How to Work Effectively in a Shared Flat

Division of workspace if you are in a co-working hub is fairly straightforward but if you are sharing your home then things might not be so clear. Marleen Clover has written a post for us on the dos and don’t when remote working from a shared flat. Marleen works as a marketing assistant at Timeo. She has a background in business administration and management and loves reading poetry and fiction.

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In a perfect world, everything works according to our exact needs. This isn’t always the case when you have roommates. You may be saving up to get a place of your own, but you won’t get very far if you can’t get any work done. Compromise and strategy are key to building an environment where you can work remotely with the least amount of distraction and disturbance.

Make a Map of Schedules

Be aware of your roommate(s) work schedule and plans outside of work. If you can, try to invert that schedule when creating your own. If you need peace and quiet from a noisy roommate, or you need to prevent being tempted from chatting it up, you’ll find it easier to do your work when you know you’ll have the place to yourself. Assuming your roommate does not work remotely like you do, they will likely have a set work schedule where they’re coming and going at specific times. If they don’t work your standard nine-to-five job, these hours may change from day to day. It will require some flexibility on your part, but you likely have more leniency than they do.

Set Up in the Right Location

You need to have some kind of work station. In most cases, it will all fit on top of and inside of a desk. Placing this desk strategically will help you get your work done. Try not to place it in common areas or open spaces that receive a lot of traffic. If your flat already has a designated office area or spare bedroom, this is a no brainer. If your roommate uses the kitchen and living areas very frequently, you’ll want to avoid setting up there. If you need to, you can always set up your work station in your bedroom. Some people who work from home have revamped very large storage closets or walk in pantries into micro-offices. If you happen to have one that’s not being used, repurposing and optimizing your storage can make this option a possibility.

Balance Entertaining and Being Considerate

A little compromise will go a long way. Talk to your roommate about what times and days are best for entertaining company. Should a special occasion be on the way, make sure you clear it with each other far enough in advance. If your roommate is going to have some friends over for board games, the sounds of the good time they’re having will undoubtedly distract you, and likely make you wish you were doing something else. If he or she is having family over for a meal and you’re stowed away working, you wouldn’t want to seem rude. It’s all about balancing time.

Measuring Decibels

When you’re working from home, you need to be able to hear yourself think. If the area you’re working with contains a TV or stereo, or shares a wall with a room that does, this can potentially become frustrating. Figure out what volumes you can and can’t work with, and at what time volume adjustments need to be made. If for some reason, you can’t come to an agreement, or the walls are simply very thin, you’ll need to have a backup plan. If your work doesn’t involve constantly being on the phone or on Skype, invest in a decent pair of headphones. Listen to relaxing sounds or white noise to cancel out the interfering sounds. They won’t distract you, and they may even improve your focus and productivity.

Review Your Options

At some point in your co-habitation, you might discover that while some of your roommates are excellent co-workers, others simply disrupt your work and make you less productive. If you’ve got a few friends with whom you like to co-work, it might be a good idea to get a place together. Imagine a collective of remote workers living together – they’ll understand each other’s needs perfectly. Have a look at services like Gumtree to check apartment rent offers and you might just stumble upon a place that would be perfect for you and 2 or 3 of your freelancing friends.

 

Want to Help Stop Climate Change? Start Working Remotely

In November representatives from 200 countries will gather in Paris to hash out a plan of action to reduce climate change. Some see this as a ‘last chance’ for action as the the amount of human produced CO2 in our atmosphere is on the rise. Population growth, deforestation and increased consumption of fossil fuels are all to blame.

For many modern companies with a social conscience working in a distributed way is well aligned with reducing environmental impact. Eric Bieller argues that working remotely could be an important factor in reducing climate change and makes a call for companies to seriously think about changing the way they work.

Eric is the co-founder of Speak, a tool that provides instant communication and presence for remote teams. His team’s goal is to enable a future where the office is no longer a necessity and people are free to work from anywhere in the world. You can find Eric on Twitter (@ericbieller).

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Over the last century, motor vehicles have become commonplace in our society, becoming a hefty contributor to this increase in CO2 emissions.

Increase in registered vehicles on the road since 1975
(IHS Global Insight and Wells Fargo Securities, LLC)

Increase in CO2 emissions since over the last century
(Source: http://www.epa.gov/)

In fact, transportation is estimated to account for as much as 31% of human emissions.

(Source: http://www.epa.gov/)

Meanwhile, deforestation has reduced the planet’s ability to filter CO2 out of the atmosphere.

Continuing on this path could mean devastating consequences for future generations, including rising global temperatures and shrinking of polar ice.

And while the financial crisis of 2008 may have reduced car ownership, subsequently reducing the amount of human produced CO2 in the atmosphere, in the last few years this number has started to creep back up towards pre 2008 levels.

