The Cranky Middle Manager Show #188 Undress for Success- Kate Lister
Today Wayne Turmel talks about how telecommuting and telework has changed the role of the middle manager with Kate Lister, co-author of Undress for Success- The Naked Truth About Making Money At Home. Oh and Marcel Proust and Ethiopian Falashas get a mention too. The usual eclectic mess that is this podcast.
Author Kate Lister emerges from her teleworking hibernation long enough for this picture. She saw her shadow so it’s 6 more weeks of project work.
Show Notes
0:00 Welcome to the show. Misery loves company, we’ll provide the love and the company, your misery is your responsibility. Today we talk Teleworking with Kate Lister, and since distance makes communication tough even when you try to do what you should, we present as proof, Menelik I, king of the Falashas, Emperor of Ethiopia and more Jewish than many Jews if separated by time and distance.
3:00 I bring you the quote of the week from Marcel Proust, which I shouldn’t have done since no one can give you wisdom, you have to get it on your own.
4:14 Today we’re talking to Kate Lister, co author of Undress for Success. How is working from home making things easier or more difficult for managers and companies? Well the world is changing and US companies could save over half a BILLION dollars a year if more people teleworked. How do you determine whether your job could be done at home?
6:54 Federal employees in the US are mandated now to work at home if they can…which is no big surprise, a lot of them have been phoning it in for years….. the cost of setting up a telecommuter can be $300-$2500 dollars versus the costs of keeping an office for them.
10:30 If you’re not crazy about the idea of being out of the office, here’s a question for you- Do you see your boss everyday now? Probably not. There are real concerns though. What are the things companies and individuals need to think about. Fundamental to this is very precise metrics for success. Once you’ve set the metrics, get the heck out of their way.
14:00 Home Shopping Network learned they can increase customer satisfaction and reduce turnover by having people work from home.
15:50 Okay, if you are a people person, it’s hard to work from home. Kate is a nice person but apparently highly anti-social…. some of us need to get out of our 4 walls. MySQL is an amazing example of the entire company working remotely. I also feel better about going to Caribou Coffee just to sip coffee and stare at my laptop even though that’s what I do at home. I’m still around people.
21:40 Developing a routine is important. What works for you works for you. I need to put on my big boy clothes…. others don’t. You also need to manage the family- Kate tells a story about a mom and a tiara that will leave some serious scars on those kids.
23:48 The dark side of working from home is overworking. How do you set limits and what’s the role of the manager in helping their people set limits that make sense, even while benefitting from the extra work? And what are the legalities?
27:40 It takes planning for a company to put together a teleworking program. Security is frequently over-analyzed but it’s important…. remember, if you’re a moron at work, you’re not going to get smarter working from home.
Kate’s Resources
Her book
Managing Telework by Jack Nilles
Free Agent Nation Daniel Pink
The Future of Work- Thomas Malone
Don't let the weasels get you down!