December 28, 2010 at 9:10 pm
Comments posted to this topic are about the item The Office
December 29, 2010 at 4:50 am
If I work from home I eliminate a 2 hour round trip commute. This means I can either start earlier or have a lie in. When I finish work I can walk out of my front door and take the dog on a 4 mile walk to de-stress.
The downside is that a lot of my role as a Data Architect involves social interaction which isn't so easy outside of the office.
That and the works coffee is actually pretty good.
December 29, 2010 at 6:20 am
I just ended a 10 year stint of working from home; both for an employer the first 4 years and for myself the past 6 years. There are plus's and minuses.
Major Plus,
The ability to focus without interruption
No commute time
Minus's
Work is always "right there"
Generally worked an extra 8-10 hours a week
Added stress to produce.
For an employer - They generally are leery of whether you're actually working
For myself - Getting paid on time always an issue.
10 months ago, with some trepidation I returned to the Corporate scene as a Sr Developer for a company. But an excellent company that had actually sought me out. I never "applied" for the job.
In the right environment the security of an "office" job can be great. I'm valued, treated with respect, and have better "face to face" time with Executive Management so there's less of a chance of misunderstandings. I look forward to coming to work..and when I leave for the day...I leave the work behind as well.
December 29, 2010 at 6:21 am
My problem would be I don't have anywhere in the house to make an 'office' where I can close the door and not be bothered by any noise. I would find it distracting when the weather turns nice here to stay focused and work instead of going outside on our patio to enjoy the sun.... walk the dog... run to the store to pick something up... etc...
I would like to work from home maybe one day a week just to not have to drive in and save the wear and tear on my car and gasoline though. I think I could manage one day a week without any problem.
One of my concerns is if I work from home 5 days a week would it be a out of sight out of mind to the boss? If they don't see my value will it be easier to say we can cut headcount?
December 29, 2010 at 6:36 am
My workplace is for work and my home is not. Unless I get called at home to work on something, I do not work from home.
There needs to be separation between work and home. I don't know how you do that at a home office.
I don't have a long commute (10-15 minutes), so, I can talk smart. 😎
December 29, 2010 at 6:48 am
Don't forget: any job that can be done from home can be done from a 'low cost country'
...
-- FORTRAN manual for Xerox Computers --
December 29, 2010 at 6:49 am
The only issues I have about working in the office are the commute and interruptions, neither which are that bad. Other than that, it's really more effective if I'm on site near the resources and people. Maybe at another company would remoting into work be more effective.
December 29, 2010 at 6:51 am
I started working from home (as an employee, not self-employed) in 1991, after the birth of my daughter. At that time, I had to take a cut in pay, but it worked out great. When that department closed, I had to transfer to a different department, and could no longer work from home. I LOVED being able to focus on work without interruption. In fact in the years that followed, I would log on from home at 4:30 am, put in a couple hours, send all my reports to the printer, so that when I walked in the door at work, everything was ready to go.
Where I work now, they absolutely will not consider it, because not all employees would be able to do their work from home. I wish I could do it just one day a week, both for the uninterrupted focus and to cut one day of commuting and pollution out of my "footprint".
December 29, 2010 at 7:35 am
I've been working from home for a few years now, only going into the office for a once a week staff meeting, and have mixed feeling on the issue. On the one hand, it's great having the flexibility. As long as my projects get done on time, and I keep SQL up and running, it's all good. I set up a decent office in a spare room, and can work uninterrupted most of the time. In our org, it's not unusual for folks to work off site, so my not being in the office doesn't stick out.
On the downside, what I've noticed is that, even though I get my work done (maybe even more then if I was in the office), I can sometimes still FEEL like a slacker. I can go almost a week without shaving, wear my weekend jeans all the time, etc.. That, combined that with the lack of interoffice socialization, can make me feel much less professional. That was actually refreshing for a while, but now I feel like I'm somehow 'giving up', even though I know I've put more effort into learning about SQL in the last couple of years then when I was in the office all the time.
December 29, 2010 at 7:54 am
I always take surveys like this with a sizeable helping of salt. People in general are not good at self-assessment (see for example http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Illusory_superiority).
I'd guess that if 60% of people said they'd be more productive outside the office, about 60% of those would actually be more productive (i.e, 36% of the total population) plus about 40% of the 40% who thought they wouldn't be more productive (i.e, about 16% of the total population) -- meaning about 52% of the population might be more productive. Of course, that's just my own bias talking -- I really have no more idea of the real figures than those who conducted this survey.
It doesn't help that this survey was conducted by a company that sells remote access devices and software, either.
December 29, 2010 at 8:14 am
I've done both. A day working from home can be incredibly productive, but a day at the office can too. One offers more uninterrupted time, the other offers a better chance to sort out issues face-to-face. One also offers more interesting distractions than the other, usually.
But I'd definitely take a survey like this with more than a grain of salt. (a) The company publishing the results has a financial incentive that aligns with the results; (b) many of the people surveyed probably have a vested interest in being allowed to work at home and know that "more productive" is the answer that will forward that interest; (c) most people don't know how to judge productivity in a knowledge-craft anyway and "more/less" may be unmeasurable in the first place.
- Gus "GSquared", RSVP, OODA, MAP, NMVP, FAQ, SAT, SQL, DNA, RNA, UOI, IOU, AM, PM, AD, BC, BCE, USA, UN, CF, ROFL, LOL, ETC
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December 29, 2010 at 8:36 am
When we were a bigger shop, we were allowed a day at home. It was very productive. Now, are department is half the size and we need everyone here to help with daily maintenance, etc. It does make it tough to do any serious thinking, developing. We should commandeer an empty office for a 'quiet room'.
December 29, 2010 at 9:10 am
I own a small software development company. We let people to work from home if they show that they can be productive there. Not everyone can. Also, as others have pointed out, working from home reduces team interaction. It adds some friction to team projects when communication isn't as easy. Also, I've found that when a project gets tough, people work better together and trust each other more when they've had more personal interaction at the office.
To address the issue of interruptions, we have the Cone of Silence. I wrote about it in an article:
http://www.jstreettech.com/newsletters/Armens-Thoughts-Summer-2009.html
Cheers,
Armen
December 29, 2010 at 9:47 am
OCTom (12/29/2010)
My workplace is for work and my home is not. Unless I get called at home to work on something, I do not work from home.There needs to be separation between work and home. I don't know how you do that at a home office.
I don't have a long commute (10-15 minutes), so, I can talk smart. 😎
Ditto. Plus, part of my job is being available for people who have questions or need to discuss projects. Face-to-face just works better for that.
Greg
December 29, 2010 at 10:01 am
Like many of the posts here today, from those that have/are working from home, I tend to put in more hours while working from home. OCTOM's comment was how I felt for years - keep work at work and home at home.
Chris Powell
George: You're kidding.
Elroy: Nope.
George: Then lie to me and say you're kidding.
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