You're in IT, can you work from home?
When telling people I work in IT they usually follow up with 'that must be good, because you can work from any where'.
We all know they are implying that you are able to work from home. The 'working from home' scenario is a great idea in theory and in practice however there are always some hurdles and stigmatisms to overcome.
The main issue is 'will they do the work'. Well, I guess from experience that all depends on the employee. Some are good some are not. How do you ensure they do do the work? Time sheets? Checking they are online? Random emails looking for a response within a set time? There really is not definitive answer other than seeing what results are produced under this scenario. Personally, having done so on a regular basis many years ago, you have to rely on some internal discipline and trust of staff. By allowing some time for working remotely they can in fact become more productive and focused.
The initial problem, as a developer, I faced was getting everything set up to make working remotely possible. When in a office environment one does take advantage of the fact that your work machine is set up and ready to roll with unfettered access to all work libraries and servers. At home it can be a different story as the first day sees you having to install application after application to get up and running. Once this is done you are then able to work in an environment that allows for all of the power and utilities of the office. It's great as one can simply get the work done without worrying about where to go for lunch, being able to play your own music and most importantly being able to work in your pyjamas.
