Working from home versus office based work
Pros and cons of working from home
We’re watching this “home working revolution” with great interest. We’re hearing and reading reports from “new” home workers all over the world - many thrilled that they now have so much more time to spend with their children, or on home projects, personal fitness, learning projects, and more whilst doing their “day jobs” from their new “home offices”.
We’re receiving a deluge of cutesy posts on social media, and invites flying about to join social chat rooms - all from folks whom we wouldn’t usually hear from in the day whilst they’re busy in their company offices, but who now find themselves with lower work commitments whilst their leaders scrabble to find them tasks and duties that can be done from home.
Advantages of working from home?
Many are musing that if home working is this much fun and creating a great balance and quality to their lives, then maybe they won’t want to return to working from an office.....But are these current conditions an accurate representation, or are they skewed and distorted versions of the reality of working from home in “normal” times?
Sure, you can avoid the commute which saves time, cost, hassle, and stress. Additionally, depending on your means of transport for your traditional commute, not having to board trains or buses with thousands of others can help improve your health too - no more being sneezed on by a fellow commuter in the winter!
You’ll likely avoid avoid having to be suited and made up - again saving time, cost and hassle.
And isn’t it convenient to duck out between calls to do washing or ironing or have tradesmen call in for repairs, or for you to do other small jobs. Maybe even a quick yoga session or a walk in the park. All this time being saved simply allows you to enjoy more time with your kids/spouse/pets and/or to pursue personal interests that you never seemed to have the time to do when you were tearing back and forth daily from your office.
How to overcome the challenges of working from home?
Our team have been home based workers for nearly 10 years now. Our current team, of whom half have been here since our company started, love the home working arrangement that allows them to flex their days. But they also report working longer hours compared to their office based peers - simply because when working from home, it's easy to return to the task you forgot to do through the day, or do “just do a little bit more” because the office is always open. Also, because our firm was specifically geared to home working from inception, there's never an uncertainty for workload. With no shortage of essential tasks and duties and projects to attend all year 'round, our version of home working requires strict discipline and commitment through each day with little time for lollygagging.
For sure within our company, we have advanced learning and work process structures, clear expectations for work availability to balance with life quality, excellent tools, dedicated home office spaces, and regular check ins and social events as a team. But we’ve still lost many, many new staff over the years who, after a month or two, realise that they actually aren’t wired for home working every day.
They miss the impromptu social banter and learnings that frequently come from physically working in the same space as colleagues. They miss the intimacy of work relationships where you’re interacting and observing people for many hours of many days.
Disadvantages of working from home?
A lot of folks are feeling like working from home has improved their social and family time. But once we all leave “lockdown”, and our partners leave the house, and kids return to school, and friends and extended family return to their jobs.......think about how you’ll still be at home. Working. Alone.
Yes, you’ll still avoid the commute. You can avoid frequently being suited and made up. You can still duck out between calls to do washing or ironing or shopping or other small jobs. But social time is over. Yes, you'll be able to pop out to meet friends for lunch or rub shoulders with peers at networking events. But it’s not the same. You can text/skype your immediate family whilst they’re back in their offices. But its not the same. You think you’ll be able to structure your day to keep a focus on the kids when they return home from school. But its not always possible. You may suddenly find yourself in a situation where you’re expected to do all of the home chores - and “why not?” says your partner - “I have to travel to work and I actually work, whereas you’re staying at home and just pottering about”!
Think of those days when you’re tearing your hair out or when you’re upset or feeling off color. In the workplace, a kind and caring colleague will witness this, and move to help, without you saying a word. When you’re working from home, you have to check diaries, see whose available and then call them for support. It’s not the same. Think of all the unspoken learning that goes on in the workplace, for cultural norms (aka: this is really how we do it here), or knowledge sharing that goes on informally in the workplace, or the useful information (and gossip) sharing that happens spontaneously around the water cooler and coffee room. When you’re working from home, you must consciously remember to socialise, consciously remember to distribute information, wait for a diary opening to share snippets with colleagues. It’s not the same.
Coronavirus may be the impetus that changes working practices forever, with a whole new flexibility being applied to remote working. Or maybe the novelty of home working will wear off for many. Time will tell.
About the Author
Leanne Morris is well known as a both an outspoken advocate and critic of the HR profession. With long standing networks across 94 countries in all specialist areas of the function, and a multi- continent work history, she is a sought after subject matter expert on international HR hiring trends and HR hiring best practice.