When you work for yourself...

As a person who works as the steward of a small-scale, diversified farm, it should not be a surprise that my status for much of my time at the Genuine Faux Farm has been "self-employed."  And, not to denigrate any of Tammy's hard work and participation in the efforts that make the farm what it is, it could be said that there are long stretches where I work by myself... for myself.

This, of course, got me to take off on a series of thoughts that started with the phrase

When you work for yourself...

And, of course, Tammy encouraged it by adding her 2 cents worth to the list.  So, this list is for all of you who have been, or currently are, self-employed and are, typically (or frequently), working on your own.

The difficulty of trying to keep things to yourself

Some of the things that came to mind had to do with the fact that there seems to always be a person in your place of self-employment that must be a real blabbermouth - because everyone involved (yes, it's just you) always knows what's on your mind.

When you work for yourself...

• it's impossible to keep a secret from your boss or your co-workers.
• you know what your co-worker's salary is, and you don't find it odd that you get paid exactly the same thing.
• the boss always seems to know when you start looking at new places of employment.
• decisions are transparent to all workers and they all know exactly how little justification there was for that decision.

When you work for yourself, there really is no need to speak in whispers because everyone (me, myself and I) is going to hear it.  You might as well speak clearly and loudly. That way you get everyone's attention and no one can say they didn't understand because you were mumbling. 

Well, ok.  You can mumble and you'll probably STILL understand yourself.  Except for those times when you don't understand yourself.  But, that's a topic for another blog.

Difficulties with teamwork

And then, there are the difficulties that come with covering all of the roles that are required to run a farm (or whatever business a self-employed person might have).  It doesn't matter if you are a team of one, cooperation is still an important part of getting the work done.  I will say this - the workplace has a chance to be pretty quiet since much of the discussion goes on in your own head.  Well, that's true until the discussions get heated.  There's no telling how loud things can get when a full-blown disagreement gets going between yourself and... yourself.

 When you work for yourself...

• it's really hard to figure out who gets to take vacation and still keep the business running.
• and you get promoted, you realize that you don't get to leave the old task list behind and the new task list looks an awful lot like the old task list.
• and you can't get the whole team to agree on a work plan, you've probably got bigger problems to worry about.
• you often wonder why you keep getting assigned to teams with the person you like working with least.  (this is a version of everywhere you go, there you are)

This is a good news / bad news situation.  From personal experience, I can tell you that I like my co-workers' taste in music and we (almost) always agree when it is time to take a quick break.  And yes, the dress code always seems to fit whatever I am wearing on any given day.  On the other hand, someone is ALWAYS eating my lunch AND I know who it is.  I am pretty certain I won't be able to get him to stop doing that.  But, I can get him back.

Why?  Because it is also very easy to move the pile of work from my desk to his.

Dealing with management

I have heard people suggest that the biggest attraction to being self-employed is that you don't have to deal with all of the garbage that comes with management and managers.  Well, I am here to say that this is not true.  What actually happens is that all of the discord and tension between workers and managers simply gets internalized into one person... you.

When you work for yourself...

• and you can't stand your boss, just get rid of all of the mirrors and you'll never have to look at his ugly face.
• and your employee isn't doing what they need to do you can fire them, but good luck finding a replacement - they always seems to be EXACTLY like the original.
• if you're concerned you are about to get fired, you can find the boss quickly to ask for a positive reference before the axe falls.  If you're really proactive, you might know you're about to get fired before your boss (also you) knows you should be fired.
• you will know when your employee is disgruntled, just watch for signs that they are forming a union.  That could be a real disaster because you might end up doing all of the work when they go on strike....  (um.. wait.)
  

Oversight is darned near omniscient when you are self-employed.  If you use the company vehicle for personal reasons or make a private call on the company phone, management ALWAYS seems to know about it.  And, don't bother looking over your shoulder when you take office supplies out of the supply cabinet.  Management is already there and they're tallying how much you owe for what you've taken.

Still, there are plenty of reasons that working for yourself is a good thing.  For example, you can complain heartily about bad decisions and past mistakes without fear of reprise.  After all, the person responsible for them is in your past and they can't hear you now.