Working from home

Goat Paddock

Why don't more companies embrace this working from home idea? Obviously this doesn't work if your a bar person etc.

The time you would save commuting etc would be considerable. Even it was only a few days a week. I think it could work well in a lot of officey type jobs.

If your company has a work from home policy how do you find it?

If not do you think it could work well?

macpac26

I have the opportunity to work from home and I dont. I find myself less productive and more easily distracted. Im way more productive in an office environment working with people. I guess its a personal thing and also the type of job you do.

Nody

As someone who did implement such a policy at our company it's very situational for it to work and relies a lot on the job being done. It also has clear downsides in terms of not having a clear "off period" (you tend to work more hours spread over the day), issues with meetings, phone calls etc. as well and the simple fact managers don't feel comfortable to manage remotely.

For some people working from home also means greatly reduced productivity (distractions!) while for others it's not suitable for other reasons (for example if you have children at home working from home is not something I'd recommend).

Stheno

macpac26 wrote: »

I have the opportunity to work from home and I dont. I find myself less productive and more easily distracted. Im way more productive in an office environment working with people. I guess its a personal thing and also the type of job you do.

I'm the opposite if I have something that needs a prolonged bout of concentration I find it easier to work from home without office distractions

macpac26

Stheno wrote: »

I'm the opposite if I have something that needs a prolonged bout of concentration I find it easier to work from home without office distractions

The office has its bout of distractions as well no doubt. As someone who has worked in office for 15 years, being at home working feels alien to me. I guess over time this could change but for the most part I feel disconnected to whats going on in the office. This is probably an advantage to people who need that to work on projects etc.

wes

I work from home 1 day a week, and find it handy enough.

I think its better for me to be in the office for the most part, but the ability to work from home is really useful, if I have to wait for a delivery, or have an errand to run that is closer to home etc.

I know one person who does it and only goes in one day a week for a day of meetings and it works well for the type of work he does and because he is disciplined enough to do it, wont have his girlfriend call around during the working day starts work at 9 and so on, on the other the place one of my sisters works has to with draw working from home from several people basically because of people abusing it.

_Kaiser_

I have the option to do it but I generally only do so if I have some other reason for needing to be at home - such as a plumber calling etc
Most of my work is done via email and virtual meetings though so as long as I have a laptop and Internet I can work pretty much anywhere most of the time.

I normally get into the office just before 7 anyway and find that as a result I often get more done before 10am than I do the rest of the day with meetings, random drop-ins etc distracting me.
There are some things that you need a face-to-face for, but I think I'll look at it again in the coming months though as I recently moved and have a longer costlier commute as a result, so may start working from home one day a week or something.

Overall though it's a great advantage if your type of work suits it and - importantly - it's not abused! That and flexible start/finish times can really make a difference.

Stheno

macpac26 wrote: »

The office has its bout of distractions as well no doubt. As someone who has worked in office for 15 years, being at home working feels alien to me. I guess over time this could change but for the most part I feel disconnected to whats going on in the office. This is probably an advantage to people who need that to work on projects etc.

I've been working from home sporadically for a few years and that makes a difference

I also have a dedicated desk in the house which I only use when working from home which puts me in the mindset

Mrs OBumble

Health and Safety is a big issue, as is security: your employer needs to be reassured that your home working setup is as safe as the office one - both for you, and for their assets and data.

Some companies will only allow it if you have a lockable office, which is only used for work. Other's just assess your desk / chair / keyboard.

skallywag

Stheno wrote: »

I also have a dedicated desk in the house which I only use when working from home which puts me in the mindset

I find this very important myself.

I also have an area of my home which I have setup as an office, where I can get peace and quite for customer calls etc, without having to worry about roaring children and the like. When your day is done you can then leave that area / mindset behind, and 'go home' so to speak. The biggest potential problem I find myself with a home office setup is that if the boundary between office time and free time are not clearly defined (e.g. working with a laptop in the living room, etc.) then it can be difficult to switch off once the day is done and unwind.

Security is indeed a large concern, though there are ways around that such as using a secure internet connection, etc.

deathtocaptcha

As a web developer doing contract work, the idea of having to work in an office seems alien to me... it's such a waste of time and expense for both employee and employer...

