Working from home is associated with one theme we all value – Freedom!
We envision sitting in the comfort of our homes, typing away at our laptops or relaxing on a sandy white beach while doing business on our smartphones and sipping a cool, refreshing cocktail.
While these perceptions are attainable and are very much real, it does not form the basis of what working from home means. Research is important. Is this applicable to Barbados and the wider Caribbean? What type of jobs offer work from home opportunities?
As a young professional, you have the conveniences of the 21st century on your side. Technology and the internet have transformed businesses from brick and mortar to click and mortar models. Many contemporary businesses operate online. Orders, communications, transactions and payments through e-commerce have allowed a shift in the traditional 9-5 work schedule.
As such, you may find that certain jobs can be performed part-time with a laptop, internet connection and a smartphone. You may not need to leave your house to perform the following jobs:
What Type of Jobs can be Done at Home?
- Creative Industries
Jobs within the creative field can be home-based. Writing, photography, graphic design can be performed at home. Individuals can earn money working from home, studio or office where they can communicate with clients or employer through video conferencing, email and telephone.
- Technical Professionals
Web developers, IT consultants, social media managers, database and network administrators use technology to perform their tasks remotely from home.
- Private Practices
Professionals such as physicians, attorneys, accountants, personal trainers and consultants who choose to have their own private practice work from home where they can establish an office space to work within their home to meet clients and conduct transactions.
- Digitally Created Jobs
Inspired by achieving nation-wide internet access “from bus stop to rum stop” by then Prime Minister of Barbados in 2011, the Barbados Entrepreneurship Foundation (BEF) launched a campaign within the business community to achieve free, island-wide Wi-Fi connectivity within one year. By 2013, more than 100 free Wi-Fi access points had been established. With over 80% of the Bajan population today having internet access, the possibilities of working remotely from home are becoming a reality.
These technological developments enabled traditional office jobs such as marketing professionals, project managers and entrepreneurs to be performed at from home without compromising on communication and timeliness.
Given this digital transformation, technology allows flexibility and the creation of new positions and opportunities. Customer service, sales, teaching/coaching and virtual administration assistants, all of which can be remotely performed at home can be conducted through digital media.
Why choose to work from home?
In the age of 21st century, many people work remotely for a variety of reasons:
Flexibility
There is a certain glamour to managing yourself and performing your tasks in the comfort of your home. The appeal and sensibility of this work arrangement lies in money saved from commuting. Working from home affords many individuals more of that most valuable of all resources – time!
Disabilities
Working from home is ideal for persons who have a disability that limits their mobility to come into office and spend 8 hours each day.
Type of Company
If you work for an online company or a multinational that operates in multiple markets, you may be afforded the opportunity to work from home given that your company may be headquartered in another country or operations occur online. Often, companies take advantage of technology and offer top-performing employees work from home opportunities to motivate and assist them with work life balance.
Your Chosen Career-Path
If you are self-employed as a freelancer or entrepreneur, you choose your own work hours and location which very well may be at home to save costs on renting office spaces. Online information resources, virtual conferencing and e-commerce makes working from home a reality.
Different Values and Life Goals
Generations think differently from each other. Older baby boomer generations may have cherished 8-12-hour workdays and having weekends off. However, this lifestyle would be considered outdated by millennials. Today, individuals value spending time with their families and dictating how their time is spent. Unlike previous generations, who would have missed significant portions of their children’s formative years due to work, parental values today are different. Millennial workers seek a more practical work-life balance and a sense of ownership of their time.
Work from Home Reality Checks
There is a certain glamour to working from home. You are essentially in control of your time and workload. You are free from the micromanaging, office politics and bureaucracy that accompanies many organisations. However, working from home is still fundamentally work and there are certain conditions by which you must observe:
Manage Your Time
Your time is yours to manage, but it must be just that – managed. Working from home does not mean sleeping in, endless breaks and moving at your personal pace. You still have tasks to be completed, deadlines to adhere to and your daily or weekly Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to achieve. Even in private practice, you must have discipline to begin work when your clients expect, otherwise you lose revenue.
Maintain Professionalism
Working from home also requires a professional attitude, demeanour and trust. Despite being in the comforts of your home, you are expected to respond to emails and calls professionally. Additionally, if you are expected to be operating within a given set of hours during the day, make sure colleagues or clients can access you during those said hours, to not compromise your integrity and trust.
No compromise on Quality
You may be free of being under your manager’s watchful eye, however, do not let this result in substandard quality of work. You are entrusted with the privilege of working out of your house, but at the end of the day, your work will speak for itself. Ensure that it speaks volumes of high quality effort so that you can demonstrate clearly you have the maturity and discipline to have your flexible time, yet get the job done.
The concept of working from home has been made possible through technology. Virtually, any job can be performed remotely once proper communication and connectivity is established. People choose remote work to achieve greater flexibility, independence and savings. However, with benefits comes the responsibility to ensure work quality, deadlines and trust is not compromised.
