Have you ever noticed how corporate and professional firm networks and VPN’s and their associated conference call and IM service slow down on a Friday? This is no coincidence. That is the day above all others when professionals and other office workers abandon their time consuming and often expensive and uncomfortable commutes and work from home. This puts a far greater strain on the networks and associated technology that supports home working.
Over the last decade there has been a real change in working habits and indeed in the attitude towards them. If you were say a lawyer and were not physically present in the office then you were not trusted to be doing your job. You could literally sit at your desk and play World of Warcraft all day and nobody cared because you were “in the office”. I had a conversation some 10 years ago with a partner in a leading London law firm and I asked why they needed all of their lawyers in expensive City offices. He said it was essential to maintain camaraderie or something like that.
Now all of this has changed. The technology is seamless and sometimes our how networks are faster. As I sit in front of two laptops one using an Ethernet connection plus a third screen and a third, private, Macbook I am no less effective than if I had travelled to an office – and in fact I can work more efficiently and indeed for longer hours.
Even the law firms have recognised this now - see this Guardian article Can I work from home as a lawyer?by way of example which suggests Agile working is on the rise in the legal profession, with employees free to work where, when and how they choose. If the relatively traditional legal profession recognises the advantages of flexible working then it is here to stay, though I suspect there are still pockets of stubborn resistance.
And this is not just about the legal profession – here is a Forbes article on The 10 Best Jobs Working from Home which says Working from home is the job dream situation for millions of workers. But it may surprise you to know there are literally hundreds of companies providing opportunities to do just that.It then cites some of the top corporate opportunities which include Amazon.
Of course there are challenges – see this blog The 7 Biggest Work Challenges (and How to Overcome Them) which cites overworking, prioritization and interruptions - The good news is, when you work from home, you avoid co-workers dropping by your desk and other office interruptions (it's someone's birthday! Let's have cake in the breakroom!). The bad news is you'll likely have to deal with other kinds of interruptions and distractions, whether it's the UPS delivery person needing your signature or in-laws dropping by unannounced.Our dog always sees fit to bark at something in the middle of a sensitive and difficult conference call!
Another challenge cited in this blog on The top 7 disadvantages of working at home is a lack of community and differences in culture “When you only see teammates in chat or a weekly video call, it’s hard to develop the tight-knit camaraderie that makes for truly great teams.” It also suggests ways to overcome these issues.
So does this Harvard Business Review article Challenges to Managing Virtual Teams and how to Overcome Them which discusses communication, trust and productivity. It also cites this two year study by a Stanford professor which:
showed an astounding productivity boost among the telecommuters equivalent to a full day's work. Turns out work-from-home employees work a true full-shift (or more) versus being late to the office or leaving early multiple times a week and found it less distracting and easier to concentrate at home.
Additionally (and incredibly), employee attrition decreased by 50 percent among the telecommuters, they took shorter breaks, had fewer sick days, and took less time off. Not to mention the reduced carbon emissions from fewer autos clogging up the morning commute.
So working from home is here to stay and whilst it does have some issues to manage represents a huge advantage to professional people where attendance in person is not essential – such as a lawyer appearing in court, or a dentist filling a tooth or a surgeon performing an operation – though even that can be done remotely using a robot, see this BBC article from 2014.
I personally think we should embrace this appropriate homeworking as an opportunity,but recognise its limitations. And also remember the quote commonly attributed to politician Paul Tsongas or rabbi Harold Kushner “No one on his deathbed ever said, ‘I wish I had spent more time at the office.’”
And if my dog barks too much I can take him for a walk in my lunch hour - which is good for him and for me!
Over the last decade there has been a real change in working habits and indeed in the attitude towards them. If you were say a lawyer and were not physically present in the office then you were not trusted to be doing your job. You could literally sit at your desk and play World of Warcraft all day and nobody cared because you were “in the office”. I had a conversation some 10 years ago with a partner in a leading London law firm and I asked why they needed all of their lawyers in expensive City offices. He said it was essential to maintain camaraderie or something like that.
Now all of this has changed. The technology is seamless and sometimes our how networks are faster. As I sit in front of two laptops one using an Ethernet connection plus a third screen and a third, private, Macbook I am no less effective than if I had travelled to an office – and in fact I can work more efficiently and indeed for longer hours.
Even the law firms have recognised this now - see this Guardian article Can I work from home as a lawyer?by way of example which suggests Agile working is on the rise in the legal profession, with employees free to work where, when and how they choose. If the relatively traditional legal profession recognises the advantages of flexible working then it is here to stay, though I suspect there are still pockets of stubborn resistance.
And this is not just about the legal profession – here is a Forbes article on The 10 Best Jobs Working from Home which says Working from home is the job dream situation for millions of workers. But it may surprise you to know there are literally hundreds of companies providing opportunities to do just that.It then cites some of the top corporate opportunities which include Amazon.
Of course there are challenges – see this blog The 7 Biggest Work Challenges (and How to Overcome Them) which cites overworking, prioritization and interruptions - The good news is, when you work from home, you avoid co-workers dropping by your desk and other office interruptions (it's someone's birthday! Let's have cake in the breakroom!). The bad news is you'll likely have to deal with other kinds of interruptions and distractions, whether it's the UPS delivery person needing your signature or in-laws dropping by unannounced.Our dog always sees fit to bark at something in the middle of a sensitive and difficult conference call!
Another challenge cited in this blog on The top 7 disadvantages of working at home is a lack of community and differences in culture “When you only see teammates in chat or a weekly video call, it’s hard to develop the tight-knit camaraderie that makes for truly great teams.” It also suggests ways to overcome these issues.
So does this Harvard Business Review article Challenges to Managing Virtual Teams and how to Overcome Them which discusses communication, trust and productivity. It also cites this two year study by a Stanford professor which:
showed an astounding productivity boost among the telecommuters equivalent to a full day's work. Turns out work-from-home employees work a true full-shift (or more) versus being late to the office or leaving early multiple times a week and found it less distracting and easier to concentrate at home.
Additionally (and incredibly), employee attrition decreased by 50 percent among the telecommuters, they took shorter breaks, had fewer sick days, and took less time off. Not to mention the reduced carbon emissions from fewer autos clogging up the morning commute.
So working from home is here to stay and whilst it does have some issues to manage represents a huge advantage to professional people where attendance in person is not essential – such as a lawyer appearing in court, or a dentist filling a tooth or a surgeon performing an operation – though even that can be done remotely using a robot, see this BBC article from 2014.
I personally think we should embrace this appropriate homeworking as an opportunity,but recognise its limitations. And also remember the quote commonly attributed to politician Paul Tsongas or rabbi Harold Kushner “No one on his deathbed ever said, ‘I wish I had spent more time at the office.’”
And if my dog barks too much I can take him for a walk in my lunch hour - which is good for him and for me!
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