[Misc] Does WFH (working from home) reduce productivity?

[HyperTony]

All head phones and zoom meetings at their office desks. Might as well have worked from home but had to follow attendance mantra ’to be in the office‘.

Exactly this, working in an office post pandemic is miserable with people "on calls" at their desk. You never did this before, because it's incredibly annoying but now it appears to be accepted. I will always book a meeting room or find a spot away from my desk if in the office. Conversely i find it pays to be or look to be busy at home, that way i get food and drink from my lovely wife at my desk.

 

[schmunk]

I tried testing a race car in the dining room once.

THere was no starter.

How did you find it, in the main?

 

[Greg Bobkin]

Not for me, no. I've worked at home since 2008 - after eight years in an office - and I get loads more done.

But, I can imagine that for many staffers who are out of the regular routine of office life productivity would drop like a stone.

 

[Pevenseagull]

I dare say it works better for companies with an interest in making profit than it does for public bodies. There are no doubt other reasons why HMRC is so appalling at present, but listening to a tax inspector talking to her child when she ought to be talking to me, is not good.

I'm sure that anyone who claims WFH is good because it saves on childcare, isn't doing WFH as they should be.

Would it make any difference of it was his child?

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

I charge by the hour and when I worked in an office I charged from the moment I arrived at my desk to the moment I left, e.g. from 9 to 5 less an hour for lunch. Any non-work chats and activities would get billed for.

I started working remotely (home or coworking space) around 20 years ago and due to the more flexible nature now only charge for the periods I actually work. So in this sense I’m more productive.

 

[dazzer6666]

Do hope you are self employed otherwise that balance is wrong earning money for someone else outside what they pay you for

That’s not at all how things work in corporate life unfortunately ……..anyway, retired now so all good

 

[Bakero]

I tried testing a race car in the dining room once.

THere was no starter.

How did you find it, in the main?

The proof is in the pudding.

 

[Lethargic]

All head phones and zoom meetings at their office desks. Might as well have worked from home but had to follow attendance mantra ’to be in the office‘.

This is the way we are going back to the office for min of 2 days per week to spend 6 hours a day on Team calls.
I have been hybrid for the past 20 odd years and always more productive in my home office.

 

[dazzer6666]

This is the way we are going back to the office for min of 2 days per week to spend 6 hours a day on Team calls.
I have been hybrid for the past 20 odd years and always more productive in my home office.

One of my old directors now works for a US bank - she has to spend 3 days a week in the office and they track this through turnstile entry. If she doesn’t do 3 days, her (US) boss gets a report and has to follow up and there are various sanctions for continuing non-compliance that are monitored by HR. She’s based in London working on a global project and has no staff in the same office, so is almost permanently on Zoom calls, often late at night because US institutions are notorious for ignoring time differences.

 

[Brovion]

Yes, I'm with everybody else (with the exception of the OP, who I believe must be Jacob Rees Mogg). I'm a software developer and like others I get WAY more done when I'm sitting in the quiet of my own home. I go to the office once a week, and that too is good as that gives me the chance to have a quick face-face catch-up with colleagues which for me is always nicer than doing it remotely - but I never get as much actual work done as I do when I'm on my own.

One of the reasons for that is the sheer amount of social interaction that goes on. As a matter of politeness people say 'hello' to the other inhabitants when they come in, and then you get the inevitable discussions about football, family, TV, holidays, etc etc. That breaks my concentration (even if I'm not directly involved) and thus reduces productivity. This doesn't happen at home.

Mind you I don't have a choice about WFH as our company recently downsized the office and the whole IT department couldn't turn up every day even if we wanted to as there aren't enough desks.

 

[chickens]

I think the OP may have fallen into the trap of conflating presenteeism with productivity.

I personally always preferred work in an office when it was with my team, and there were shared projects that needed teamwork.

Forcing individuals whose work doesn’t interlink with others to attend an office for the sake of attending an office is performative management and hugely counterproductive. Instead of a well-rested, happy and productive employee starting the day, you have a stressed employee who’s battled traffic and/or public transport issues, and who knows when they leave they’ll have the same again to contend with. It’s poor management.

Any employee can have issues with levels of performance, and any good manager will try to address that. For some people, their home environment may not be suitable for WFH. However, the answer if someone’s performance is poor while WFH is not immediately dragging them back into the office. It’s identifying the reasons behind the productivity drop and supporting them to improve.

If their home environment is the issue, most employees will say so themselves. Trust individuals to identify their own issues, and support them in finding solutions. Anything else is just arbitrary control masquerading as management technique.

