| Are you a die-hard telecommuter who does | | | | run as detailed strategic or tactical conversations |
| everything possible to avoid going into the office more | | | | about specific work projects. Re-connecting with your |
| than once in a blue moon? Or an occasional | | | | peers will put you nearer their top-of-mind. When they |
| telecommuter who goes in now and then just for the | | | | are working on something that relates to your projects |
| human contact? Either way, you can further your | | | | or work, they're more likely to think of you and include |
| career by taking advantage of the face-to-face | | | | you - to keep you in the loop. |
| opportunities you get while you are there. | | | | So, what about telecommuters who come into the |
| As we all know, there are extra challenges around | | | | office more frequently? Those who come in once per |
| building relationships with your coworkers when you | | | | week or more? You can still benefit by bearing in mind |
| don't see them face-to-face. While there are | | | | your usual lack of face-time - even if the lack is not as |
| techniques to overcome these, taking every | | | | severe as the hard-core telecommuters. No, I don't |
| advantage of opportunities that do crop up is a must. | | | | suggest you spend the whole day socializing - you |
| For those of you who go into the office very rarely, | | | | can't afford to drop your productivity by 20%+! But |
| use the time you have to stop and talk to people. Plan | | | | you can plan to make more effective use of your one |
| on not getting a lot of productive work completed on | | | | day per week in the office. |
| these days. I find if I haven't been in the office for a | | | | Look at your calendar. Try to avoid filling that one day |
| long time that I can spend most of the day stopping to | | | | with phone meetings with team members not in your |
| talk to one person or another. Although some of the | | | | office. There's no point filling your one day per week in |
| conversation is work-related, there's a lot of catch-up: | | | | the office with hours of phone conversations. Either |
| "How are the kids? Has little Bobby started | | | | keep your calendar open so you can use the time |
| grade-school yet? Did you finish that home renovation | | | | opportunistically to talk to people face-to-face, or |
| project you were telling me about?" | | | | schedule meetings with others in your office so you |
| While it may feel wrong to spend a big chunk of the | | | | can have in-person meetings. |
| day socializing, remember many of your peers spend | | | | No matter how good you are at relationship building |
| a small chunk of *every* day doing just that. When | | | | and maintaining virtual presence when you're working |
| you add it up, you're still way ahead of the game. And | | | | from home, there's every reason to make the most of |
| this relationship building, this social chit-chat, is just as | | | | the little opportunities you do have for face-to-face |
| important to your productive work output in the long | | | | interactions. |