Working from Home...

Today I received a question from a friend about how he could convert his "corporate" training responsibilities (services) into home-based services.

In brief, getting at some potential answers to this question will depend on several scenarios:

• What is your vision for this initiative?
• In what ways does your vision match, or conflict with, the existing process?
• What is (are) your role(s) as tech trainer?
• What specific content do you teach?
• How are the training programs formatted & delivered?
• What role(s) do you play in development/delivery?
• What is the specific audience for each session?
• Is your proposed home-based work related to developing programs or delivering them?
• In what ways will the corporate culture support or inhibit your concept?
• What is the nature of your in-home office in terms of your ability to provide quality services?
• Will your existing programs convert easily to home-based delivery?
• Can your audience handle the conversion?
• Will you experience negative backlash when you are no longer available to conduct face-to-face operations (or when you reduce this time)?

Answer these questions and a high percentage of the request is going to become more clear.

Want to build credibility? Try volunteering to help someone else...

Are you constantly waiting to be trained? Or to gain experience in some career area of expertise? If so, quit waiting for someone else to get you off your duff and go volunteer.

Very frequently, our own bosses cannot simply hand us the opportunity to learn a new skill or process. Learning on the job can be both expensive and detrimental to your future employment (should you make a serious mistake). Instead of littering the work place with your pleas to grow, go help someone--or some enterprise--less fortunate.

I've been working to increase my knowledge of grants and the arenas surrounding fund raising. Neither is a strength for me and, like most small businesses, mine can't afford to hire highly experienced experts.

Solution: I volunteer my time serving on the fund raising committee of a local non-profit organization. Using this resource, I can build my skills, experience, and background while doing something good for someone beside me. Check it out. You might actually meet new people, make new connections, and accomplish something you could never approach in your narrow day-to-day job.

Don't limit yourself to what you can see in your immediate surroundings--there is an entire world of possibilities out there that you've probably never considered tapping into.