(Source: http://www.epa.gov/)

Unfortunately there is no single solution to this problem. If we are going to solve climate change and help dial back CO2 emissions, we’re going to need to attack the problem from multiple angles, starting with our reliance on motor vehicles.

The death of the commute

One of the biggest reasons for increased car ownership, and the subsequent rise in CO2 emissions, is that commuting has become commonplace over the last century.

Cars have made it possible to live in the suburbs but work in the city center. And while this has afforded many people the freedom to live and work where they want, it has also made commuting a way of life for our culture.

In fact, a commuter spends an average of one work week in traffic over the course of a year.

All this time adds up to literally tons of extra CO2 building up in the atmosphere. This also adds up to years of collective productivity that is being lost as we sit in traffic on our way to work.

Ditch the commute and start working remotely

Knowledge workers are in an especially unique position to ditch the commute and start working remotely, as their jobs can typically be done from anywhere. The only requirements are a solid internet connection and the right tools.

In fact, several large remote teams have managed to build extremely successful products, despite being separated by distance and time zones:

Automattic has created a celebrated culture of remote work, with hundreds of employees scattered across 28 countries.

Github is another great success story, with approximately 75% of their employees working remotely.

Buffer has also managed to build a fun and unique culture by embracing remote work.

Taking real steps toward working remotely

I’m not saying that your entire workforce should become remote tomorrow. After all, you can’t just flip a switch and suddenly have a happy and productive remote team.

But why not dip your toes in the water by allowing employees work from home one or two days out of the week? Even a modest remote work policy can give workers a greater sense of freedom and lead to increased productivity. It’ll also show them that you trust them to be autonomous and self managing.

These are certainly small steps, but on a global scale this can really add up! Every minute spent working instead of commuting equates to less CO2 being pumped into the atmosphere and more time spent being productive.

Conclusion

Climate change is a serious matter that’s going to call for serious action if we’re to solve it. But this means that society’s old habits are going to have to change.

Technology has made it possible for us to stay connected to each other even when we’re working on opposite sides of the planet. We’re no longer shackled to the office and doomed to spend hours of our lives stuck in traffic. But it’s up to us to make a change. It’s time for us to cut our ties to this old way of life and start embracing the future of work.

What do you think? Can working remotely make a serious dent in reducing climate change? Let us know in the comments section below!

Applying for a remote job? Prepare to answer these interview questions

Not long ago we published a post on Hunting for Remote Working Jobs. In a very useful follow up Monique Rivers takes a look at the kind of questions a company might ask you in your interview for a remote position.

Monique is an Australian tech blogger who also loves good food and fashion. She works at ninefold.com. Ninefold is a company providing efficient and powerful virtual servers for all those occasions when a business needs to move their ideas into the cloud.

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Together with the rapid growth of communication technologies, we have witnessed remote work explode in popularity. If you still think working from home is a rare solution, just have a look at these statistics. Every field offers remote jobs that might fit your current preferences and lifestyle. How to make a good impression during an interview of a remote job? Here are top 5 questions you should prepare for when applying for this kind of professional opportunity.

What is your daily schedule?

Recruiters will want to see how well you know yourself: when you’re focused and what your top hours for productivity are. They’ll be interested whether you’re a morning bird or a night owl.

Remote jobs are often flexible and almost never tied town to the classic nine-to-five schedule – workers all over the world can work in shifts for one company. Recruiters will be interested in your strategies for organizing your work. You need to know your natural rhythm and analyse your daily schedule before you answer this question.

Which communication tools would you use in this situation?

Working in remote teams, you won’t have the chance of catching someone in between meetings for a quick chat. In order to be a productive member of the team, you’ll need solid knowledge on virtual communication and which methods are most efficient for your purposes.

Recruiters will be interested to see whether you’re well-versed in modern communication technologies like email, video hangouts, online chats or project management software. Moreover, they might give you a specific example and ask you to suggest which communication tool is the best one to use. It’s your turn to show that you know how to make remote projects proceed smoothly.

What are your requirements for a productive workspace?

Asking this question, recruiters are making sure that you’re aware of all the physical aspects of working remotely. They’ll also need this knowledge to see whether the company should provide you with specific equipment.

By Ali Edwards, Flickr, CC-BY

Whether you work from your kitchen counter or the couch, you’ll always need a few basics – a standing desk, high-quality scanner or even coworking office. Define your preferences and requirements – always mention them during the interview.

What tools do you use for managing your calendar/schedule?

Recruiters are really interested in this aspect – they might ask you questions about details, such as whether your calendar is open for everyone to see or what kind of events you post there. Organization is key in remote work, so recruiters will want to know what your tools for time management are and whether you’re familiar with crucial apps and platforms.

This also shows how much thought you put to organizing your work. It’s possible that joining the company, you’ll need to make a few changes, but the basic idea of organization needs to be there in the first place.

