James Bond – the ultimate homeworker?

Homeworkers are not well represented on the big screen. Writers are usually neurotic (see Woody Allen in Manhattan), inventors are eccentric (Michael Redgrave as Barnes Wallis in Dambusters) and computer experts are socially inept (Sandra Bullock in The Net, who spends so much time in her home office that only her mother knows what she looks like). However, after watching Casino Royale earlier this week, I’m wondering if Daniel Craig’s James Bond could start a new Hollywood trend. Previous Bonds have had plenty of gadgets but have used them largely as big boy toys: Craig’s Bond uses his gadgets to work.

Bond has never been deskbound in a traditional office, but now he’s become the role model for those operating a virtual office: he’s put the B in going Bedouin. So forget about exploding pens or ejector seats, now Bond never travels without his Sony Vaio laptop (though working wirelessly in a Venetian gondola is perhaps more glamorous than most of us can expect), keeps an impressive first aid kit handy (like me, in his Aston Martin DBS), and uses his Sony Ericsson mobile phone with built in GPS for text messaging.

And like many homeworkers, his employers are keen to keep track of his movements when he is out of the main office, although injecting him with a trackable microchip is perhaps a step too far.

Never one to miss a trick, Sony have bundled all this stuff, including a screen privacy filter, into one delightful Spy Gear Bundle package which you can buy from their site here.

Homeworking holidays

One of the most frequent comments by homeworkers over Christmas and New Year was the different work routines we operate compared to those in ‘normal’ offices over holiday periods. I think the Notchcode blog put it nicely. “I routinely feel like Ebenezer Scrooge. Not that I'm tighter than a high-strung violin, or stingier than a pack rat, but because I find myself working on these days before holiday weekends...the days my clients and most of the rest of the country seems to be taking off. I've stopped trying to actually go to client offices on days like these (unless I call ahead), or to schedule meetings, which is a good thing; I suffer from the small businessperson's curse of being drawn into working. all. the. time.”

Choosing a shed – Gembuild

Horsham-based Gembuild have been making buildings out of timber for 25 years and now include a special range of garden offices which they call Sussex Mini Barns. They have four main models, the Faygate, Colgate, Ruspel and Capel. The Faygate, for example, measures 2.4m x 3.6m internally, with three UPVC double glazed top hung windows in brown, stable door with 5 lever security locking, carpet tiles and Venetian blinds, external finish black stain to boarding and brown to fascias, with a cut and pitch barn hip roof and asphalt shingles in green or red. It’s a well organized web site with appealing drawings of each of the models including pictures of a mini barn going up in York (complete with smiling customers).

Thank you and Happy New Year

Nothing more until January 2 but just a quick word to say thank you to everybody who's been reading, commenting on and recommending these pages over the last three months since I started writing: October was a good launch month, hits then trebled in November, and have continued to rise in December. Particular thanks to Adrian Murdoch of Bread and Circuses for inspiration, Emma Jones and San Sharma from Enterprise Nation for their friendly homeworking knowhow, and Uncle Wilco from Readersheds for general support. Thanks too to all the garden office suppliers who have contacted me with their good wishes and to the many, many bloggers whose personal views and clever thoughts about homeworking I have mentioned/pinched.

Socialising in the (home) office

I quoted Phoneboy earlier this week on the subject of going into the office and socialising. He feels that the quote needs a bit of context so I'm happy to include his unedited thoughts below.

"As many of my regular readers know, I work from home the vast majority of the time. I work out of my home office and “telecommute” to an office nearly 700 miles away. My trips to the office are usually week-long and they occur anywhere from every 6 weeks or so to every 6 months depending on what’s going on. One particularly down year, I went 9 months between visits! That’s a long time to be working at home without an office visit!

"My boss had recently written something appropriate on one of those “development plans” that are common large-company HR exercises. He said that I am “able to form relationships which enable him to effectively garner the ‘’mind share'’ required to accomplish things he needs within the company.” How do you do that, especially when you are remote?

"Consider the water cooler, break room, or whatever you have at your office. Or in a hallway. Or in someone’s office/cubicle. Consider how much information exchange occurs in that location. All of these “unplanned” moments are where relationships are formed, strengthened, broken, etc. These moments can happen several times a day if you are a regular office-bound worker.

"Now consider that you have less than 1/4 of the opportunity for those moments to occur. That makes each one of those moments that much more critical. In fact, you may have to actively work to create some of those moments, both inside and outside of the confines of the office.

"One way you can “work” to create those moments is to get involved with things outside of your normal job description. For example, I frequently get involved with new products that are outside of our group’s competency. I participate in internal beta testing, both inside and outside my division. I meet interesting people within the company “because I can.” I sign up to do things within the company that are clearly not my job. Why? Because the relationships I build in the process of doing that stuff will be helpful in the future.

"Of course, to the unenlightened, it looks a hell of a lot like goofing off. To some extent, it even feels like it. However, it is clearly a key to getting things done. I no longer feel guilty about it because I understand the value for myself and the business. As long as you are effective and getting results, you shouldn’t either."

Homeworking and doodling

Fair enough, homeworking isn't for everyone (at least fulltime homeworking). But the reasons why it simply doesn't suit some people are interesting. I particularly liked this from the Am I A Woman Scientist? blog who was forced to become a homeworker and was looking forward to it, but... "It turns out that I do need human interaction, no matter how brief. I also cannot brainstorm well over the computer because I am a doodler. I never noticed this trait until I was desperately trying to relate some concept or graph or whatnot by email or phone to someone who just "couldn't picture it". I do have Adobe Creative Suite and it did well in a pinch, but apparently for me there is nothing that can replace being in a room with a colleague and stack of scrap paper."

New US homeworking magazine for women

As reported on PR Newswire, Peensylvania-based Cutting Edge Media is to launch a new magazine, From Home, aimed at women homeworkers. According to Bridey Orth, editor-in-chief, of the new title: "From Home is a resource for women who want to blend their work and personal lives with a home business. The magazine will provide tools and strategies for starting a business, as well as real-life stories from successful women who are already working at home." First issue out in February 2007 and will have an initial print run of 50,000 bimonthly. Susan Miller, print media consultant for Cutting Edge Media, said: "Nearly 80 percent of home businesses and direct sales positions are held by women, but up to this point, there has been no publication that caters specifically to that group. From Home will reach out to stay-at-home moms, professionals, retirees and students - entrepreneurial women from nearly every background in the country." Cutting Edge already have experience in this field as they publish Home Business Connection magazine, mailed out to 200,000 people every month.

Look out in the UK for the launch of Enterprise Nation's magazine for homeworkers in January 2007 - I'll be posting on this important launch regularly over the coming weeks.