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LIFE'S
WORK
The Joyful Noise Backlash
Copyright
© 2000 The New York Times - Full text in Wed., May 24, 2000,
Late Edition Section G; Page 1; Column 4; Workplace. Below are excerpts
involving Jennifer J. Johnson
By Lisa Belkin
John Lloyd has decided to stop pretending. He works out of his
home, in a room just off the kitchen, and for seven years he was
scrupulous about sounding as if he was at a "real" office. His
two young sons learned to tiptoe and whisper. His wife, a professional
musician, knew not to practice her bassoon. His clients (he works
as a fund-raising consultant to nonprofit groups) never knew his
family was there.
After spending endless energy to erase the background noise,
Mr. Lloyd had a most unlikely epiphany. Walking into a men's room
in a library a few months ago, he heard someone conducting a business
call while inside a stall. If the world was ready for that, he
reasoned, it could handle the occasional squeak or squawk from
his children. So, he went home and, literally and metaphorically,
opened his office door.
"It's all about what noise is O.K. noise," he said. "All
those people who walk down the street next to construction cranes
talking on their cell phones -- that's O.K.? And me, talking on
my office phone with kids in the background -- that's not O.K.?
I reject the argument that there's a difference."
What then, is the difference? Why has it become acceptable to announce
where you're calling from -- inside the airplane, stuck in traffic,
at the snack bar at Yankee Stadium at the top of the ninth "but
I wanted to get back to you right away" -- as long as the place
you're calling from is not your house?...
Before you turn up the television and run the vacuum cleaner during
your next business call, a word of caution from Jennifer Johnson,
who is as strong an advocate as there is for working from home.
Ms. Johnson is the founder of Johnson & Company,
a "virtual" public relations agency whose 20 employees work in home
offices across four time zones. One day it won't matter if the doorbell
rings, she promises, but for the moment it still does. She requires
her staff to have a separate phone line just for work and someone
else to watch the children during designated business hours.
She also draws a line between "high stakes" and "low stakes" calls.
Company staff meetings (by way of conference call) are "low stakes,"
the aural equivalent of casual days in bricks-and-mortar offices,
and often include dogs barking, babies crying and treadmills humming.
Calls to clients are quieter, a better-dressed version of background
noise, and Ms. Johnson has given out signs that can be put on the
front door during these conversations.
"Danger, WORK IN PROGRESS," they say, "Unless an absolute emergency,
please leave packages. Do not ring doorbell."
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