What is the organization system on your computer?

Recruiters will also want to know how you keep track of important files, notes and links on your computer. You’ll be sharing files with your coworkers and if they’re not properly named, you risk cluttering their workspace with things they cannot categorize at a glance.

Before you apply for a remote job, make sure to have an organization system in place: for storing files, managing issues like multiple tabs open in your browsers or keeping track of important links.

Working in remote has many perks, but it surely isn’t for everyone. When applying for a remote job, make sure that you have the required skills and actually like to work on your own. Remember that your professional history will be scrutinized as well – if your past positions involved a degree of autonomy, your chances at landing a remote job are much higher.

10 Apps that Help Create a Stress-Free Workday

Recently I’ve been reading up on Mindfulness. Mindfulness, according to Aleksandra Zgierska in 2009, is “accepting and non-judgemental focus of one’s attention on the emotions, thoughts and sensations occurring in the present moment“. It is a “mind-body approach to well-being that can help you change the way you think about experiences and reduce stress and anxiety” [Bemindful.co.uk]. I really like some of the core concepts, such as: focussing on the present, acceptance of the way things are, openness to new information, being fully present and beginner’s mind. I’m no expert yet but I’m going to keep reading and trying out…

Sarah Pike is interested in how we can de-stress our lives as remote workers and has written about 10 apps that help create a stress-free workday.

Sarah is a freelancer and college writing instructor. When she’s not writing or teaching, she’s probably binge-watching RomComs on Netflix or planning her next camping trip. She also enjoys following far too many celebrities than she should on Instagram. You can find Sarah on Twitter at @sarahzpike.

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Studies show people who work out of the office are more productive than their in-office peers. However, that doesn’t mean that working in your pajamas means you’re living a stress-free life. If you’re working from home and need a little help de-cluttering your mind, here are ten apps that can help reduce your workday stress.

1. Asana

One of the biggest obstacles to working from home is finding ways to effectively communicate with the rest of your team. Asana helps to streamline the communication process by eliminating the need for email. The app allows you to organize tasks, create shared projects and add comments to each task your entire group can see.

2. Stop, Breathe & Think

Meditation is a strong catalyst for helping your mind and body recover from a stressful day of work. Throwing a few minutes of it into your workday has shown to help lower your stress and make you more productive. The Stop, Breathe & Think app makes the mediation process personal by asking questions pertaining to your current state of mind and wellness, then mapping out meditation techniques to suit your situation.

3. Simply Breathe

Mastering your breathing can help you reduce and even eliminate stress during the workday to help you relax. Download Simply Breathe to incorporate interactive games and sounds designed to help you focus your breathing. It also helps you set long-term goals, track your stress and share your progress with others to help motivate and inspire.

4. Elevate

To perform better on the job at home, you need to train your brain. Apple named Elevate the best iPhone app of the year for 2014 because of its proven ability to help elevate your brainpower. The app uses 25 mini-games to improve your cognitive skills in memory, reading comprehension and focus. If you find yourself having trouble completing a task, take a break and hop on Elevate to re-orient your brain.

5. Personal Zen

If you find yourself getting frustrated with your workload, download the Personal Zen app. A team of psychology professors created the app to help reduce anxiety and worry by reconditioning the way you think. It’s a simple design that forces you to follow around a happy face while ignoring an angry one. Researchers found playing it for 25 minutes can help you feel better throughout the day.

6. Find Me Coffee

Maybe you need a change of scenery, or perhaps you’re just looking for an extra boost of energy to get you through the day. Either way, Find Me Coffee is a great resource for freelancers and coffee lovers. The app locates the nearest coffee shop and provides you with directions on how to get there. It’s the perfect way to break up the workday while getting you up and out of the house.

7. Oh, Ranger! ParkFinder

Sometimes you just need to stretch your legs. The Oh, Ranger! ParkFinder app puts you in touch with nature by locating the nearest parks and outdoor recreation areas where you can take a walk. Studies have shown taking a walking break in the middle of the workday can help reduce stress while also making you more calm and alert.

8. Spotify

Music has been shown to be capable of lowering blood pressure, slow our heart rates and decrease levels of stress hormones in our bodies. That’s why you should consider downloading the popular music app Spotify. The app allows you to put together your own playlists of your favorite artists for free, or you can buy the premium version to listen offline. Try searching for “deep focus” playlists for the moments when you really need to buckle down.

9. MapMyFitness

It’s no secret that exercise and healthy eating make for better overall lifestyles, but did you know they could also help you be more productive at work? Regular exercise can help improve both alertness and energy levels. Apps like MapMyFitness are great because they can help plan exercise routes and provide you with a way to log your daily food intakes.

