Employers forced out of offices by the Attack on America and employees fearful of future attacks of airplanes or anthrax are using technology to get the job done. Telecommuting, a trend of the past decade is enjoying a revival and presenting a new challenge for both employers and employees. Forced to develop specific guidelines for telecommuters, employers find themselves at a loss on how to manage the distance worker. Employees face the challenge of integrating their professional life into their personal space, often space previously used by family members. More challenging, perhaps, is that not every job, not every worker, is suited for working at home. So regardless of whether working at home is by choice or by necessity, possible negatives can be replaced by positives with good planning and follow-up.

While it may be realistic to be concerned about distractions home-based workers face we often overlook the continual distractions from chatty colleagues, time spent looking for misplaced information, and meetings that don