Taking your work across boundaries

Few freelancers have had the opportunity to work across the boundaries. This means that some of you have worked across organizations and country borders. Teams located across the world usually operate at a time which is convenient for all the members of the team.

The teams that work across borders mostly do not see each other face to face. They would have seen each other only through company websites which host their photographs. But these teams have an understanding with each other. This understanding is mostly on professional grounds. The agreement would be to cooperate with each other to get work done. This is to ensure that the work gets complete well in time. There are no other emotions etc which run in between.

While working across boundaries, the most important factor to keep in mind is whether you understand the communication between teams. Many times, there are issues on understanding the accent, language and the words used and also the actual communication. So it is better to have conferences where the communicator communicates well and asks for affirmation form the audience if the same is clear to the team and understood.

There are net meeting devices which customarily help to project the required training material and information sheets across to the laptops or desktops of the team members. This ensures that all the members are on the same page and communication becomes easier. While doing presentations or while sharing spread sheets and diagrams of the project, this becomes an easier method to quickly do comparisons, reports and to send the right message across. Many times when more than two people are in the conference, this is an easier way to share expectations for the future. While confirming the same through telecom is a secondary measure.

Where there are clarifications from team members, they could use online forums or chat messengers to clarify on what they need to do. Emails confirming the topics can then affirm the agreed points.

It is foolishness to think that working across borders sitting at your desk top is easy. Small misunderstanding pave way for bigger problems and hence it is important to have the communication right.

Weekly online meeting can solve issues to a large extend. Noting down what needs more coverage, clarification and clarity needs discussion with all key stake holders. Such collaborative work is always rewarding at the end when the project takes shape well.

It takes competency both in your work and in relationship building to work across borders. To be sensitive to the cultural and personal background of the person at the other end will help you to fare better, while being with them. Once the comfort level is established, you could leverage on it to get superior work done.

Tone of voice used while speaking, matter a lot. Please ensure that you use a very subtle clear tone, with neutral accent, while speaking. This will ensure right warmth in the communication. Together with the right words, your communication will appear trustworthy to the diverse resources that are listening to you at the other end.

Many a times the change required is in the way we interpret the whole work in front of us. There are times when, as freelancers, we may have to take a higher responsibility in understanding the work that needs delivery since the responsibility of creating it lies with us.

Understanding others is of utmost importance here, since the role we play in the team will be successful only depending on the understanding we have with them. Building consensus on certain project plans and action plans are basis this collaboration. The influence we have on others matters as it reflects on the work we do and the opinion others have on us. Active collaboration impacts the greater idea and output.

Milestones are helpful while planning your projects across borders. Each team and member will have to have a milestone of achievement for their work. These needs close monitoring for results. Last but not the least is enrolling the right people to work together. If there are hiccups, it is better to replace people who do not gel together as a team. This is to ensure that work gets the right focus.

So dear friends if you are part of a larger team or plan to work across borders, I hope this provides a good insight for you. Let this give you guidance to working conditions and expectations that arise in such situations.

Keeping in touch with your clients even after completion of the project

It is easy to keep in touch in today’s world. There are more ways to be in touch than to be away, from people. So why not continue association with someone who has employed you for some time? It is important to keep in touch with past employers. Especially for freelancers who have been on a project for a longer period of time, say six months.

To find ways to be in touch is not difficult. There are ample opportunities that present itself for such a situation. Freelancers can take this opportunity to inform clients about the new things they have learnt. They may also talk about some prestigious projects undertaken. Talking about your achievements will create a positive picture in the minds of the client about you.

After completing a job well, don’t you think that your earlier employers should know what you are up to? You may update them in many ways. One such way is to occasionally give a courtesy call to the employer. You may have a casual chat with the contact point and inform him about what you are up to. You may also update him a bout you latest achievements.

There are networking sites like LinkedIn where you could update your latest projects, learning, interests etc. This gives you visibility. Not only past employers but also future recruiters who are looking for people who have talents like yours, are able to see your work profile.