10. Timeful

Working from home can blur the lines between everyday life and work, making it difficult to find a balance. Timeful is a time-management app that helps you find time for those small tasks you know need to be done, but never seem to quite fit into your schedule. It allows you to designate specific times for certain tasks throughout the day and helps you develop habits to keep yourself on track.

The best apps for remote workers are the ones that allow you to work from home while also maintaining a happy work-life balance. You might think playing on the Internet would lead to less productivity, but research shows access to the Internet actually helps increase overall happiness. Happier people make better workers, and these apps can surely help you de-stress and find a better balance between home and work.

6 tools to help you manage your work more efficiently

Happy 2015 Everyone!

We’re going to kick start the new year with a look at some new tools to help you be more efficient in the new year.

This post has been written by Monique Craig, a passionate blogger and marketing specialist who works for Oneflare, an online marketplace which connects customers with local service providers.

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All remote workers will at some point in their freelance operation face one great challenge – getting things done without any external supervision. If not for the deadlines that remind us about our work, we’d probably just end up flooded by everyday activities and forget that we had any projects to complete at all.

Fortunately, technology comes forward to help remote workers improve their concentration and their productivity – here are 6 new and lesser-known tools that can revolutionize the output of any freelancer who longs for that spark of inspiration to come their way.

MindMeister (http://mindmeister.com/)

This tool is perfect for brainstorming – after signing up, you’ll get access to a board where you’ll be able to create a mind map. You can add links, images and other media, connecting the dots in different ways to reflect your priorities. Once completed, the map can be easily shared with other people. Once they sign up, they’ll be able to see the map and edit it. Bonus point? The tool features a small chat box for real-time feedback and discussion.

IDoneThis (http://idonethis.com/)

This is an app that takes the ‘to do’ list making to the next level. Instead of writing things down, first you need to actually do these things and then capture all your completed tasks in the app. It’s perfect if you’re working with a team and want to track the project progress. The app will create a history of all your ‘dones’, which you can later show to your supervisors, without wasting time to compile a coherent list of tasks completed in a certain time frame.

Habit List (http://habitlistapp.com/)

We all lose a lot of time on unproductive habits. This tool will be perfect for either those who want to get rid of a habit that disrupts their work schedule or those who find it hard to establish a good habit that promotes productivity.

If hitting a gym three times a week or performing a backup procedure at the end of each working day is a challenge, the app can help you face it. Habit List will simply keep you motivated by giving you a buzz for repeating a desired action. Before you know it, the things you couldn’t get used to will become your new habits.

Producteev (https://www.producteev.com/)

This tool will provide you with a wide range of functionalities to keep your projects on track. You can create, assign and schedule tasks for yourself and your team members, later tracking their progress. It works across all kinds of devices and operating systems – the tool works great especially for dispersed teams, which can be updated at any place and time.

Pocket (https://getpocket.com/)

Integrated with Google, Pocket is an app for easily saving all kinds of web content – articles, video, images. All your items will be stored in one place and you’ll be able to later view and organize them on any device – even offline! Perfect for those who get easily distracted by cool web content and lose lots of time browsing it.

Crate (https://letscrate.com/)

This tool is a great alternative to other file sharing platforms, like Google Drive or Dropbox. With its intuitive drag and drop navigation, you’ll never lose time on searching and uploading your files. A single file or a collection – called a crate – can be shared by means of a single URL. If you’re a cloud enthusiast, you’ll simply love this tool.

Nobody promised working in remote to be easy. Still, all tools listed above might be just perfect for seasoned, as well as beginner freelance professionals wishing to improve their productivity and get more things done in less time.

3 Good Reasons Why Remote Work is Booming

Despite many organisations moving away from remote working (see the recent demands from Reddit that their staff relocate – last year Yahoo did the same) remote working continues to become more popular. Monica Wells of BizDb reminds us why.

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Remote work has during the last few years become an increasingly popular professional trend. More and more people are finding it easier to work from home, saving up on time and money that would otherwise be lost in commuting. Companies, on the other hand, can easily outsource their services and use cutting-edge technologies to communicate and collaborate in such a way as to render distance irrelevant and create a cohesive team.

Mobile Worker by Michael Coghlan on Flickr, CC-SA

Here are the top 3 reasons the explain the present popularity of remote work from the perspective of workers and employers.

Flexibility

What workers love about remote work is its flexibility and the opportunity it grants them for achieving a great work-life balance, where they’re able to cultivate their passions and get a lot of work done in one day. Working from home, employees don’t need to feel stressed about their schedule and commuting – this helps them to stay productive and more satisfied.

One of the biggest perks of remote working is the ability to control one’s schedule. Gone are the days of a 9 to 5 job – mobile devices and cloud computing allow to work literally from anywhere and at any time, provided there’s an Internet connection. All this accounts for the increased satisfaction of workers, who have more freedom and so are more motivated to do a great job for their organization.

