More and more I see companies embracing “work-at-home” policies, not only as a way to be more “green” by keeping cars off the road, but as a way to reduce the real estate “footprint” in the office.  Some companies estimate the cost of maintaining office space for an employee at around $9,000/year.  These same companies are offering as much as $1,000 for work-at-home employees to purchase the necessary office equipment to set up and maintain a home office.

So as the economic drivers for working at home seem to be well established and as companies define the appropriate policies and procedures for determining which jobs lend themselves to “working-at-home” (not to mention the question of how managers will measure the productivity of employees working at home), the question is, how does the “work-at-home” employee stay productive?

Speaking from experience, I would like to offer the following suggestions, and then invite the reader to contribute their own ideas. Read the rest of this entry »