Being a Virtual Assistant, I am naturally a keen advocate of remote working and have eagerly followed the fallout from Marissa Mayer’s well-documented decision to ban telecommuting at Yahoo. Since the announcement hit the press there have been a flood of articles on whether she was right or wrong to make this decision, and whether her intended outcome of fostering greater collaboration will be successful.
In particular, this article about WordPress sparked my interest. Did you know that the company who run WordPress, Automattic Inc, have a 100% remote workforce? Every employee in the world can work from wherever they wish. Sounds like heaven, right? The gist of the article is that treating employees like children and insisting on them being present is not the answer to productivity and innovation. A wise manager should evaluate employees on their results and if a worker proves they can perform as well or better from home, there’s little reason to complain.
Here are some of the other good reasons for allowing employees to choose where they work:
- Companies who allow employees to work remotely can hire top talent regardless of geographical location.
- There are a myriad of tools that ensure remote workers are not disadvantaged, either by doing their job or connecting into the office or collaborating with other remote workers.
- Remote work changes the nature of interaction but does not limit creativity.
- A culture of trust and empowerment can accelerate worker productivity.
- Good managers who set measurable productivity goals and metrics do not need to worry about when or how the job is being done.
- Companies who watch their employees like hawks do not get more out of them.
I love this quote from Kevin Kruse
“Bad managers—which, let’s face it, are most of them—don’t set specific, measurable goals and outcomes. So they think they are ‘witnessing productivity’ when a worker sits in her cube, but they are really just witnessing presence. (We all know there are plenty of ways to goof off or slow down the work stream when we are ‘at’ work).”
From an employee viewpoint there are a number of key benefits to working from home at least some of the time. A survey summarised in the Microsoft whitepaper “Work without Walls” names the top 10 benefits of working from home, in reverse order:
10) Environmentally friendly (23%)
9) More time with family (29%)
8) Less stressful environment (38%)
7) Quieter atmosphere (43%)
6) Eliminate long commute (44%)
5) Fewer distractions (44%)
4) More productive (45%)
3) Avoid traffic (47%)
2) Save gas (55%)
1) Work/home balance (60%)
While some companies aim to emulate home life by providing cafeterias, relaxation areas, childcare, game rooms and so on, most people genuinely do want lives outside of the workplace and grow beyond these boundaries especially as they get older and have family and community obligations.
While part of me thinks that Marissa Mayer’s decision to eliminate telecommuting may be part of a strategy to “weed out” non -performing employees and those abusing remote work, I am also certain that she will lose the emotional commitment of many talented and productive individuals too. A move to a more results-oriented system of evaluation might have been smarter and ultimately, more advantageous.
Do you work remotely, either some or all of the time? If so, what do you think are the advantages and disadvantages?
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.This post was written by Sarah. Before becoming a VA, Sarah held positions such as: Communications Manager, Asia Pacific (Cisco), Marketing Communications Manager (ING Real Estate) and Marketing Resources Manager (Deutsche Asset Management).
Communications is Sarah’s passion, and she believes that small businesses shouldn’t miss out on having a targeted communications strategy just because they don’t have a corporate budget.
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