Workers And Employers Can Cut Expenses

When working in remote, employees not only save time, but money as well. Saving up on gas or public transport tickets is on the long run great not only for their wallets, but also for the environment – less cars on the streets simply mean less pollution.

Seen from the perspective of employers, remote work is a cheap affair. Companies are able to find qualified workers who provide similar talent and productivity to local workers, but at a lower cost. Apart from salaries, companies open to remote work additionally save up on office space and other facilities.

Companies Can Attract Talent

This is particularly relevant to sectors suffering from skill shortage or tough competition to acquire talented workers. Thanks to remote working environment, companies can benefit from skills of people who don’t need to be located near its headquarters, automatically rising the chance of finding competent and talented candidates.

In order to attract talents, employers need to come across as flexible and ready to accommodate skilled employees through a variety of employee-oriented policies. Companies can offer remote work to on-site employees too – it’s a great factor to retain them and boost their satisfaction.

Remote work still needs to be addressed as a potential challenge, but its benefits are simply worth the price. Communication is the biggest issue here – without proper tools and training, distance might affect the dynamics of team collaboration.

Needless to say, the management style employed in remote context will also radically differ from traditional one and could possibly require additional training. Without specific knowledge, managers will see the productivity of their team crumble under the pressure of distance.

Fortunately, there’s a whole wealth of technologies and cloud services that make collaboration and communication significantly easier. Other than that, companies interested in remote work can benefit from the expertise provided by specialized venture that deliver solutions for creating, managing and improving remote work opportunities.

Is remote work for everyone? That largely depends on the industry and company size. Following the steps taken by Yahoo, Reddit has just placed a new policy, which forces workers to either relocate to the company’s headquarters in San Francisco or face contract termination.

While remote might not work for those tech giants, it’s a perfect working environment for budding start-ups and mid-sized companies that know how to use technology to their advantage and employ it in order to efficiently manage remote workers and help them to collaborate as a team.

Google Apps for Business and Remote Workers

Kelly Smith works at CourseFinder.com.au, an Australian online courses resource. She also provides career advice for students and job seekers and works as a freelance writer.

She’s written a post for us on Google Apps for Business and the potential for remote workers.

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Many remote workers might remember the statement from Yahoo’s CEO, Marissa Meyers, who condemned the idea of working remotely and swiftly ordered all of the company’s employees to show up in person at their offices. Her opinion was echoed by Yahoo’s HR head, who claimed “speed and quality are often sacrificed when we work from home […] we need to be one Yahoo, and that starts with physically being together.”

But the above is a very limited point of view. Provided that remote workers use the many cloud tools available to them in a smart way, there should be very few sacrifices involved with a remote working environment. One of the most popular and efficient packages that help team members to collaborate, communicate, as well as store and manage data is Google Apps for Business.

But what exactly is Google Apps for Business?

It’s a set of the most popular Google apps that help to manage a business from remote locations. Inside, we find apps everyone knows and uses on daily basis – Gmail to provide email, Drive for storage and document creation (among them text documents, spreadsheets, forms, slides and sites), or Hangouts for video calls and instant messaging. Another feature is Calendar, which helps to create integrated business calendars and ensure that all workers are on the same page when it comes to important deadlines.

Google Apps for Business features two special apps – Vault and Admin. Admin is an interface for broadly defined administration and includes functionalities for mobile device management, security and control, as well as access to 24/7 Google support. Vault, on the other hand, provides an archiving service for all emails and chats, which can later be searched, managed and easily exported.

The Potential of Google Apps for Business in Remote Working

The benefits of this communication and collaboration system are multiple and varied. First, companies don’t need to spend lots of money on specialized hardware and software – all apps are in the cloud and available from every device connected to the internet. It’s perfect for companies with low budget or organizations with remote workers, who will be able to access Google apps from all locations and almost every operating system.

Seen from the perspective of remote workers, Google Apps for Business help in several major areas of any business collaboration:

• Communication – Google apps are made for easy communication. Gmail has an understandable interface, it’s quick to use and features multiple, built-in and highly efficient security features like filtering and spam detection. Gmail includes an added feature which adds your company domain name to personalize the employee email addresses. Hangouts and Google+ can foster both individual and group communication too.
• Collaboration – Google Drive, and its various functionalities, is there to make collaborating easier than ever. Users can edit files at the same time and consult with one another using an adjacent chat window, which can save the time lost on switching to a different instant messaging window or other devices like cellphones.
• Efficiency – all apps are literally in a single place and available with a few clicks. After logging in, workers won’t need to switch to other programs, ensuring high productivity and no time lost on the usual distraction when using a variety of tools scattered around different platforms.
• Time-management – All in all, Google Apps for Business really helps to save time on everything, from editing documents to brainstorming an idea.

