Pets are the office mates of home-based employees, but while they provide love and companionship, they can be a nuisance in the home office if guidelines are not established. I enjoy talking with others in the company during video conferences and seeing their pets in their offices.
Gone to the Dogs
I have seen dogs lying on floors and looking out windows and cats walking across the desk in front of the video camera. As a pet lover, I like knowing that our employees can spend more time with their pets during the day because of our virtual company and teleworking.
I work with two Rhodesian Ridgebacks, Ginger and Kobe, and I greatly value them as companions during the day. They both sleep under my desk much of the day. When the weather is nice, we walk or play in the backyard at lunchtime. Before getting a dog, I researched the right breed for our family; a significant consideration was that I work at home.
Rhodesian Ridgebacks are large dogs with short hair (less mess in the office); they are typically aloof with strangers (good when employees visit); and, Ridgebacks rarely bark unless they feel threatened (awesome!). This is a long way of saying that one of my key reasons for writing this post is barking.
Proactive Approach to Barking Dogs
I have worked in a virtual company for over two decades and heard my share of barking dogs on phone calls and video conferences. Fentress employees often tell me that I have a knack for calling at the same time the FedEx delivery person arrives. Inevitably, the dog starts barking, the employee is embarrassed, and they must leave the call to control the dog and answer the door.
Thus, our company policy encourages employees to minimize pet interruptions. They realize that most dogs bark and the first line of defense is to equip everyone with a phone that mutes. Though not an official requirement, I expect each employee to be able to hit that mute button before Fido starts barking during work calls.
The following approach, especially with our clients, is to remove the dogs from the work area during scheduled calls. I am mortified when I’m on a client call and hear a dog barking in the background. Our clients know we are a virtual company, and I greatly appreciate their patience, but barking dogs cross the line on professionalism. As much as we love our pets, it is good practice to remove them before conducting calls if there’s any possibility that they will bark.
Finally, I will refer back to an earlier post: when working from home, it is essential to have an office in a quiet part of your home that is separate from the rest of your living area. We love to have our pets around us, but it is also essential to be professional and keep the pets from interrupting the lines of communication. Though barking dogs is often the biggest problem for home office employees, other animals contribute their share of interruptions, so my next blog post will focus on cats.
