was reminded recently about how much the successful management of remote writing projects relies on common sense, communications, and teamwork. Looking back over previous part-time remote projects I’ve worked on the lack of one of those elements usually made for a lot more difficult of a project.
However, I’m the first to say that communications are a two way street between the remote writer and the mother ship.
I am past the three month mark working from home again and haven’t gone completely Lord of the Flies or gone total hermit yet. On the other hand, spending three years on a federal government contract might have made me a hermit. Some things had really changed since the last time I worked from home with any frequency.
Here are some observations from what I call Working from Home Redux:
Before crossing back over to full-time work, I spent much of my career as a contract technical writer. It was a good time until the economy tanked and even let me work remotely on some contracts.
As the economic apocalypse lingers, I am noticing fewer part-time remote projects as I once did. Combined with some recent online conversations I’ve come across, I got to thinking about the times I’ve seen remote technical writing projects work and not work for both the organization and the writer.
I first worked remotely as a freelancer in the computer book publishing industry and later as a technical writer.
If you are on the hunt for a remote technical writing project, remember these things make them (im) possible:
I am now available for part-time technical writing projects that can be accomplished from my home office. Currently, my availability is 15-20 hours per week and I am able to make conference calls towards the end of the business day EST. My strong and diverse technical writing experience includes:
You can read more about my technical writing experience on my professional site or LinkedIn profile. Please contact me for further information about my availability for technical writing projects.
One of the impacts of the down economy on the technical writing market I thought was going to be more part-time offsite projects
After making the mistake of dropping down to only one employer in 2008/early 2009, I am leery of ever going that traditional route again so I keep myself open to projects I can work from my home office on evenings and weekends.
While the rise of part-time writing project can be a boon to us writers, employers are still struggling with the concept in some circles.
If teleworking is a goal for you, the first thing you need to know is that many organizations just aren’t ready for teleworkers. They lack the infrastructure, mature processes, management, and the maturity to work with remote employees in a productive manner. Having seen telework programs both in the United States federal government and in the commercial sector, I tend to believe that organizations have to reach a certain level of maturity in order to have a successful telework program because its success is by no means a turn key affair.
Here are 5 signs to look for that mean your organization is ready to support a telework program:
After you put your first corporate telework program in place, you’ll find that the actions and inactions of management, workers staying in the office, and the teleworkers themselves all have an impact on the success of the program. Managing these stakeholders and the politics they bring into play is integral to the success of teleworking in your organization.
Making the move to corporate teleworking may seem simple from the web worker’s perspective. However, the introduction of teleworking can have an impact on many facets of an organization; careful planning is a must if your organization is considering allowing its employees to work remotely. A telework pilot program is the first step for your organization to take prior to allowing full employee teleworking.
Many corporations rely on Project Management Offices (PMOs) to centralize project management activities. Just as organizations have to change some of their processes to accommodate web working, PMOs have to be at on the forefront of those changes to manage organizational projects to successful delivery.
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