Work from Home Etiquette

dashofreality

Long story short, daycare in this town sucks. I am currently taking my kids to PT care in the morning and then I pick them up on my lunch and we have a nanny come. I have found a PT preschool program that I want to do this summer, only problem is it 20 minutes away. Not a huge deal, but still a pain to drive 20 minutes to turn right around and come home and then repeat again. So I'm considering setting up shop in a local coffee house a block from the preschool. This would be for 12 hours a week (4 hours 3x a week) for the summer. Two questions:

1. Is it rude for me to stay and work that long in a coffee shop? I would obviously buy something, probably a coffee each day and occasionally a breakfast or lunch. There are no starbucks etc. in this town.

2. Is it unprofessional/rude of me to take work calls? I don't get that many calls throughout the day, maybe one call a week during that time. If I had a telcon scheduled I would go home and take it.

I'm not sure what the etiquette is in this situation. Thanks!

 

 

ss265

dashofreality said:

Long story short, daycare in this town sucks. I am currently taking my kids to PT care in the morning and then I pick them up on my lunch and we have a nanny come. I have found a PT preschool program that I want to do this summer, only problem is it 20 minutes away. Not a huge deal, but still a pain to drive 20 minutes to turn right around and come home and then repeat again. So I'm considering setting up shop in a local coffee house a block from the preschool. This would be for 12 hours a week (4 hours 3x a week) for the summer. Two questions:

1. Is it rude for me to stay and work that long in a coffee shop? I would obviously buy something, probably a coffee each day and occasionally a breakfast or lunch. There are no starbucks etc. in this town.

2. Is it unprofessional/rude of me to take work calls? I don't get that many calls throughout the day, maybe one call a week during that time. If I had a telcon scheduled I would go home and take it.

I'm not sure what the etiquette is in this situation. Thanks!

 

 

I think it depends. How crowded does the coffee shop get? If it's packed all the time and people are constantly looking for seats then I can see how some people might perceive it as rude that you are sitting at a table for that long.

Also how loud do you think you will be on the conference call? If your voice is loud enough that the entire coffee shop can hear you then it could be a little disruptive. If you are more actively listening and occasionally chiming in, then it might not be too bad.

You could try it out and see how you feel.

VOR

To follow on ss265 - what is the coffee shop like?  I've heard of people who do kind of "set up shop" in either a coffee shop or places like Panera.  I think to a degree, it's normal.  But - would you be taking up valuable seats but not actually purchasing anything past a coffee?

As far as phone calls go, in the above situations, I don't think it's a big deal - but I'd try to get a seat off in a corner, and I'd try to limit the calls as much as possible.  Save as many of them for the afternoon as possible.

however, while not as ideal for phone calls, is there a library you could go to?  At least some of the time/ times you know you won't need to be o nthe phone?

dashofreality

No, I doubt the coffee shop would be very crowded. At least it never has been when we have walked by, and there aren't very many people in this town.

I'm not a loud talker so that isn't a big concern. The library was my other idea, but the phone call thing makes it prohibitive.

My friend and I spent tons of time in Panera studying for the bar, but it seemed more acceptable there, maybe I'm just crazy.

VOR

K3am said:

In general, I think the biggest place you'll have difficulty is in regards to calls. Even if you're not a loud talker, call quality on a cellphone is "meh" at best, even when you've got great reception. Especially if you plan on having a conference call, you'll want to be on a landline, particularly one where there won't be a whole lot of ambient noise.

Totally agree.  Anything important?  Or a long conversation?  I always try to be on a landline.  Even if the other person is on a cell, I just feel it makes the call that little bit better/easier. 

rockychryslerb2010

1 - I think as long as you purchase something you should be fine.  I do this all the time as a way to get out of the house and get MBA work done.

2 - If you are out of the way and there aren't a lot of people, you could take calls there.  I personally wouldn't be able to because most of my calls are of highly confidential nature, I wouldn't want anyone to overhear client names, product strategy, etc.  Something to consider if you work with confidential information, you never know who is around to hear something they shouldn't.

emberlee3

I have "non-clinical" days that I use as a mixture of WFH, running errands, housework, and hanging out with the kids.  I often take conference calls in my car, parked at Target or daycare or a park.  I think it's fine to use a coffee shop for non-call stuff.

oughtonk

I spend a lot of time working in coffee shops or Panera when I travel for work.  You most likely won't be the only one, I try to sit off in a quiet corner so when I take calls it's not to loud and I'm not interrupting anyone.  From my experience unless you're in a very highly traffic business area they aren't normally packed in the middle of the day.  It's also a matter of what your work is okay with and the types of calls you're taking.  If I know I have a call with a customer I tend to sit in the car and take it versus if I'm on an internal meeting I'll take it from wherever.  

groovygrl

Our library has private rooms you can reserve, ppl use them for work or for small group work, etc...

dashofreality

Thanks everyone. I will give it a try. I think my hesitation is just because it is a small local business vs. the big faceless chains. I appreciate it.