In any sort of development job, you can easily gauge a person's productivity / output simply by looking at their code / online contribution to project management tools etc... it doesn't matter whether they're in an office or on top of mount everest - what matters is that:

(a) the quality of their work is up to scratch
(b) the expected output is up to scratch (i.e. they're accomplishing tasks in reasonable time)
(c) the person is happy doing the work

Most reasonable employers know that someone isn't going to be at their desk working 9-5 hours at home... likewise most reasonable employees will put in the extra hours in the evening if they were pulled away from something during the day...

In general, if you have people working with you or for you who love their job / industry, you can trust them to put in an honest day's work.

Witchie

I have been working from home for the last few months and love it. Some days I don't even get out of bed, just boot up and log into work vpn for 9ish and work flat out til I'm done.

The company is very strict about not working outside of the 9 to 6 work day so it is great. I get off the sofa/bed and go make dinner at 6.

I had to go to America to sort stuff for my dad's business over there and would get up at 4am work til 1pm and the do my dads stuff or relax/shop/sightsee in afternoon. Loved it so much am going back to Florida this weekend and not taking time off work for my holiday. Work til lunchtime then enjoy myself.

I love not having to dress or shower until I want to leave the house and since I get paid per hour worked, I push myself to get loads done so I get more work.

skallywag

Witchie wrote: »

Some days I don't even get out of bed, just boot up and log into work vpn for 9ish and work flat out til I'm done

Now that adds a whole new angle to it that I had not come across before

Witchie

Behave ya skallywag ya.

A Primal Nut

I have the opportunity to work from home from time to time. If I have something specific I know I have to do that day I'm usually ok; and not having to commute means I can log in earlier, leave later.

If on the other hand I don't have anything in particular to do, or something I can leave until I'm back in the office the next day; I'll usually leave it until I'm back in the office. I have less motivation and more distractions at home.

Or if it's not a busy day, I won't go looking for something to do. Whereas if I'm in the office I'll be more motivated to find something to do.

Also personal relationships definitely help build teams; so in that sense more face-to-face contact is good.

So there are issues with it; but I think all office-based companies whose employees can do it should allow it as a perk from time-to-time as it doesn't cost them that much.

It's also cheaper for the company as less office-space and other related costs are needed.

iusedtoknow

I work from home 2 days a week. Mostly Tuesday and Friday as I have 4 am meetings. I manage a team of product owners and developers across 3 sites in 9 time zones. I have a dedicated office space and am pretty disciplined with working hours. I never respond out of hours to emails and all my team knows to call me if there is a major issue. It's happened 4 times since I started my role.

Working from home is great as I concentrate on my European teams those days, so I usually work 3am to 9am with them and catching up on my own work then take a break, and respond to emails and have meetings with my U.S. team. And stop work at 4 ( having ever gone back to bed or gone for a run or swim)

In the office I work from 6 am to about 4. The first part is mostly with Europe, all of whom are remote and then the rest of the day on Local teams.I mostly barely notice if I'm home or in the office.

Elessar

My current role allows it the odd time, if I need to stay home for whatever reason (i.e. builders in or whatever). But other than that, no. Tbh I actually prefer going into the office, it's only 10 mins away in the car and it good for my mental health. I have friends there and we go for lunch and I feel closer to the team and the business. That said, I do find myself more productive at home as there are less distractions. I would like the opportunity to work from home a bit more often (especially if the commute was longer), but I wouldn't do it everyday.

RedXIV

I also have the option to work from home if needed but as I've two kids under 4 and no dedicated space for work, i only do it when we're really stuck for someone to be at home, I've only done it 3 times in the year I've been with my company.

If I had a dedicated space I think I'd enjoy it much more but in saying that, I'm pretty outgoing so I like going into the office to talk to my colleagues. And a lot of my day is in meetings so I'd rather see the people face to face rather than spend half my day with a phone to my ear

Goat Paddock

Well I think its a great idea to work from home maybe twice a week provided you have your own workspace like a spare room as an office or alternatively a quiet house.

Commuting can extend the day way longer than it should. Plus people get sick of being in the same place seeing same people. Good to mix it up.

Employers need to do more to encourage a work life balance.