Although my job is fairly flexible and my commute is easy, working from home is always a relief: I don't get interrupted, I have tea and coffee within arms reach, I can read articles on my comfy couch, and without a commute I can finish work and head out for a run pretty much straight away. A few days ago, a very good friend of mine who was a CEO in Asia during the 1970s commented about his surprise that so few people work from home these days. When he was in business and the first hints of our modern technologies were emerging everyone was convinced that soon everyone outside of direct customer service would be working from home. The advancements would mean less congestion on our roads, better life and work balance, and more flexibility for parents.
I don't know many employees who don't like working from home, at least every now and then. However, the employer take on it is very different. Many employers view working from home with a lot of cynicism. They think that if they aren't in the same building as their employees, then they'll slack off.
Some people don't work from home because they don't want to. I can understand that- interacting with my colleagues and students is one of the best parts of my job so I typically only work from home one day a fortnight. Some people don't work from home because it just isn't practical. However, some people don't work from home because their bosses don't trust them.
The strange thing is that the technologies that make is possible to work from home also make it incredibly easy to goof off at work. Trust me, I've walked into colleagues' lectures and seen from the back of the room all their student's screens glowing with the familiar blue and white of Facebook's newsfeed. If you don't trust your employees to stay on target, trying to watching over them isn't going to solve anything. Blocking Facebook isn't the key either- just google discussion boards for all those Twitter and Facebook control panels; not to mention the fact that everyone over the age of 13 seems to have a smartphone these days. Even if you do manage to outlaw all social media, you can't control your employees' "on target" behavior all the time. And maybe you don't want to, small and controlled breaks at work are generally fine.
Also, if you don't think your adult staff can be productive while unsupervised, why the hell did you employ them in the first place?
I have had some less-than-productive days working at the office and at home. Regardless of where I am, I hate them because the work is still there the next morning. Learning that lesson has been better for my overall motivation than anything else and it was a lesson I learnt without a "talking to" from my boss.
What do you think?
Do you work from home?
Does it work for you?
Maybe your a boss with a different take on things.
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