TLDR - people know when something’s not working as it should. Talk to them about why you have a concern, and listen to what they have to say before making any suggestions about next steps.

If an issue is complex, you risk making things worse by a knee-jerk response. If you’re a good manager you know your team. If you don’t know your team, and you’re not new in post, then you’re not in the right job.

 

[Albion my Albion]

because US institutions are notorious for ignoring time differences.

What's a time difference?

 

[JetsetJimbo]

I actually didn't mind going to the office before the pandemic. I was at the same desk in the same room every day with the same bunch of people who (mostly) became good friends over the years, as well as colleagues.

Since then I've changed jobs and the nature of in-office work has now changed. Most of the people I deal with regularly are in other countries. There are no set desks, so each time I go in I'm sat among a different bunch of strangers whose work is nothing to do with mine. And the hotdesking thing means I need to cart my work laptop around with me, which means I can't in all good conscience go for a beer or to the gym after finishing at the office (I don't imagine my work would be very sympathetic if I lost their laptop in a pub).

I understand many of the same changes have been implemented by my old employer. This is just how in-office work is nowadays.

In these circumstance, I tend to assume that any manager or boardroom that insists people come to the office regularly are doing so because some petty tyrant gets a power-boner from it. Or they're trying to protect the value of commercial property investments they've got on the side, maybe. But I usually assume petty tyranny and I've yet to find an instance where I'm wrong.

 

[Easy 10]

Exactly this, working in an office post pandemic is miserable with people "on calls" at their desk. You never did this before, because it's incredibly annoying but now it appears to be accepted. I will always book a meeting room or find a spot away from my desk if in the office. Conversely i find it pays to be or look to be busy at home, that way i get food and drink from my lovely wife at my desk.

EXCELLENT point. If I'm WFH and the doris is home as well, then she cracks on with the chores AND waits on me hand and foot - within reason, as long as I don't push it. A steady stream of tea, a sandwich here and there, or a cheese & ham toastie (she does wonderful toasties). If I'm not very busy then I'll just chuck a few posts on here, so she can hear the clickety-click going on.

Then we might go for a stroll at lunch, which may or may not include a brief visit to the local. Makes for a lovely day.

 

[Chicken Run]

WFH enables people to return parcels, run errands, do the 3 o’clock school pick up, go to the supermarket, moan once a week because they have to get a train, walk the cockapoo but still have a dog walker, go to gym during the day, pop into 1 John Street and collect your £12 brown bag lunch, go to the supermarket again and watch shit daytime tv and ofc spend all day on social media, what’s not to like and the best part is within the space of 3 years it’s so normal that when the person who pays your wages suggests they’d like to return to an office based environment you can kick off and pretend that you’re outraged that they are doing it

 

[Marshy]

depends on the individual, i would certainly do less from home. Thats just how i am.

I need that interaction and to bounce of other people to get me going as it were.

 

[RandyWanger]

For me, I save 3h40 of travel time per day and about £45 when I don't go into the office. I tend to work more from home, log on earlier, finish later with less distractions but yet still get to be home and present with my family for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Working form home gives a good work/life balance and the people who disagree either can't WFH or hate life.

 

[fly high]

I dare say it works better for companies with an interest in making profit than it does for public bodies. There are no doubt other reasons why HMRC is so appalling at present, but listening to a tax inspector talking to her child when she ought to be talking to me, is not good.

I'm sure that anyone who claims WFH is good because it saves on childcare, isn't doing WFH as they should be.

A friend of my brothers had to wait nearly 45 minutes before her call was answered by HMRC. She was half way through explaining her problem when the woman on the other end of the phone told her she'd have to call back, she had to let the dog in & promptly put the phone down!!!!!

 

[pasty]

I’m 2 days in office, 3 days wff, and I’m far more productive wfh than in the office. Most of my work is project based, and to be honest as long as the projects im working on are delivered on time, my boss pretty much leaves me alone to get on with it.

The biggest advantage I find when wfh is late afternoon, if I’m working on a tricky bit of code or something, when in the office I leave at 4:30 bang on the dot for a 2 hour commute no matter what I’m doing. At home, I’ll just carry on working.

Looking forward to turning 60 early next year as I’ve been told I can wfh permanently from then.

 

[Baldseagull]

Never really worked an office job, but I have worked in offices, and observed the large amount of time people spend gossiping, flirting, making tea, and generally wasting time.
I have also worked in people's homes when they are working, and they tend to be busy with it.