A lot of people believe that in a decade, remote working will be as much or even more popular than the traditional office environment. The truth is that both employers and workers benefit from the dynamics of remote working. That’s why it’s likely that digital tools that foster easy collaboration, communication and management, such as Google Apps for Business, will become increasingly effective, user-friendly and geared towards breaching the time and space barrier to ensure a stimulating remote working environment.

Employer Legal aspects of Remote Working

Legal details normally turn people off, but it is extremely important stuff! Kelly Mansfield is an editor and writer at Workplace Law. Workplace Law specialises in employment law, health & safety and environmental management and is a provider of information, training, consultancy and support services. Kelly has written a post for us that considers some of the main legal issues for employers in light of the recently released Flexible Working Regulations 2014.

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Is Remote Working the way Forward for Employers as well as Employees?

Remote working is the new workplace fad, but can all employers trust their staff to work responsibly away from their desk? With employers implementing workplace rules that mean workers must travel to the office each day to carry out their working activities, it would appear that some bosses want to keep a close eye on their staff.

However, forcing employees to make their way into the office every day can actually have numerous detrimental effects.

With over a fifth of commuters in the UK spending more than 30 minutes travelling to work on a daily basis and the cost of travel ever increasing, both time and money is being wasted by forcing workers to always travel to work.

As new legislation come into force though, it will be interesting to see whether employers find themselves having to be more adjustable.

Photo by Sarah Joy, Flickr

The Flexible Working Regulations 2014, which came into force on 30 June 2014, allows any employee with 26 weeks’ continuous service to request flexible working. Prior to the new regulations, only employees with children aged under 17, or 18 if disabled, and those caring for the elderly, who have 26 weeks’ continuous service, were able to request flexible working.

So will this change simply mean that employers will be bombarded with applications from employees wishing to change their working environment, or their working hours, or maybe even a combination of the two? The answer is probably yes, but employers must remember that they are not legally required to accept an application. However, they must have a good reason to reject it if they choose to.

A business can actually only refuse the request under eight specific business reasons, and must go through a very structured, legal and time-bound procedure when considering the request. If the request is granted, it’s a permanent change to terms and conditions; if it is not granted, the employee has the right to appeal and thereafter, the process is closed.

Implications for statistics

It is extremely likely that the introduction of the new regulations will ensure there is an increase in the amount of people who work from home. However, statistics show that a large number of people already do enjoy flexible working.

In line with the National Work from Home Day in May this year, TUC findings were published, which stated that the number of people who say they usually work from home has increased by 62,000 over the course of the last 12 months. The way people work has been beginning to change for the past few years and the new flexible working regulations will possibly accelerate the figures in the coming months.

Invasion of privacy?

It is vital to remember that no matter where an employee’s workspace may be, any area used for working at home must comply with the legal requirements which apply to all workplaces.

As ever, there are numerous legal issues which apply to office-based workers, but if you have employees working at home while still employed, then health and safety remains a fundamental issue.

To assess if a homeworking space is compliant, a suitable and sufficient risk assessment is required. This process could perhaps feel like an invasion of the employee’s personal space, if the assessment is carried out by a professional, or even a Manager of the workplace, and they are investigating around one’s home. However, it is possible for the employee to undertake the assessment themselves, providing they have the correct training and direction.

Photo by Infusionsoft, Flickr

For inexperienced staff, it is important that they are led through the process and if the individual is required to complete the assessment, consideration should be given as to general safety training.

Keeping an eye

Email / internet use obviously enables better communication between a remote worker and their employer or other colleagues, but does it allow employers to keep an eye on their staff working away from the office and ensure that work is being completed? Do employers have the right to monitor the use of email / internet?

This remains a highly contentious issue and in terms of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers (Scotland) Act 2000 (RIPA), it is unlawful to intercept communications without the consent of the communicating parties.

Ideally, employers need to put together an email / internet policy document in line with the Data Protection Act 1998 and ensure that all workers are aware of it, understand it and then follow accordingly.

Within the policy, details on whether employers are potentially going to be delving into employees’ emails can be included. When it comes to monitoring emails, employers need to be careful and should only monitor messages’ address or heading.

Advising employees that their emails might be monitored for business purposes and then educating them on the terms of the policy is the way forward for employers. Informing employees about what does and does not constitute proper use of the system and explaining that any breach of the policy will result in disciplinary action is also advised.

Look to the future

The Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (ACAS) states that technology has meant we’re increasingly on the move and that workers can now adapt to handling their time and workload more flexibly to suit both business and personal needs, which of course if handled correctly, can be a benefit for both employer and employee.

The introduction of the new flexible working regulations enhances the need for employers to recognise the necessity to move towards modern ways of working, and create the right organisational culture and relationship with employees so that requests for flexible working are considered fairly and result in a beneficial outcome.

