Thursday, April 2, 2009

Can you be productive working from home?

Working from home is not a new concet, but a new trend regarding this topic is that, due to the increase of information technology, there are more people working from home than before. It is now more likely that coworkers communicate via e-mails, instant messenger, teleconferences and Skype rather than hold a face-to-face meeting. This is especially true for companies who have branches all over the country, or who even have international offices.

Some people question whether it is just as productive to work from home as it is to work in an office. Working from home takes away any face-to-face contact an employee might have with clients, managers and coworkers. If someone is not in a work environment, it may be easy to get distracted, either by children, television, cleaning the house, or the urge to go back to bed. People who work at home have the freedom to do whatever they like without the watchful eye of a boss. There is also the question of what to do when there is a problem. Do you call in a special face-to-face meeting, or do you just handle the problem over the phone?

On the other hand, many people think it is actually more productive when a person works from home. These people are less likely to miss a day of work if they are sick or have an appointment. They can easily do their work from the convienience of home, at any hour of the day. When it is easier for workers to schedule their personal lives around work, it reduces stress and increases morale. When employees work from home, a company is able to save costs on office space and supplies.

My mom has the luxury of being able to work at home as well as go into her office if she needs to. Some days she goes into the office to take important calss so she is sure not to have any distractions, or if she needs to talk to a coworker about something important. Her superior lives in Minnesota, so communicating on the phone or by e-mail is the most convenient thing for her to do. She admits to being distracted by being at home on some days, but the ability for her to easily schedule appointments and run errands around her work schedule gives her the motivation to finish her work on time. I was looking online and found a Web site for tips on how to keep yourself focused on work when you work from home. Some of the tips were: get dressed for work every day rather than staying in your pajamas, keep a designated space in your home for work, set certain office hours and plan your work day ahead of time, take breaks, make sure you have good lighting and a healthy atmosphere without any distractions.

We've heard from a group presentation about the positive and negative effects of working at home, and I want to know what you guys think. Is it just as productive? Do you know someone who works from home and if so, how does it affect them? Would you like to work from home?

12 comments:

  1. I think the question of productivity really varies on a person-to-person basis. Some people are able to focus better in general than others, so I'd imagine those people would do better in a home environment than those already easily distracted. I would personally love the freedom of working from home but I definitely fall into the 'very easily distracted' category. I know I would need to follow some of those tips you mentioned to give myself structure or I'd likely lapse into being unproductive.

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  3. I agree that it varies from person-to-person, however I think that it would be a great idea for companies to allow employees to work from home a few days out of the week. My aunt works at home three days a week and she loves it. She doesn't have any children to distract her however, other than her cats. I think that if someone has problems working at home than they can go to a coffee shop or some other more relaxing and less distracting location. I think that it is more relaxing to be in an informal surrounding and I would definitely rather work away from the office. By doing this the person, company, and world benefits. If there is a problem workers can meet somewhere or use technology to communicate and work out any situation. Also, there is less commuter traffic, material waste, and I think most will feel more content with their jobs and thus their lives overall.

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  4. I would agree that working from home is a trend but the efficiency really depends on individuals. From an individual's perspective, it is a matter of efficiency. Working from home is definitely more comfortable and relaxing, since employees would be able to avoid constant e-monitoring from the employers. Thus, employees would not have to work under excessive pressure. Also, working from home provides much flexibility. Employees would be able to adjust their working schedule according to their living patterns. However, it would also be hard for an individual to separate his/ her working hours from non-working hours. From an employer's perspective, it is a matter of productivity. Employees are not supervised while working might influence their working efficiency, thus influence the productivity of the company. However, the company would be benefited from the reduced cost. My mom used to work as a designer few years ago. She works a lot at home, having a really flexible schedule. But it was hard for her to set up regular working schedule, such as when to stop working, or when she should take a break.
    She always started to work whenever she got inspiration. In general, working from home can be both advantageous and disadvantageous for both sides. However, assigning employees whether to work from home or in the office based on their types of works, in order to create most benefits for both sides, would be an important issue for employers to consider.

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  5. I can't really think of anyone I know who works from home, at the moment, but the concept sounds like it would only work effectively on certain people as some have already mentioned above.

    Due to numerous distractions that people face at home, it might be hard to be productive while working from home. But then again, who's to say that working at the office is neccessarily less distracting. Does the boundary between work and home really have an effect on one's productivity?

