Home Away from Home

If my grandfather could see me in my office today, he

would turn over in his grave.  Life in

the business world has certainly changed since he put on his tie and went to

work every day.  Gone are the days of the

gold watch and the huge retirement parties. 

Gone are the rigid nine to five hours. 

Instead, we do business globally on an international time-table and from

locations that vary from your living room at home to the business lounge of

your local airport.  Heck, so few people

actually show up to work in our “home office” anymore that as I write this, I’m

sitting here in our corporate office with the lights off at 8:30am, wearing a

pair of board shorts, flip-flops, and a short sleeve casual shirt, with a bowl

of cereal next to me and the radio on.

We work when we have to these days.  I’m scheduled to teach a class full of people

from India soon, and I’ll be doing it during the wee hours of the night because

it’s cheaper to have me stay up all night than it is to send me to India.  We don’t think much about that kind of

commitment today because jobs are scarce and we’re willing to work the

hours.  Toward that end however, we seem

to have lost the notion that our family time is (or should be) just as

important.

We are quick to say “Yes” to travel, odd hours, time away

from home and family, and we’re incredibly industrious when it comes to problem

solving for remote meetings, video conferencing, etc.  Just last week, I opened a Telnet session

with my Unix Box on my desk in Minneapolis to show a client in India a coded

example of some software I had, while I was working from a laptop in a Bread

Company restaurant in St. Louis.  Are we

just as quick and creative when it comes to spending time or “linking back”

with your family?

For less than $20, you can buy a webcam from an

electronics store, and you can have it connected to your laptop, with a

microphone, in less than ten minutes.  If

teenagers around the world are so bored that they broadcast videos of

themselves doing the most mundane things to the universe, it is not

unreasonable to think that you could broadcast your face back home for your

family to enjoy.  Here are some ideas:

• Have breakfast with your kids before they leave for

  school.  Have mom setup a laptop back

  home on the breakfast table and you can all eat together!  I saw a man do this from the breakfast buffet

  at a Marriott once; he sat with his headphones on, talking and eating an omelet

  while his kids ate their cereal.  How

  cute is that?

• Read them a bedtime story from your “faraway location.”
• Help your kids with their homework and at the same time,

  teach them how to upload or send files back and forth.  This is a great time to teach kids about

  computers, remote files, etc.

• Finally, spend some “alone time” with your spouse.  If you’ve been gone for a few days, the

  chances are good that your spouse needs an actual face to “vent” to or to talk

  to, waive to, etc.

I’m sure my grandpa would rather look a man in the eye

and shake his hand when it comes to matters of business.  All of this mouse-clicking with my feet up on

the desk and a sandwich in my hand would certainly give him pause… but at least

I could “still look him the eye!”

EXTRA: If

you have questions for Ken regarding business travel, hotels, airplanes, etc,

please call 1-877-49-EXPERT.  Your

questions will be recorded and sent to him. 

You can also follow Ken on Twitter @foodbreeze!