As flexible working starts to become the norm, it is crucial employers start to get on board with the idea and more importantly, realise that with the right attitude from both parties, working remotely can prove extremely beneficial.

My Experiences of Being a Home Worker

Brian Kelly was the line manager who consented to my working from home and who encouraged me to write a blog about my experiences. Now 6 years down the line he too has started working from home and I’ve managed to persuade him to write about his lifestyle change for the blog.

Brian works for Cetis, an organisation that specialises in technology innovation and interoperability standards in learning, education and training, as an Innovation Advocate. He previously worked at UKOLN as UK Web Focus from 1996-2013. Brian has worked across the UK higher education sector, having previously worked in IT service departments at the universities of Loughborough, Liverpool, Leeds and Newcastle.

Brian is a prolific blogger and has also published peer-reviewed papers in areas including web accessibility, standards, digital preservation, institutional repositories and open practises.

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My former colleague Marieke Guy kindly wrote a guest post on my UK Web Focus blog which was published during Open Education Week as part of a series of guest posts covering a variety of issues related to open education.

Marieke invited me to reciprocate by writing a guest post on her Ramblings of a Remote Worker blog about my experiences of being a home worker. I am happy to respond to that request by writing this post.

My Move To Home Working

Changes!

On 24 April 2013 I announced that “My Redundancy Letter Arrived Today“. On the 31 July 2013 myself and many of my colleague at UKOLN were made redundant.

In my final week at UKOLN I wrote a post on Life After UKOLN: Looking For New Opportunities. I’m pleased to say that on 28 October 2013 I was able to write a post which announced that I was Starting A New Job! That was the day I began work as Innovation Advocate at Cetis, University of Bolton.

I’m enjoying my new job. However there has been one significant change: after working in an office at the University of Bath for over 16 years I am now a home worker.

House Renovations

Between leaving UKOLN and starting at Cetis I did do some consultancy work and updated my professional skills by completing a MOOC.  But I was also able during the three months to complete the renovations on my house.  As well as replacing bathrooms which still had their original 1970s decor one of the bedrooms was converted into my office.  My office is now just 10 metres from my bed – there have been no 45 minute bus trips  on cold and wet winter mornings for me this winter 🙂

During the house renovation (which included a new kitchen and bathrooms and new ceilings in the bathrooms and living room, dining room and kitchen) I was able to use the work to have computer cabling installed with network points provided in most of the rooms throughout the house.

On the advice of a former colleague I also had a cupboard build which housed various IT boxes including the router and a NAS (box). This was build in the living room, so that the WiFi router was more centrally located, with a strong WiFi signal being available throughout the house.

This box is shown. What can’t be seen are the network cables (CAT-6) which go into a void behind the wall and are then hidden behind the coving (which was installed during the renovation work). The cables go up into the loft and then down into all of the bedrooms so that a network point is available in all of the rooms. Note all of the network points are currently enabled, however, as I only have a router with 8 network points and three of these are located by the TV and are connected to the TV, YouView box and XBox.

It’s not all fun and games though! The bedroom which is now my office contains a Dell All-in-one PC with a large screen and small printer as shown.

The office also contains IKEA bookcases around two of the walls. I also had wooden shutter blinds installed in the room which can provide an additional level of privacy. The upstairs office, incidentally, is located on a ground floor since the house is built into a hill. Next to the office is a door located at the end of the upstairs corridor which opens to a parking area.

In brief, I am very happy with the work which was carried out to the house last year. In particular my office is a pleasant place to work.

The Software Environment

Although my physical environment has changed significantly my online environment has many similarities to my previous working environment. I am continuing to make use of several Cloud services to support my work, such as Google Docs and Dropbox, although I still also make use of MS Office products.

I am finding that I am using Skype much more than I did previously (it is interesting that this proprietary system is now a de facto standard for many). In addition to Skype I am also making use of Google Hangouts with this tool being used for regular online meetings with my Cetis colleagues.

Working Practices

I have been aware for some time from reading Marieke’s posts on her Ramblings of a Remote Worker blog that the biggest challenges in remote working (and especially in home working) are concerned with issues such as the lack of regular face-to-face meetings with colleagues and the ad hoc meetings with others and, on another level,working in the place one lives.

I do continue to feel the need for intellectual stimulation from interactions with my peers. But this is a reason why I have felt it important to cultivate my online professional networks. Channels such as Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn help to provide such intellectual stimulation as well as the social intercourse which is needed.

In Marieke’s blog posts she has given her thoughts on working in one’s home environment. I try to ensure that my work does not completely dominate my life. One decision I did make when I was offered the job at Cetis was that I would work four days a week, with Friday as time for myself or for other professional interests. I do try and take regular exercise; I try to take a walk to nearby shops to buy some milk or bread two or three times a week.

