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

[Seagull on the Hill]

My productivity would have been reduced to zero if I had tried working from home.
I was a bricklayer.

 

[rippleman]

Anybody who has to deal with any government departments will know the answer to the question is YES!

I deal with HMRC on a daily basis and their service levels have been appalling since they allowed staff to continue working from home following the pandemic. They rarely answer the telephone (and when they do, rarely can you get the help required), take months to respond to routine letters (written because nobody services the telephones) and the complaints teams are now swamped because taxpayers and their agents can't obtain resolution by telephone or letter.

But lets not stop incredibly poor service stop slippery Sunak bunging HMRC's CEO a knighthood eh?

And we all know what a shambles the Home Office is in due to their failure to process asylum claims on a timely basis.

 

[dsr-burnley]

Would it make any difference of it was his child?

It would have made no difference if it was her child, his child, or someone else's child. The point was that after a long hold waiting for the phone to be answered, the tax inspector I was talking to was not concentrating on her job of talking to me.

 

[Beanstalk]

I feel absolutely certain it does. People seem to try to get away with as much as they can, as a result producing inferior work and missing deadlines.

It's a nice idea as it allows people to save time and money, as well as businesses on office spaces - but in reality, people are usually going to prioritise their private lives over work wherever possible, by doing as little as possible when unwatched.

Thoughts?

"Several studies over the past few years show productivity while working remotely from home is better than working in an office setting. On average, those who work from home spend 10 minutes less a day being unproductive and work one more day a week. These same remote workers are up to 47% more productive than office workers according to a Stanford study."

At least anecdotally, I find the days I work from the office a complete write off when it comes to actually getting work done. Might have a solid meeting here or there but it's hard to imagine how we got anything done when we were in the office five days a week - so many disruptions and distractions caused by other people.

It all depends where you work and what industry, I guess. In my line of work, there aren't really any benefits to being in the office and people are almost universally self-managing and motivated. All I would say in regards to the OP is that the second you start to think your employees need to be watched to make sure that they're doing the work then you have a major problem - you've either hired the wrong person for the job, or you're a poor manager who probably needs to put more trust in your employees. If I missed my deadlines and produced inferior work from home or in office, I'd see consequences for it regardless of where I was based.

 

[Mellor 3 Ward 4]

I'm sure it depends on the job / role.

I come into the office everyday - that's because:

1) we have products coming in / going out from the warehouse every day - hard to use a forklift truck at home.
2) I prefer to speak/see people in person
3) It's my business and I like/want to know what's physically going on.
4) I know I would be too easily distracted by home working.

We were here every day during lockdowns too.

 

[Paulie Gualtieri]

25 years in financial services and have spent the last 5 years pretty much fully remote

I get more done working remotely as can chose to be interrupted or not rather than having the quick 5 min chats that always overrun. My direct colleagues are based nationally and internationally so it doesn’t matter if im
In London or Sussex I’m available

London is a 3 hour round trip and if in an office I’m out the door on the second where WFH I’ll often work a extra hour / 1.5 hours or so a day and not mind doing so.

A couple of tips that I find keeps me productive and segregates work life balance;

1) “touch grass” as the kids say these days. If you are working from home get out the house even for 10 mins and mimic a commute and the beginning and end of the day, it makes a difference in waking up and shutting off

2) Productivity wise I follow the Pomodoro technique (Google it) which is essentially 25 mins of focus, 5 min break, then repeat the cycle 4 times before a 15-20 minute break.
Helps me focus and I put my phone out of reach for those 25 mins, anyway my timers going off so

 

[Kinky Gerbil]

It's both isn't it?

I've seen some people take the piss to the point they have been banned from working form home.

Some people work harder at home

I don't overly like WFH and the office is 5 minutes from my house, so tend not to do it unless in a night shift.

 

[hans kraay fan club]

Personally, I'm MUCH more productive in the office. Partly that is because I don't have a suitable space at home (For a brief period of lockdown I was WFH, sat in a corner of the lounge, with family in and out, and I got nothing done), but partly because I'm easily distracted.

If I had any kind of a significant commute, then I'm sure my personal opinion would be different - as I'd hate that time wasted every day.

But I live so close to my office, that my commute takes 15 minutes door to door, INCLUDING stopping at Waitrose for my free coffee...

It also means that I go home every lunch hour, to see my wife, sit in the garden, or watch a few minutes of SSN while I eat my lunch.

So for me at least, office is better.

 

[pasty]

Personally, I'm MUCH more productive in the office. Partly that is because I don't have a suitable space at home (For a brief period of lockdown I was WFH, sat in a corner of the lounge, with family in and out, and I got nothing done), but partly because I'm easily distracted.

