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Study Shows a Productivity Boost of Working From Home

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Re: Study Shows a Productivity Boost of Working From Home

#81

Post by mikekchar »

gowld wrote: post #64
pilingual wrote: post #58

“If companies want hackers to be productive, they should look at what they do at home. At home, hackers can arrange things themselves so they can get the most done. And when they work at home, hackers don't work in noisy, open spaces; they work in rooms with doors. They work in cosy, neighborhoody places with people around and somewhere to walk when they need to mull something over, instead of in glass boxes set in a…

> hackers don't work in noisy, open spaces; they work in rooms with doors. > They work in cosy, neighborhoody places with people around Which is it? That article did not age well.

Oddly my most productive place is the train -- especially the shinkansen (I'm in Japan). My next most productive is MacDonald's. It is super weird. However, I think part of the productivity increase is due to it being an unusual place. I don't live anywhere near MacDonald's and I only work there when I visit my mother in law (who lives in a fairly big city). I couldn't possibly afford to travel on the shinkansen all day (although the prospect of travelling for 8 hours and then spending the night in a new city every day is really compelling -- One of these days I'll go up to Akita or somewhere that will take a whole day :-) ).

I like working from home, but I actually hate the fact that I'm basically forced to work from home every day (because I live in the countryside). Quiet is nice, but quiet all the time is a bit hard to bear. At least for me.

Re: Study Shows a Productivity Boost of Working From Home

#82

Post by jkcorrea »

Rainymood wrote: post #55

PhD student here so take my opinion with a grain of salt. I personally love the fact that I can choose to work at home or at the office. I can really concentrate at home (private room where I feel comfy) but on the other hand it is also significantly easier to distract yourself from work. Netflix is just one tab away and there's no one to look over your shoulder and whisper in your ear "Don't watch Netflix when you'r…

That last sentiment really resonated with me.

I'm currently working somewhere that more or less requires a typical M-F 9-5 schedule. I often don't feel in the "mood" on various weekdays, while some weekends I get that "predator" feeling you described and can code non-stop for hours on end. However, since I need to be in the office M-F I more often feel, and give in to, the pressure to not work weekends lest my family and social life/general well-being suffer.

I wonder how many productive hours I've lost due to this conundrum, and beyond that how many productive hours have been lost in my company or the modern workplace.

Re: Study Shows a Productivity Boost of Working From Home

#83

Post by acrive »

dijit wrote: post #80
acrive wrote: post #76

I had work from home. Never again in my life. Going to the office helped me to split the time in my day and mark when work and when I can rest. Also, when stressed a coworker can help much more easier than from home. My home is my home, my office is my office. Never mix these places.

There are people who prefer the office, there are people who prefer the home. Surely not forcing everyone either way is the right approach?

You're right. At the beginning I'm was very happy, but after two months I wanted to go back to the office. I was lucky because nobody forced me a choice.

Re: Study Shows a Productivity Boost of Working From Home

#84

Post by Angostura »

I worked for a very good company which let me work from home when my first child was born (I tried to resign, they said - wouldn't you prefer to work part time from home).

The only problem I had was that the whole watercooler thing was real, and you tended not to find out about the interesting little projects or chip in with bits of insight.

After 3 years, I ended up resigning and going freelance because they were paying me quite a lot of money, but I didn't really feel that I was contributing. Yes, I know - middle-class first world problems.

Re: Study Shows a Productivity Boost of Working From Home

#85

Post by fuscy »

Is the population data specified anywhere for the 500 participants?

I shared this article to some colleagues which are married and have small children and they seem to disagree with these findings.

I tend to agree because home disturbances can be major in a household unless you isolate yourself totally.

On the other hand this could be great for single workers in the short term, unless we ignore the fact that most relationships occur due to high frequency meetings (aka work, study etc.).

Re: Study Shows a Productivity Boost of Working From Home

#86

Post by dpark »

tysonzni wrote: post #69
a_imho wrote: post #21

Participants were not even selected random Enter Bloom, who helped design a test whereby 500 employees were divided into two groups--a control group (who continued working at HQ) and volunteer work-from-homers (who had to have a private room at home, at least six-month tenure with Ctrip, and decent broadband access as conditions).

According to the paper, the random selection was done on participants who expressed interest. > Approximately half of the employees (503) were interested, particularly those who had less education and tenure, their own rooms, and faced longer commutes. Of these, 249 were qualified to take part in the experiment by virtue of having at least six months’ tenure, broadband access, and a private room at home in which they…

But all participants wanted to work from home. Good on them for assigning groups randomly but there is still bias in the pool of candidates.

Re: Study Shows a Productivity Boost of Working From Home

#87

Post by ivanhoe »

ak39 wrote: post #13

First para hits the nail on the head. The issue is: trust between managers and employees. Also, "work from home" paradigm will only succeed when management paradigm changes from managing time to managing outcome. And changing that management style is not easy. Managing outcomes requires managers to understand not only the strategic agendas set by the bosses higher up but also the technical paths to achieve them confr…

> Also, "work from home" paradigm will only succeed when management paradigm changes from managing time to managing outcome

Problem with this is that it puts the burden of bad estimates on employees. They'll end up working more hours to cover the mistakes in estimates in order to meet the expected outcomes. And that is exactly the same issue that makes freelancing suck, except that freelancers charge more in order to cover for those unexpected situations.

Re: Study Shows a Productivity Boost of Working From Home

#88

Post by dpark »

tysonzni wrote: post #74
inglor wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Came here to find this. Precisely what I thought - I think that some people work better remotely and some work better in an office setting (like myself). If you ask people to volunteer for remote work then people who are better remote workers are likely to volunteer and more likely to work harder to prove it can work.

The paper mentioned how randomization (a lottery draw on odd/even birth dates) was done among employees who expressed interest. So it is a randomized experiment.

Randomized but drawn entirely from the pool of candidates who expressed preference for working from home.

Re: Study Shows a Productivity Boost of Working From Home

#89

Post by rorykoehler »

piyush_soni wrote: post #26

Did their sample involve men with a 2 year old at home that constantly needs their attention as long as they are at home, and thinks that when their father is sitting on the laptop, he's making pink and blue spheres in paintbrush? Honestly, I can achieve little at home these days and feel like I'm doing injustice to both, work and the kid.

You need a home office with a door that closes (and maybe even locks). You also need to be explicit on your work hours with your family. I have none of the problems you have identified.

Re: Study Shows a Productivity Boost of Working From Home

#90

Post by tysonzni »

dpark wrote: post #88
tysonzni wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The paper mentioned how randomization (a lottery draw on odd/even birth dates) was done among employees who expressed interest. So it is a randomized experiment.

Randomized but drawn entirely from the pool of candidates who expressed preference for working from home.

Yeah you're right. Randomization at least ensures internal validity of the study as applied to people who are interested in WFH. Whether it generalizes to others is an open question.
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