If you have a website that publishes your work, you have visibility in the web as well. You may promote your website on social network sites. There are ways to advertise your work well. News letters can be a medium through which you may publicize your work. It is used by many to keep the clients updated on their work profile use this mode.

Well, that said, why is it important to be in touch? Keeping touch can be a follow up of what has transpired earlier. Hence, it need not necessarily be on work related matter and meetings. It can be a regular exercise you do, to exchange information or ideas or just casual chat. It further leads to more work from potential clients who were also past employers.

Always remember to appreciate the client for giving you an opportunity. This is another strategy that could earn you brownies. Clients will appreciate that you remembered them. Sending them a New Year gift or a Christmas gift as a token of appreciation will have an impact on their view about you and how you maintain professional relationships.

Remember to invite your clients to promotional events that you are participating in. This could be in the form of a trade meeting or a community event that you are using as a platform to promote your skills or product. The clients will have an opportunity to attend the event and also view some interesting products and promoters as well. This way you are extending good will to both the client and others around.

Sponsorship of events is another way to promote your business. While clients may have sponsorship requirements, you may take up this opportunity to meet more people from the client’s side as well as other participants who might be interested in your work.

While all the above are mandatory, there is no comparison to the occasional face to face meeting that you might want to have with the client. This may not be a true professional meeting, but these meetings could turn out to be great relationship building exercise that will benefit both parties. You could deliver some important facts and figures while you are at it. This could make you an integral part of your client’s contact list.

Refer your clients to prospective business contacts as well. This way you are opening up another channel for mutual help. The client may also appreciate the fact that you are extending support to them. Refer good people to them who might be of mutual help. Remember, what goes around come around. You never know when you will get a similar help from people you have been in business with.

Ultimately, it is these small gestures that will pave way for greater things to happen in future. All individuals great or small will reciprocate the good will shown to them. The results may turn out to be amazing experiences that one can never forget. Or they may just promote your work and business to higher levels ensuring your success.

Consistency in work delivered is important

What is consistency in work? It is the ability to apply the same level of performance through out your work without any compromise on quality. Consistent excellence in work will benefit the freelancer. The time frames used for completion and the quality of the work benefits the freelancer getting him more and more work from his employers.

But, when it comes to freelancing why is consistency important? Many times the employers do not see you face to face. Hence, consistency in work is the only way, they can identify with you. They form opinions about you, based on the quality of work you deliver. There are no other measurement techniques applied. It is only consistency in work that will speak volumes about you and your professional capabilities.

Consistency also means accountability. So when there is no one to monitor your activities, you need to prepare your day to day work constructively and deliver results. This enables you to develop responsibility towards your work. Appropriate actions taken at appropriate time schedules will ensure success in work.

How can one develop consistency? Rewarding yourself for work well done is a method used to develop your own self –respect, and pride about the work you do. It takes a great deal of patience to develop the level of consistency that a client or an employer expects. The only way to achieve this is to have a super will power. Getting things done against all odds and rewarding yourself for each achievement will see you good towards your travel for perfection.

Another factor that helps develop consistency is the rules that you set for yourself. Every time you adhere to your set rules, you are accomplishing your set standards. Every time you accomplish, you are nearer to the point of consistency in your career graph. So, have rules that are accomplishable yet smart so that you can adhere to it and notch up the consistency mark.

Consistency also generates confidence in your mind about the work you do. This confidence will see you through many projects. Confidence helps you realize that whatever happens, you will scrape through well with the help of this quality called consistence. It will instill in you, the ability to survive adverse conditions at work.

Will power is also a quality that helps you with the consistency factor. When you have a strong will power to get things done when circumstances are adverse, it is consistency playing its role well. It helps you to do your work at a great speed. With consistency, you develop expertise in work. This means you are able to complete your work faster.

Hiccups are bound to occur while you try to be consistent at work. But these are only temporary. The harder you attempt overcoming them the greater is your success. Sustain on your attempts to be consistent. You may feel pressurized at times. But you will succeed with great will power. Once you have tasted success, you will want to continue being better.

Let us look at another aspect of being consistent. While being consistent is good, one has to be realistic about the goals set. Anything and everything is not achievable by just being consistent. There should be strategic plans that will guide you to doing a task. Such plans will enable you to know whether you will be successful in an attempt or not.

