Five traits of highly successful teleworkers

So, you think you're ready to telework?

Not so fast. Before you count yourself among the legions of successful home and remote workers, take a good long look at yourself. Some people are convinced they'll make ideal teleworkers, but find after only a few months they've underestimated the challenge. They couldn't stay motivated, missed the office comaraderie, and found communicating with colleagues virtually difficult and frustrating.

The individual who works best as a telecommuter is a confident knowledge worker who is willing to thrive in the new workplace, says Michael Dziak, president of InteleWorks, an Atlanta telework consultancy, and the author of the telework implementation manual The RemoteControl System Pro.

In Dziak's forthcoming book, Telecommuting Success: A Practical Guide for Staying in the Loop While Working Away from the Office (JIST Publishing, February 2001), he says prospective teleworkers must identify and ratchet up their "telecommuting persona."

Certain character traits are best matched to the telework environment. To get a better idea whether you possess them, take our telework character assessment. Answer "Agree" or "Disagree" to each of these five statements:

• I have a willingness and ability to adapt to change.

• I am a deft information manager.
• I am an entrepreneur at heart.
• I am a team player.
• I am an excellent communicator.

How did you answer? You may say "I'm all of these," or "I'm some of these." Most important is that you recognize and build on your strengths as well as perceived weaknesses. Read on to learn why these traits are key to successful teleworking.

I hope you welcome change, because telework will deliver plenty of it. For those who've never worked from home, a telework center, or even outside the corporate office, telework will present a new, unique and challenging model. Adapt or become extinct (or at least permanently office-bound). Look at your personality and honestly ask yourself how you could handle the workplace change that comes with telework. Pick the brains of proven teleworker colleagues and ask how they've made the adjustment from corporate- to remote-based life. Consider committing to a several week telework trial just to make sure you're right about yourself.

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