Comments on: How I Reduced My Gasoline Expenses by 40% http://thefuturevalueofbusiness.com/how-i-reduced-my-gasoline-expenses-by-40.htm Using Business Intelligence to make data meaningful and solve business problems. Thu, 08 Dec 2011 01:34:45 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3 By: Jeff Rollins http://thefuturevalueofbusiness.com/how-i-reduced-my-gasoline-expenses-by-40.htm/comment-page-1#comment-560 Jeff Rollins Tue, 24 Jun 2008 13:39:56 +0000 http://thefuturevalueofbusiness.com/?p=149#comment-560 Gas prices are becoming a major part of employment decisions. I personally have to drive 70 miles a day and pay $45 a month for parking. My car gets good milage, but requires premium fuel $$$$$ ( not an issue in 2002 when purchased it. ). With a new baby in the house and my wife leaving her job, this has changed from a financial inconvenience to a major financial expense. Telecommuting is a big benefit if the individual has the ability to self manage themselves. Working from home takes discipline and time management. Many people can not handle the distractions of being home. A person telecommuting needs to have a home office where they can get away from the distractions and and agreement with spouses and family that they are not to be disturbed while in the office during certain hours. If they have kids, they can plan activities at lunch time to break up their day. When I work from home, I find my self more productive in that I can work during the time of my normal 2 hours of commuting to the office. I also can work longer on a difficult problem without having to stay late at the office ( and I still get a hot dinner! ). There are may days when I do not have meetings and I am just working on fixing application code. I could do this from the beach in Maui. Location does not matter. When working from home I also am more comfortable with putting in hours on the weekend when needed. If I'm racking my brain on a difficult problem and not making progress, I can take a break a mow the grass. Getting away from the issue clears my head. I can now work on the problem into the evening instead of rushing home from the office to mow before it rains. How do you measure productivity? Is the person getting their work done in the same amount of time and at the same level of quality as when they are in the office? Can they be contacted when needed? If so, what does it matter where they actually do the work? It is nice when the only accident that I have to deal with on the way to work is tripping on my slippers in the hallway : ) - Jeff Gas prices are becoming a major part of employment decisions. I personally have to drive 70 miles a day and pay $45 a month for parking. My car gets good milage, but requires premium fuel $$$$$ ( not an issue in 2002 when purchased it. ). With a new baby in the house and my wife leaving her job, this has changed from a financial inconvenience to a major financial expense.

Telecommuting is a big benefit if the individual has the ability to self manage themselves. Working from home takes discipline and time management. Many people can not handle the distractions of being home. A person telecommuting needs to have a home office where they can get away from the distractions and and agreement with spouses and family that they are not to be disturbed while in the office during certain hours. If they have kids, they can plan activities at lunch time to break up their day.

When I work from home, I find my self more productive in that I can work during the time of my normal 2 hours of commuting to the office. I also can work longer on a difficult problem without having to stay late at the office ( and I still get a hot dinner! ). There are may days when I do not have meetings and I am just working on fixing application code. I could do this from the beach in Maui. Location does not matter. When working from home I also am more comfortable with putting in hours on the weekend when needed. If I’m racking my brain on a difficult problem and not making progress, I can take a break a mow the grass. Getting away from the issue clears my head. I can now work on the problem into the evening instead of rushing home from the office to mow before it rains.

How do you measure productivity? Is the person getting their work done in the same amount of time and at the same level of quality as when they are in the office? Can they be contacted when needed? If so, what does it matter where they actually do the work?

It is nice when the only accident that I have to deal with on the way to work is tripping on my slippers in the hallway : )

- Jeff

]]> By: Daniel Johnson, Jr. http://thefuturevalueofbusiness.com/how-i-reduced-my-gasoline-expenses-by-40.htm/comment-page-1#comment-487 Daniel Johnson, Jr. Fri, 13 Jun 2008 21:02:47 +0000 http://thefuturevalueofbusiness.com/?p=149#comment-487 I currently work 60 miles away from where I live, commuting up and down I-75 every day from Cincinnati to Dayton - one of the reasons why I'm looking for a job closer to home. My current work situation is such that I'm required to be here every day. I'm glad to have a car that is paid off, reliable (over 208,000 miles!) and relatively okay on gas mileage. Until I get my next job, we simply have adjusted our lifestyle for the increasing gas prices. I currently work 60 miles away from where I live, commuting up and down I-75 every day from Cincinnati to Dayton – one of the reasons why I’m looking for a job closer to home.

My current work situation is such that I’m required to be here every day. I’m glad to have a car that is paid off, reliable (over 208,000 miles!) and relatively okay on gas mileage.

Until I get my next job, we simply have adjusted our lifestyle for the increasing gas prices.

]]> By: DAVIDeBOWMAN http://thefuturevalueofbusiness.com/how-i-reduced-my-gasoline-expenses-by-40.htm/comment-page-1#comment-470 DAVIDeBOWMAN Wed, 11 Jun 2008 19:37:33 +0000 http://thefuturevalueofbusiness.com/?p=149#comment-470 Great question - the long version of that answer will soon appear in a blog post. The short version is that by using collaboration software to share documents, communicate clearly, and track project progress, I am able to "be in the office" without actually "being in the office." Telecommuting often fails because communication and accountability are difficult to maintain. Collaboration technology makes this increasingly more possible. I am extremely excited about many of the new collaboration projects that we are launching internally and externally at LUCRUM, as they will further reinforce this model - enabling us to literally create the future value of business. Great question – the long version of that answer will soon appear in a blog post. The short version is that by using collaboration software to share documents, communicate clearly, and track project progress, I am able to “be in the office” without actually “being in the office.” Telecommuting often fails because communication and accountability are difficult to maintain. Collaboration technology makes this increasingly more possible. I am extremely excited about many of the new collaboration projects that we are launching internally and externally at LUCRUM, as they will further reinforce this model – enabling us to literally create the future value of business.

]]> By: Jodie Heflin http://thefuturevalueofbusiness.com/how-i-reduced-my-gasoline-expenses-by-40.htm/comment-page-1#comment-468 Jodie Heflin Wed, 11 Jun 2008 19:28:55 +0000 http://thefuturevalueofbusiness.com/?p=149#comment-468 David - working at home (aka telecommuting) has been tried for years, yet most seem to be very unproductive. How does having Collaboration tools ensure that you continue to remain as productive at home as you are when at the office? David – working at home (aka telecommuting) has been tried for years, yet most seem to be very unproductive. How does having Collaboration tools ensure that you continue to remain as productive at home as you are when at the office?

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