SUSANNE KIRK | telework Web site | instant messaging | Telecommuting
Has The Telecommuting Bubble Burst
by
Lindsy Van GelderWhat's new is the at-home setting and the increasing importance of
the Internet. A lot of Roitz's workday is spent online, where he's
in charge of the company's telework Web site. At one time, Roitz
was remotely supervising a dozen people in different parts of the
country: "I currently supervise one employee in a virtual office;
my boss is in a virtual office; and my vice-president is virtual
most of the time, too," he notes. "What makes it possible is that
we're all wired." He has three office phone lines - one voice, one
data, and one that serves as fax plus voice backup - and he
estimates that he sends about 75 e-mails a day, plus phone calls,
conference calls, and occasional instant messaging.
Roitz usually works from seven in the morning until four in the
afternoon. His wife works at home occasionally, too, and he notes
that one of the great pluses of the
telecommuting life is that time
normally wasted on freeways and subways can be spent on family
life. But "I'm not Mister Mom, and working at home is no substitute
for day care," Roitz adds. "I draw firm boundaries between work and
personal. I don't answer the home phone while I'm at work, although
I do answer the door, because it's normally
FedEx. I optimize my
time at work. The kids are at school, and it's totally silent and
conducive to thought. I think people are looking for serenity in
the storm - today's business offices are chaotic and noisy." Still,
it's sometimes hard to shut the office door at the end of the day,
Roitz finds. "One of the things about working at home is that it's
easy to check that Monday morning e-mail on a Sunday night."
SUSANNE KIRK:
The Knowledge Worker
Susanne Kirk knew she had a home/work bleed-over problem the day
she fran-tically searched high and low for the manuscript of the
upcoming mystery novel Don't Cry for Me, Hot Pastrami by Sharon
Kahn. It seems that her cat Callie likes pastrami, too - and had
turned the nicely padded Airborne Express envelope that the
manuscript had arrived in into a comfy kitty bed.
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