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Home office produces hardest workers

theage.com.au

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Re: Home office produces hardest workers

#11

Post by justanother »

kevining wrote: post #5
stdbrouw wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> In my mind it's generally because they haven't setup the proper home office atmosphere and/or processes. True as that may be, it's fairly easy to stay focused in a work environment and fairly hard not to go insane at home. Setting up the proper home office atmosphere and processes, experimenting with different ways of working, that in itself is part of the ordeal.

True, but I find that the most effective workers can be effective anywhere. At home: I can't get work done because I get distracted by my couch/play video games. At the office: I'm not getting work done because I'm reading HN all day long. Knowing yourself and how to create the proper processes/workplace is important, and something everyone should discover about themselves.

This. If you're determined to pound-out a good 8 hour day for a client, and do a fine job that shows fine results, it doesn't matter what your surroundings are. Unfortunately thi s debate is showing up daily in HN lately, and I don't anticipate swaying any minds. Disclosure: Teleworker for 10 years, often for Californians (who themselves often assume I'm in the same state or timezone as them, and I'm set up to anticipate that) via sailboat in the Florida Keys.

Re: Home office produces hardest workers

#13

Post by eitally »

I don't see why common sense hasn't prevailed on this topic after being beaten to death for years. The only ones who can decide whether telecommuting or remote working makes sense are the managers of each company asking themselves that question. There are too many variables, and no obvious answer. The best researchers should strive for is to identify the common variables with their inputs & outputs, and publicize that information to biz execs and hiring managers.

Anecdote: only 4 of the top 10 tech staff at my company are based in offices. Just a few months after our CEO made some backhanded comments about that statistic, he hired an EVP who also works from home (and who brought 3 VPs with him, all of whom are also WFHers). ymmv.

Re: Home office produces hardest workers

#14

Post by sumit_psp »

If you want to build just workers who get your job done, I am sure Home office might produce better results. But if you want creativity in the office, come up with new features/products and be more than just a normal worker who gets his job done, home might not be the ideal place.

Re: Home office produces hardest workers

#15

Post by eksith »

inerte wrote: post #10

Link to full study? News are notoriously bad at interpreting researches. First of all, 25 people is a small sample. It could be that the study luckly found enough people to make the data sing this song. Second, work more/harder doesn't mean "better than those in the office".

I'm guessing this is the actual article : http://tja.org.au/index.php/tja/article/view/390

Full text requires subscription, though.

Yeah, 25 is no sample at all. I mean, I work from home, but that's only because that works for my current situation and the type of work I do. There are a million other factors that can affect productivity either way.

Re: Home office produces hardest workers

#17

Post by alatkins »

aaron695 wrote: post #9

Talking to my partner who's in OH&S and she was saying there is a growing body of evidence working from home is bad for your mental health. Not saying that's absolutely everyone in all situations but like most mental health issues you can't really self diagnose.

I'd be really interested in some references to these studies, if you wouldn't mind sharing.

Re: Home office produces hardest workers

#18

Post by paddy_m »

aaron695 wrote: post #9

Talking to my partner who's in OH&S and she was saying there is a growing body of evidence working from home is bad for your mental health. Not saying that's absolutely everyone in all situations but like most mental health issues you can't really self diagnose.

I agree. I actively try to get out. I also more acutely notice when I'm not working when working from home compared to an office. Since starting one job working from home in NYC I put on 20 pounds in 6 months because I wasn't walking to and from work as much.

Re: Home office produces hardest workers

#19

Post by jdotjdot »

justanother wrote: post #11
kevining wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

True, but I find that the most effective workers can be effective anywhere. At home: I can't get work done because I get distracted by my couch/play video games. At the office: I'm not getting work done because I'm reading HN all day long. Knowing yourself and how to create the proper processes/workplace is important, and something everyone should discover about themselves.

This. If you're determined to pound-out a good 8 hour day for a client, and do a fine job that shows fine results, it doesn't matter what your surroundings are. Unfortunately thi s debate is showing up daily in HN lately, and I don't anticipate swaying any minds. Disclosure: Teleworker for 10 years, often for Californians (who themselves often assume I'm in the same state or timezone as them, and I'm set up to antici…

I often aspire to a life like the one you have. What type of telework do you do?

Re: Home office produces hardest workers

#20

Post by milanello1 »

working from home is great and all but I currently work in an environment where 'working from home' is the norm and it is not good for team-building at all. I've been here for months and still don't know what people look like or actually do even though I might send them reports or talk with them on lync.

Also, I guess this boils down to personality but I much rather work in the office where it is much harder to get distracted whereas at home you can just turn on the tv, watch movies, cook etc.

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