Having a dedicated work place completely separate from the main living areas of your home is very important imo. In our old house I was same as you with an ikea desk in the corner of the lounge. When we moved, I had a garden office built at the bottom of the garden, and I now shut myself away down there. Far more satisfactory working environment. In fact it’s nicer than my working environment when in the office.

 

[Arthritic Toe]

Yep as others have said it depends on the person and the job. Personally, I'm way more productive at home. We pretty much have the choice. On the rare occasions I go in, I first faff around for ages finding a 'working' desk i.e with all the required bits - cables, mouse and keyboard, then mess around arranging the monitors (invariably the left has become the right and vice versa). Then spend half an hour figuring out the coffee machine which has invariable changed since the last visit and that after having located a mug. A further half hour chat is then had with others in the same predicament.

If someone wants to show me something on their screen I cant see a bloody thing due to tiny fonts and reflected light whilst leaning over their shoulder. Neither can I hear a bloody thing due to the general office 'buzz' of white noise coupled with an ageing pair of ears.

The move to homeworking/Teams has increased my productivity by about 300%

 

[TheJasperCo]

I buck the trend, because for me I get no work done and I'm not a fan of working from home. I like the separation of work and home life. Also, I don't have three screens like I do in the office. I get distracted and procrastinate more easily when at home too. Fwiw I'm not one of those people who mains and bitches at other people for WFH...it's just not for me.

Maybe, maybe if I had my own place and wasn't housesharing, it would be different but personally, the commute and other inconveniences of going into work still outweigh any advantages of remote working. Sorry to have to agree with OP and fellow luddites on this one.

 

[HalfaSeatOn]

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.

Yep, zero thinking time due to the ’noise’. Get the wife bit too

 

[Crawley Dingo]

I work Hybrid and my stats are by far better than when I just worked in the office or just at home. There is also so much less office drama when people aren't in the office enough to generate it, making work even easier.

This.
Added to that is it depends what you are doing, if you are really focussed it cuts out interruptions. I think it depends a lot on a persons level of self discipline.

 

[Chicken Run]

Personally, I'm MUCH more productive in the office. Partly that is because I don't have a suitable space at home (For a brief period of lockdown I was WFH, sat in a corner of the lounge, with family in and out, and I got nothing done), but partly because I'm easily distracted.

If I had any kind of a significant commute, then I'm sure my personal opinion would be different - as I'd hate that time wasted every day.

But I live so close to my office, that my commute takes 15 minutes door to door, INCLUDING stopping at Waitrose for my free coffee...

It also means that I go home every lunch hour, to see my wife, sit in the garden, or watch a few minutes of SSN while I eat my lunch.

So for me at least, office is better.

And you don’t get bothered by yet another bang bang bang followed by door bell for yet another parcel from Amazon you don’t actually remember ordering followed by the dog barking

 

[Iggle Piggle]

I'm currently sat on my fat arse in the office reading this thread at the minute if that helps. Whilst it's Friday tomorrow, I will be coming in again. That's because we are all going down the pub at lunch.

On a more serious note, I prefer being in the office as I find being at home more like "Sleeping at work" and I miss a shit tone of information by not being in. It is though, horses for courses

 

[robinsonsgrin]

WFH for lst 5 yrs... works for me. Still have team contact via internal Skype...job requires calls to people who often have complex issues to offload, so the peace and quiet is ace (then radio 2 once need to create the email reply and add to the databse).. gives flexibility where needed. Do have to force myself to go out at times though.

 

[Easy 10]

Having a dedicated work place completely separate from the main living areas of your home is very important imo. In our old house I was same as you with an ikea desk in the corner of the lounge. When we moved, I had a garden office built at the bottom of the garden, and I now shut myself away down there. Far more satisfactory working environment. In fact it’s nicer than my working environment when in the office.

View attachment 188832

Looks like you're drinking too much tea.

 

[Chicken Run]

. Do have to force myself to go out at times though.

I think your in a minority there, it seems WFH is an excuse to do at least two more car journeys per day than most would have done pre covid

 

[Paulie Gualtieri]

I'm currently sat on my fat arse in the office reading this thread at the minute if that helps. Whilst it's Friday tomorrow, I will be coming in again. That's because we are all going down the pub at lunch.

On a more serious note, I prefer being in the office as I find being at home more like "Sleeping at work" and I miss a shit tone of information by not being in. It is though, horses for courses

I’ll replicate “Feet Up Friday” by ordering a breakfast stick to be delivered and causally drinking after the school run

 

[zefarelly]

How did you find it, in the main?

Quiet, slow going.

Got my just deserts