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Working from home won't mean working alone

Fledgling group would bring together remote workers, consultants living in whistler
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If you could work from home, and your home could be anywhere, where would you choose to live?

The answer for a growing number of remote workers and consultants looking for the right lifestyle is Whistler. The proximity to Vancouver, and the fact that Whistler boasts the cell network and Internet bandwith of a much larger city, makes it possible to have the career you want while living your dream.

But there's more to it than building a home office in your laundry room, or working on your laptop at a coffee shop. Debra Peterson and Trina Talarico met at a Women of Whistler meeting back in January, and in discussing their telecommuting lifestyles realized that it would be beneficial to connect with other remote workers, consultants and contract workers that are based in the resort.

"One reason is just to get out of our cubbyholes and get into a community," said Peterson, who does contract consulting work for Cisco Systems. "We all spend a significant part of our day working independently, and a lot of us would jump at the opportunity to get out and meet people and network with others in similar situations."

Peterson and Talarico are launching an organization called the Network for Consultants and Remote Workers of Whistler, or NCRWW. They first approached the Whistler Chamber of Commerce to get their opinion, and have received the chamber's support.

It's a grass roots idea right now, but they're hosting their first official event on June 25 with two speakers — Jennifer Wyne, the Associate Director of Human Resources for KPMG, based in Seattle, and Allen Neilson, a principal in Nielson-Welch Consulting.

The event runs from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Whistler Public Library. The speakers were chosen because they represent both groups that the NCRWW is trying to reach — remote workers and consultants, in addition to contract workers.

Depending on interest — and Peterson said the idea has been well received so far — the group could meet on a regular or even monthly basis. As well as guest speakers, the goals of the group include:

• Sharing best practices and lessons learned from working remotely in Whistler.

• Encouraging on-going learning and professional development.

• Expanding resource networks so remote workers and consultants will know others with various skill sets in the community that they can draw on for assistance with various work.

• Facilitating opportunities for dialogue and the creative exchange of ideas, strengthening the work as independents.

• Exploring the unique needs and interests of this sector in Whistler and whether there are things to explore as a collective to strengthen individual business experience.

While the first few meetings will determine the level of interest and engagement, Peterson said it's anyone's guess where it could go. She pointed to similar professional organizations that have created things like dedicated work spaces and professional development opportunities.

"There's one group in San Francisco — their website is Parisoma.com — where you pay a membership fee and can get access to a really funky workspace. There's access to the Internet and other resources, and you're in there with people doing similar work," said Peterson. "There are networking events and speakers and classes on topics that appeal to the group."

Because of the increasing number of remote workers in urban areas, Peterson said they don't need to reinvent the wheel but can borrow ideas from other networks. The idea of creating a shared workspace is especially appealing to her.

"One area I have had some issues with, as has (Talarico) is a working space we can go to when our home offices are busy being homes," she said. "I.e. kids are home from school and you have a very important meeting. We have nowhere to go at this point other than a coffee shop. It's difficult to take an important call with the espresso machine kicking in ever 20 seconds."

Creating a shared space in Whistler is just one of the ideas that will be brought forward to the NCRWW.

"There's so much going on, and so part of the idea for the network is to see if there are common needs out there and to talk about them. Where we go is undefined, but this is the first opportunity to bring everyone together as a group — it's a chance to raise hands and see who else is out there."

Overall, Peterson said Whistler is a great option for remote workers. Because of the young, transient workforce she said it's been easy to find nanny care for her two children than in Vancouver.

"It's the best decision I've ever made," she said. "I get to eat breakfast with my kids, and I can take a half hour off during the day to go outside with them and watch them ride their bikes. Sometimes I'll do things while they're sleeping because I've carved out that time for myself."

For Jennifer Wyne, the opportunity to work remotely came up eight years ago when she was married. Her husband was already based in the resort. At the time she was providing HR for six different KPMG offices, and working remotely with five of them. Shifting to a full remote office was a small move in some ways.

"First and foremost, I feel really fortunate that my company supported me," she said. "I made a personal decision that was going to impact my professional career, and when I approached them I said, 'Hey, it's a little out of the box, but...'

"KPMG is very supportive of what we call alternative work arrangements, or flexible working arrangements, although my particular scenario is kind of unique in that I'm living in a different country."

The advantages of working remotely include lifestyle and being able to continue to work in a company and career she loves, but she doesn't take anything for granted. At least twice a year, even after eight years, Wyne said she will talk with her director about her work arrangement to ensure that it's still working for them.

And while the advantages outweigh any disadvantages, there was a big adjustment working from home.

"I live in a beautiful place with a great quality of life with my husband, and all that sort of good stuff, but the flipside is that I'm a human resources director — I'm a people person. I like working around people, and working from home can get a little isolating," she said.

It was also harder to make friends and engage with the community, given that many people make friends and contacts through work. She's become a member of the Whistler Public Library board and in other capacities as a way to meet people and engage with her new hometown.

In that sense she's particularly looking forward to the NCRWW. "I think there are a lot more people in the same situation that we even suspect, it's the evolution of the workforce," she said. "In today's world, companies are moving into this headspace in some ways out of necessity, as well as economics. It's a hell of a lot less expensive not to have to provide office space for people. If they're smart and their industry can accommodate it, they'd be silly not to considering trying it."

The future of telecommuting

There are a growing number of remote workers in Canada and the U.S.. and businesses have discovered that there are several advantages: they don't have to pay for a workspace or parking, employees are happier and in many cases more productive without a long commute and office distractions. In many cases, employees will also work for less to stay closer to home.

• According to Innovisions Canada, 33 per cent of Canadians would choose telework over a salary increase, and 43 per cent would quit their job to take another that allows telework.

• AT&T saved $3,000 per office and $550 million a year by allowing employees to telework. Some 25 per cent of IBM's 320,000 workers are teleworkers, saving the company roughly $700 million in real estate costs.

• In terms of productivity, teleworkers are 10 to 20 per cent more productive, trimming overtime and other related costs.

• Teleworking cuts absenteeism for health issues by around 20 per cent.

• Cisco (Peterson's company) announced in 2009 that they were saving $10 million a year in office costs, and had saved $277 million.

• From 2010 to 2013, the number of teleworkers in the U.S. is expected to grow from 16 million to 20 million.

• The average teleworker saves an hour a day not commuting to work.