    That line seems to be getting increasingly blurred as we advance into the age of more efficiency than we have ever imagined. Like we've discussed on this blog before, multi-tasking just doesn't seem to be enough these days. In fact so integrated has work become in the lives of people that there are even companies that allow their employees to live at work. Here's an incredibly interesting article on that: http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/2000/01/10/271757/index.htm Go check it out if you have the time or at least skim through.

    Makes one wonder whether living at home with your work or living at work is worse.

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  6. I think the effectiveness of working from home depends on the individual and particularly on whether that individual is self-motivated. I do know someone who works from home, and it has its advantages along with disadvantages. It does allow him the freedom to work whenever it is convenient for him, and I'm sure his dog loves to have him around 24/7. However, it seems difficult for him to designate work times and free times. Even when he is on "vacation" he has his computer right there ready to answer any question from colleagues or customers. As for me, I could never work from home. I thrive on human contact and positive reinforcement from others. If attempting to work from home I'd either never be motivated to get anything done or always feel on the job in a home that doesn't necessarily feel like a restful home.

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  7. I know I am personally not as productive working from home... I am easily distracted by the comfort and luxuries that accompany a "home": tv, food, roommates (the biggest distraction of all), and my bed! I enjoy the freedom and luxury of these things, but can rarely function to my biggest potential in the space. It is nice for those who have specific life circumstances, though, i.e. stay-at-home dads or moms, to have the option of working whilst being at home. I can imagine that most who fall into this category are craving work-- so it might be possible that they could be more effective? But needless to say, they'll be distracted. This is not to say, though, that the workplace doesn't provide distractions.... I work in the Dean's Office and am consistently distracted by people walking around the office, computers, and my co-workers. The situation, I think, is extremely dependent on one's discipline, self-control, and work ethic.

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  8. If people can work from home, that's great for them, especially if it makes their lives more convenient or more fulfilling (like if they get to spend more time with their kids). Some people also work better during "non-office hours,"--I know my Dad does a lot of his serious writing at night, away from the office.

    I personally like to keep my job separate from my home life. I like going to work, and having a separate "space" for where I can be productive. I want my home to be a place of comfort for me, an oasis of relaxation.

    As to the question though of if we're moving toward virtual offices, I'm not sure. There are some professions (like a classmate mentioned) where you'll always have to go to the office--like physical therapy. But if our lives become more IT oriented, it's certainly plausible that more work could be done wherever a computer is accessible--and that includes one's home.

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  9. I think working from home has its positives and negatives. I think that if you're not careful, you can be easily distracted at home and not accomplish as much work as you would in the office. But I think it can also be conducive to getting work done because you're in a more comfortable environment and you can take breaks when you need them. I think that people should mix working from home with working at the office. Some days we just don't feel like going into work, or we feel like sleeping late and working into the evening. We should be able to make these decisions on a daily basis. If we're free to make these sort of decisions, we'll be in better moods and be more productive at work.

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  10. Obviously working from home is an individual thing on whether it would be positive or negative. However, I am totally against the idea of having a business that resources to only online meetings and the like because there is a certain intangible value of a person to person conversation. It seems ridiculous to me that people are ok with the idea of sitting in their houses all day and lounging around, cooking bacon while "working" and the rest of the world is out and about and producing society. Working from home for me would produce a lazy, reclusive lifestyle that what be unhealthy and more importantly, unproductive. I think working in an office around people allows a greater development than just work. Creating new relationships with people and sustaining them to work together, hang out after work, and influence other's lives is what its all about, not soley about people's lives becoming "easy" or more convenient. I say sometimes its ok, but most of the time, get off the couch and go hang out at work for a while.

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  11. I have experience working from home, and I believe it is solely dependent on the scenario. If you are working in a highly productive team with strong internet capabilities and you are motivated by project deadlines many times you are much more productive. Working from home cuts out the commute time as well as the office politics. You are able to get in the zone and get many things done at the same time. Where it hurts companies is when the person is not motivated by deadlines or given work to do. In an office scenario when you run out of work you seek out more to things to dip your hand into, but if you are at home those things may become personal needs rather than company needs.

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  12. I gave the presentation on working from home, and I think it depends on the person and the type of job. Obviously a physical therapist would have to come face to face with clients, but think about only having to come in to work for the client, and doing all the paperwork and appointment scheduling from home? I would like to start my own business some day, and I think working from home would be a good option for me. I want to be a lawyer, and if I have a family it would be a lot easier to have a relationship with my children and get work done at the same time. I am a people person, and I would definitely want to meet all my clients face to face, but I think it would be feasible to work from home and be just as productive. I have always been extremely organized so I would definitely set time to work around the other things I have to do. I don't think this would work for everyone, but I think it is a great option.

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