There are quite a few more things that could be written here on consistency. But the message is that while you work, focus on the job at hand, and also adhere to consistency in quality. This should be sufficient to help you run your business ethically and to earn good will of the clients. Keep your mark on the consistency graph and ensure that it peeks with experience. Do not allow your mark of consistency on the graph to go down at any cost.

Freelancing – Your feedback about the task matters

Freelancer will always have a whole lot of feedback about the job at hand, which needs the attention of the employer. The effort required in researching the subject of work is the first in the list. Apart from secondary sources, which are easily accessible, the project may require inputs from primary sources. There are quite a few primary sources, available, for reference. The freelancer should quickly access the correct source needed for completion of work and provide feedback on requirements to complete the job.

The time required for research gets a mention in the feedback. Even while you zero in on the correct source material, the appropriate content required from the source material to finish the job should be available. There are times when the content on the work is available, but details thereof to complete a specific area with right inputs are missing. Certain times, there are innumerable inputs available on a certain topic, but when it comes to suitability, they may seem improper, for the work in hand. In short, the answers that need an explanation may not feature, in these sources. Here the freelancer has to go back to the client asking for sources of reference.

Then comes the time frame provided by the client, for research on topics. While employers provide few days or hours ahead of work schedule for research, this may not suffice. The freelancer may require more time, solely due to the nature of the subject of work. These are times when the employer need to get to know that more time is required for research as the subject in hand is complex. Accordingly, the time lines for the project changes.

Once the initial research is over, it is time to prepare the draft or the shell of the project. This will include designs and content or even codes required for the project. This may take less or more time, depending on the complexity and detailing required. Accordingly, the employer needs to get intimation.

Another aspect which needs feedback, critically and in time, is the need for more funds. The funds usually feature in the remuneration, or on a case to case basis, as and when required, whichever is convenient. Half way through the project if the freelancer realizes the need for more funds, due to the complexity of the project, then the same needs immediate attention and communication, lest the freelancer suffers losses.

Projects require resources of varied nature. This may be in form of manpower or things. The freelancer has to keep tab of what is required, at every point of development, to correctly estimate the resources required. More resource as appropriate will save the day for the freelancer.

Often, the freelancer cannot proceed beyond a certain stage due to lack of expertise. These areas identified earliest, needs communication to ensure that the project is wound up at the appropriate stage and handed over to the Subject Matter Expert who can continue to work till completion.

Whenever there are areas where specific, knowledge is required, this knowledge transfer is done either by SME or any other expert. On receiving feedback, employers can arrange sessions for knowledge transfer and sharing to effectively clarify doubts. Some of the specifics may be technical in nature, which will require a demonstration. The advanced technology of today enables a freelancer at a remote corner of the world, to get a demo of the required knowledge base through video conferencing and other means.

Where the means used for knowledge sharing is insufficient, there are alternate methods which are available and used. A freelancer can capitalize on the blessings of modern technology. The freelancer should be able to suggest and give feedback on what exactly he is looking for so as to enable appropriate means of sharing knowledge. For example when the specifics are not clear during a telecom, then the freelancer can suggest a meeting through video conferencing or even net meeting.

Certain technologies used in other countries may not be familiar to the freelancer. Such situations warrant, an overview of the technology and the processes in use, in that country, together with the country map and areas covered.

Similarly, some of the verbiages used in context vary with each English speaking country. The freelancer has to be aware of such verbiages and can write on back for inputs from the employer. This helps in avoiding confusion or miscommunication while preparing the final output.

Bigger corporations outsourcing work have their websites to provide all the information required. A freelancer who is an outsider may not have access to all the pages on the website of the company. Hence, a feedback can be in the form of a request for access to pages which have crucial information pertaining to the project. It is always good to remember that, the better the feedback, the better the output.

Freelancing Projects – Breaking up the tasks in your project

Breaking up projects into simpler tasks will enable one to finish the tasks at hand efficiently. How do we go about breaking up the tasks? It is necessary to identify the specific goals, for the project first, to know how to go about breaking up the tasks. Some of the important tasks in your project will be as mentioned under.