To sum up in a tweet:  “My experiences of being a home worker: enjoying it; need to be disciplined; don’t think I’d like to go back to being an office worker!“

Netbook vs. Tablet: It’s All about Fit

So which one do you prefer? Netbook or tablet? Or is it horses for courses? Here’s a guest blog post exploring the issues in more detail.

Jamie Lee lives in Charleston, South Carolina, in the US and works for Telogical Systems. He is a full-time tech consultant as well as a writer for eBay (where as Jamie puts it “you can find the world’s best selection of new and used tablets, netbooks and other travel friendly computing devices“). You can catch Jamie on Google+.

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I am a laptop kind of guy. Always have been, and, well, I will be for the foreseeable future. I use my laptop in the office and when working from home. I listen to music on it and it’s my go-to device for business and recreation.

Even though I feel like I have found the device that fits me and the work I do, it’s difficult not to acknowledge new technology in the marketplace that makes laptops look old and clunky — namely, netbooks and tablets. If you are in the market for a small computing device, you may find yourself looking at the options and scratching your head. I know … I have been there. Given that I have used both fairly extensively, I find that, like my laptop, it really boils down to personal fit.

Following is a breakdown of each, along with their pros and cons.

Netbooks: Netbooks are really just smaller, more portable versions of laptops, complete with keyboards and screens. Current models tend to range from 10-inch screens at the smallest to 15.6-inch screens for the largest. Not only are most of them smaller than your average laptop, but they are less expensive. Lower-end models, like models of Acer’s Chromebook series, can be purchased for less than $200, and higher end models can cost up to $1,000. You can buy a popular mid-range device, like the Lenovo ThinkPad or the HP Pavilion TouchSmart, for less than $500.

• Netbook PROS :
  Much like laptops, netbooks provide a combined screen and keyboard setup, enhanced usability of word processing applications like Word and Excel, and they are intended for more basic tasks – like checking e-mail, browsing the Internet, light entertainment and light productivity – albeit in a smaller package. Given the increase in popularity of tablets with touchscreens, some netbook manufacturers are making devices with similar screens that eliminate the need for a keyboard or mouse. Like tablets, extended battery life for these devices is a plus. If you conduct virtual meetings regularly or use programs like Skype for phone calls, netbooks often provide webcams.
• Netbook CONS :
  While netbooks are great if you are looking for a mini version of your laptop, including similar functionality and operating systems, size can be a detriment. Smaller devices have tiny keyboards that can be difficult to use. Keep in mind that these aren’t intended to be high performance machines and generally have less RAM (Random Access Memory) and HDD (Hard Drive) space than their laptop counterparts. These performance constraints aren’t a big deal for users who don’t expect a lot from their netbook, but power users and gamers may quickly find that a netbook doesn’t meet their needs.

If you are looking for a device somewhere between a laptop and a tablet, consider a netbook. You will have limited functionality, but a similar look and feel on a smaller scale and at a lower price. Keep in mind the limitations when it comes to RAM, HDD, and graphics capabilities. If you are fine with these aspects, a netbook may just be the device for you.

Tablets: The iPad started a tablet revolution, and these rectangular computing devices with touchscreens and apps galore are only increasing in popularity. Top tablet manufacturers often offer a “mini” version of their primary model, and screen sizes can range from 7-inches for Amazon’s Kindle Fire HD and HDX to 10-inches for Google’s Nexus tablet. Tablets and netbooks are priced similarly, and you can spend anywhere from a couple hundred dollars to nearly $1,000, depending on the size, memory, connectivity, and other features.

• Tablet PROS:
  Tablets tend to be smaller and lighter than netbooks, and manufacturers are focused on usability and versatility. From the touch screens and scrolling features to advancements like high density display that Apple introduced with its iPad 3, they are great for watching movies, reading books and entertaining kids. While netbooks rely on programs, much like a laptop, tablets allow you to use apps that are easy and cheap to install, and the selection is extensive and ever-growing. You will also find additional functionality in some tablet models, like the ability to take photos or HD videos.
• Tablet CONS :
  The one area where tablets tend to fall short is productivity. Most don’t have a built-in keyboard, but rather a touchscreen. This can be remedied by purchasing additional equipment, but even then, I find it to be a subpar experience when using word processing software. Like netbooks, size can negatively impact your user experience if you purchase one that is too small.

Tablets are currently the “in” device, and it’s not surprising. They are easy to use and extremely versatile. That said, if you are looking for a device that supports your productivity, or even your creativity, you may be disappointed in a tablet. It is not necessarily that the tablet won’t allow you to do the work or access the programs, but rather you may find it more challenging to complete tasks efficiently on a tablet instead of a netbook (or laptop).
It is clear that a tablet is the best bet for many in the market for a small, lightweight computing device, but don’t make the decision to hastily. It is important to consider what you plan to use it for, as well as your workflow preferences. You may just find yourself sticking with that good old laptop.