Yesterday, I was in an engaging business conversation with a wonderful person holding an upper-management position of a high-level financial services organization. As were were discussing an event they are planning, I hear an extremely loud, “WOOF!” Horrified that her chocolate lab barked during a professional connection, she apologized and explained that she works most days from home. Wow! Of course, I then admit to her that my chocolate lab, Libby, has embarrassed me in that same manner on more than one occasion, and share with her that I work from home too.
After the phone call is over, I have a smile on my face thinking about the connection we made. The whole dog thing created an emotional bond right in the middle of a business transaction.
So now I’m thinking about all the other people I connect with on a professional level who also work remotely. Woah — there are a ton! And next, as I’m reading the BLOGs I follow, I find Seth Godin’s morning post is entitled “Goodbye to the Office“, and in part says, “When you need to have a meeting, have a meeting. When you need to collaborate, collaborate. The rest of the time, do the work, wherever you like. The gain in speed, productivity and happiness is massive.”
While working from home simply isn’t possible for some positions (loan officers at my local bank for example), for many others it could be a wonderful incentive for employers to consider. If you can ‘just do the work’, does it really matter WHERE you do it?