Time schedules: Time schedules needs identification and compliance. Time bound activities are marked off and highlighted. Those subtasks will get priority over others. A project will have specific dates as time lines and a project sheet would clearly demarcate these time lines indicating when and how each tasks needs completion.

Management of the project is the next step. This has to have the predefined objectives mentioned clearly. In short, project management will include all those tasks or steps that we are discussing here. It includes planning and control techniques of the project aiming at efficient completion. There are various tools one can use to achieve their goals, depending on the ability to manage the complexity of the project in hand.

Budgeting is the most important step in a project that will take up most of the time, during the initial stages of a project. A freelancer has to pay careful attention to budgeting. All the tasks involved in the project need accurate measurement while budgeting. Unless the budgeting planned and controlled, the project cost may become too high and unaffordable. Then the project becomes ambitious in nature and may end up shelved.

Process oriented and project oriented reporting structure is worked out to enable the project to run like well oiled machine. All functions needs separation into manageable tasks and sub-tasks and reported on for a project cannot run effectively. The breakdown of tasks provides a structure to the project which builds into small definable goals to achieve end result. Only controlled reporting can give control and insight on how well a project is faring.

Execution of the processes identified for execution needs monitoring as per requirements. This will involve collaborating with every individual involved in the project. Deliverables are monitored to ensure that the project on time lines. This includes acquiring and distributing information required for the project. Direction is required while executing the project.

Monitoring the project is another aspect that needs ample time. This includes measuring an ongoing activity against the baseline that was determined for the project. Identifying error and putting the effort back into bringing the corrective measure also is involved. Where ever there is, a flaw, they need identification and change after approval. This again should not affect the basic goal of the project.

Risks involved in a project needs assessment as well. This is possible by monitoring each of the tasks and the reporting in details. Hence, it is important for a freelancer to have exposure to all these simultaneously.

It is common to come across gaps wile doing a particular project. How do we identify such gaps? Some of them may not be gaping and will require an expert to identify them. So while on a project it is advisable to have continuing updates on the progress from all quarter. This will enable a person to easily identify his flaws, which will in turn affect his work and the project at the end.

Once the project nears completion, many other aspects will determine the value of the work. One such is the effectiveness of the design. The deployment of the project for operations purposes of the business needs attention. The lesser the hiccups in this stage the better.

Closing of the project also involves a lot work. Training to people involved in operations is given. Any error that is noted is worked upon on a regular basis to ensure that the capability of the project is enhanced at every possible step.

Stay Updated to survive

A freelancer’s life is most of the time prone to danger as there is a wide competition. There are a lot of new graduates passing out of the college every day and they all come to work life knowing better technology and are advanced. The technology changes might not be very diverse and immediate but the ideas to approach the tasks might take different forms. It doesn’t strike our mind when we work on the same thing; we need to keep our minds open to all the upcoming trends.

The difficult part of staying up to date is trying to learn everything that’s new. That’s when an individual tries to make a mistake.

Tips to stay updated:

You need to focus on one particular objective. Decide what’s best for you, what your passion is all about. How the market trend is rising and the benefits you gain out of it. Once you have streamlined your goals you can concentrate learning about that specific phenomenon.

Make sure you focus on the path to accomplish the goal every time you tend to get diverted. Dig to the core part where you feel the trends get changed on the technology you have in mind, and subscribe to it. This helps you filter out all the other noises from super Internet gateway. This type of subscription also reminds you, the times you get switched to other diversions.

Most of us would be aware:

In Order to be irreplaceable, one must always be different” – Coco Chanel

Give yourself a deadline to learn some topics, try implementing them so that you can always remember what you have done. Stay committed, you can make use of the time you allocate to the Coffee breaks, while you commute and the list goes on.

Take some small projects and work on it till you have the confidence to work independent. Initially it wouldn’t be interesting and you might feel lazy and lagging behind but after all that one day you can be sure that you are going to shine.

Keep trading knowledge. You can achieve this by archiving the notes you collect while browsing, saving your favorite links and going through them when you find your leisure time, taking a look at some reputed blogs, videos and social networking sites such as LinkedIn where you find the topic of your interest and get together with people of that group. To keep up with the progress in the field, it’s always best to identify the sources to use. It’s effective to attend conferences, trainings related to your objective which will kindle your thoughts and gives you fresh ideas. Talk to your colleagues or in forums where you think you can find people of your interest. Sharing your knowledge and gaining from them is the best exercise for attaining your focused objective.

Always have in mind the scope is global with many talented people and the comparison is huge. The intense of attraction by the clients towards you will be more when you stay current and updated. Make sure your resumes are updated when you are looking for projects. They speak for you and help you get more chances.

Interests of individuals keep changing with time. For example , An individual does business for about 20 years now and he has not updated enough to survive in the market it not only affects his growth but the entire network gets affected. He will not be able to pay the employees nor satisfy his own benefits he enjoyed earlier.

People get easily bored of the most common stuffs we see every day.

As a freelancer staying updated, can make you fit into the market changes anytime. The opportunities keep growing and you will be able to sustain for a long period of time. The advantage of being in this field is you will be able to work on multiple tasks and get a wide exposure. You will be able to make better decisions and you will be the first to grab when any opportunity comes. Having said, you might also have a chance of owning a complete project having peers to complete the job, just because you have mastered the skill well before others. You will earn the respect of others being a leader.

Stated by the naturalists already:

It is not the strongest or the most intelligent who will survive but those who can best manage change.” ― Charles Darwin, We must be flexible enough to learn and approach the path to our desire. The passion in us must keep growing and inspire us to finish what we have started with. It must be hand in hand and without them we might tend to lose the string where we holding on to.

While we wake up, the dreams in us should push us to stay excited boosting us to learn more and more. Learning will take you very less time than searching for clients to approach you. You ought to be wise to pick up the best choices to get rewarded out of it.

There’s a greater probability of finding jobs when you have prolonged connectivity to the work group you know. As the market trends are changing every day, it’s always wise to stay updated. To specify, a blogger can’t always write about one topic and stick on it. He/ She might lose readers then. For the first few instances it will stream praise-worthy but later on the comments and the views will reduce. The conception of projecting a particular thing must change with time. An individual’s creativity also plays a role in it. Not all bloggers get the most number of readers.

It’s not about being updated, but also projecting ourselves to the crowd outside. If there seem to be new possibilities sticking to your ideas people will rely on you. The Survival of the fittest always is applauded and gets plenty of shots. Hence as a Freelancer one must have in mind the set of rules they must make for themselves.

When To Say No To A Client

For a freelancer the client in the most important person. The client usually has the final say in the working and completion of a project. However, it is not necessary that the client is always right or you cannot refuse to what a client wants. Many a times it happens that even when you have completed the work the client keeps asking for some ‘little’ changes or additions before making the payment. It is ok to over deliver a little but when the little accumulates to large amount of work it is the time to say no. Many freelancers keep on doing -the work from the fear that the payment will not be made or the client will not give a good reference after the job. This does happen in some cases but these situations can be easily avoided:

Use the ‘can we process the payment while I do this’ technique. Client wants some extra work? Sure, you can do it but can they process the payment first so that your invoicing can go through? This way both parties remain happy.

It is ok to say no if you have other projects: Yes, if you have other projects at hand you can say no to the client for entre work citing the same reasons. If the client values your work then maybe you can work an arrangement both can benefit from.

Say no to the client if you have even a bit of suspicion: It is completely ok to say no to the client if you have even a bit of suspicion in terms of the amount of work or payment. Remember you want to work but the work should not go waste. A client who does not want to share contact information for is not giving the clear instructions for the job then you have the right to be suspicious.

Another time which you will have to say no to the client as when the client promises more work but keeps on delaying it. As a freelancer, long periods of no earnings can lead to a serious imbalance in your budget. Therefore, if the client has promised you more work but keeps on delaying the work and the payment then it is a good idea to pick up another work and ask your previous client for payment.

Say not if the client is offering you a profit: Many start-ups are based on profit sharing basis. If the client if offering you profit sharing in place of payment then you should say no because you don’t know if the business is going to make any profit or not. Granted it make seem very lucrative to be a part of the venture but think about how are you going to track the profits, are you going to be a partner, and how long the profit sharing will go on.

Say not o prospective clients if they are friends or family members: Working for friends and family members can be very stressful for both parties. For you, as a freelancer, there is an added pressure to perform extremely well and at a ‘reasonable price’. For the client it is to convey their review without hurting your feelings. You don’t have to say a direct no, instead use sentences like ‘I am too busy with other projects but I can refer you to xyz person who will be able to do it better’ or ‘I don’t like mixing business with family’ etc.

Say no if you are bulldozed in doing work for charity: Doing work for charity is a good thing if you have volunteered for it. If you are being bulldozed, (by making you feel guilty or appearing to your good nature) and the charity work is going to set you back then say no.

Freelance Mystery Shopper

According to Oprah Winfrey, being a mystery shopper is one of the most uniquely satisfying careers ever. It can never go out of style and there is always a demand for mystery shoppers. Freelance mystery shoppers have a lot of potential in their hands to make it really big for themselves. Every organization values independent and unbiased opinions about their services and products to stay about the competition.

Mystery shopper is a person who is hired by a company or independent agencies to literally ‘check out’ the services. Mystery shopping can include tasting food, evaluating customer care services, checking the quality of products etc. A freelance mystery shopper has the freedom to say no for a job. In order to become a successful mystery shopper you need to have the following skills/qualities:

Excellent Memory

As a freelance mystery shopper, you can’t just walk in to a store and start noting down points and observation. You will have to do after you are out of the store and therefore you need to have excellent memory to retain what you saw and observed. Having a good memory will also help you keep in mind the employer guidelines when on a project and this way you will be able to observe better.

Ability to remain Unnamed

A mystery shopper must know how to conceal his/her true identity. You have to remain unnamed and carry out the instructions precisely. There are a number of showrooms that have web cameras, which the employer will use to verify your shopping experience. If you reveal your identity then the whole object of mystery shopping fails.

Great observation skills

Most people have good observations skill but a mystery shopper has to have great observation stills. Being aware of what is going around you when you are on a project is very important. Missing out a single detail can lead to a faulty report.

Writing Skills

Most employers don’t ask for a very good writing skill but you should have basic and good writing skills. Basic knowledge of grammar and punctuation will help a lot on writing a good report. You must also have a basic knowledge of excel sheets to maintain a record.

Availability at all times

Mystery shopping is not a 9 to 5 job. The projects can have various timelines. Sometimes you might have to visit just as the store/service is opening or sometime you have visit during rush hour or sometimes during the closing time. Therefore, you need to be available at all time to take on a job. Another thing to keep in mind that freelance mystery shopping is not a regular job and there are no fixed durations.

Ability to meet deadlines

As we said in the last point mystery shopping assignment, don’t give you much time to complete them. Most service checks or mystery shopping assignments have to be completed in a day or two of assignment. Therefore, you much be committed and reliable in terms of meeting deadlines.

Honesty and Professionalism

When you submit your report as a mystery writer it will be read by the location which you have visited therefore you must at all times keep your report professional at all times. Offensive comments and works are unnecessary. Be honest at all times and don’t try to fib in your report. Many mystery shoppers tend to make the mistake of lying on the report or being biased in their opinion in order to appear good. This kind of practice is to be avoided at all times.

Mystery shopping can be a lot of fun and highly satisfying if you do it by the book.

Five Quirky Freelancing Jobs

Tell anybody that you work as a freelancer and they will ask you about either of the two things: what do you write about or what kind of programing that you do? Most people’s idea of freelancing is limited to writing or something related to computers but if you will dig a little deeper freelancing is much more than that. There are hundreds of freelancing jobs, which you might not even have heard about. You can enjoy a freelancing career even without having to write a single article or computer program. In this blog we have listed five such quirky freelancing jobs

Pet Trainer/Groomer: Most people love to have a pet at home but often don’t have the time or clue on how to train them and groom them. A freelance pet groomers takes up the responsibility of training the pet for the owner. All you need is lot of love for the animals and basic knowledge how to train them. Of course there are various specialties in pet grooming also such as horse groomer, dog trainer, parakeet trainer etc.

Freelance finder: A freelancer finder finds things for people. If you need a particular gift item for your loved one or just want to create a replica of an old memory then a freelance finder will find the things you want for a very small fee. Freelance finding can be about anything but is quite different from the detective work.

Freelance shopper: I think this is one of the most exiting freelance jobs of all. A freelancer shopper shops for things which other people don’t have the time for. For example an interior designer will hire a freelance shopper for shopping for interior decoration products needed for a home or office or a manager might ask a freelance shopper to find some office gifts under a budget. Sometimes a freelance shopper might be asked to even suggest gifts or products which further helps broaden his/her horizons.

Mystery Shopper: A mystery shopper is different from a freelance shopper. A mystery shopper is hired by big brands or independent product evaluation companies to shop for their products and give their reviews. These reviews include employee behavior, product quality, billing systems, general ambiance of the outlet etc. For example as a mystery shopper for McDonalds, you get to eat a free meal there and also evaluate the quality of their burgers. Mystery shoppers are paid according to the projects.

Freelance home maintenance: People who are away from their homes a lot need somebody to oversee the maintenance of their homes, coordinate with the cleaning services etc. Freelance home maintainers undertake to take care of your home as if it was their own and make sure that everything is the way you want it when you come back from your holiday or business trip.

Working remote and benefits

Over 43 million people in this works have taken the advantage of working remotely from their homes or other locations. 21st century has seen a revolution in remote working which many people thought was impossible. Of course technological development has contributed in a great way to this revolution but mainly it has been because of the many advantages or benefits that it has.

What is working remotely?

You will be working remotely if you are working away from your employers business place. Even if you are in the next block it is still working remotely. Working remotely largely happens over computers and internet.

Working remotely should not be confused with freelancing though. You are freelancing when you are not working for a particular employer but choosing the projects you want to work on whereas in working remotely you can be working for a particular employer or freelancing.

There are many reasons on why working remote is fast gaining popularity. Let us take a look at the most popular benefits of working remotely:

More family time:  Around 51% of people who were working remotely have confirmed that they get more family time. The flexible working hours and the time saved in commuting gives them more time to concentrate on their children, spouses and relatives and be more involved in family activities. A better work and life balance is good for your own well being too.

Better productivity: Both the employers and the employees will confirm the fact that the ability to work remotely gives better productivity. This has also enables the employers to post a better retention. Also working remotely you can concentrate more on the job because there are no unnecessary distractions, not surprise meetings and no cooler talks. One more factor that contributes to increased productivity is the need of remote works to prove them because they are not present in office.

Less Stress: When you work remotely, you are subjected to less stress than the regular office environment. There are a number of factors that contribute to this; the first once is the reduction of commuting stress, secondly there is a reduction of stress from peers and thirdly there is a reduction of stress caused due to extra activities.

More earnings: This may sound a little strange to you but working remotely does save you a lot of money. You get to work in the environment that you are comfortable in and therefore you work more, which means more earnings. You save money on commuting and other small expenses that you may incur during traveling to and fro from office.

Remote working also benefits the employers because they do not have to invest in office space, heating costs, security, transports etc.

Better for the environment: Working remotely decreases the net CO2 emission. Telepresence, paper less working, less emissions from the building all contribute to reducing the CO2 emission in the environment. Therefore, by working in the remote office you are contributing to making the world a better place to live in.

Flexibility: The most popular benefit of working remotely is the amount of flexibility that you get when working. Most employers are not concerned with the timings you keep as long as you turn in your work in time and do it correctly. You can set up your own work timings. This also helps cuts down on absent employees in the organization. Flexible working hours also mean that leave planning becomes easier.

Working remotely is a win-win situation for both the parties and it definitely makes more sense than opening a new office in the world of today. All you need a laptop, the adequate skills and the willingness to try something new to make a success of it.