Need of the hour

Telecommuting can only be a temporary solution as the more people work apart, the less they work together

Work from home has become an absolute necessity at this point as social distancing is the way to go in a world reeling under COVID-19. Many have said that companies all over the world will embrace work from home like never before even after the deadly virus disappears. While that may be wishful thinking, it at least provides another chance for companies to re-examine their relationship with employees, and to elevate their corporate culture where the wisdom of old habits is questioned.

There are reasons why work from home has many backers. First, work from home cuts out commute which can be both a huge morale booster and a huge time saver. Productivity also improves as employees are united in their opinion that it cuts all the “useless” meetings and other time wasters that are permanent features in an office environment. Working from home also means either no office or at the very least, a lot less office space, saving a lot of cost.

Sociologists say people who work at home work between five and seven hours more per week than those in the office; yet, it promotes work-life balance as employees have more time for their family and friends.

So the near-consensus is that the current compulsion of allowing work from home will help employers realise the virtues of introducing telecommuting permanently so that employees are happy and more productive.

The story may not have such a happy ending though. That’s because research has found that while work from home should be part of contingency planning, there are downsides. When employees work mostly from home, they only interact with their colleagues via email and occasional calls. That’s not enough for building a company culture. A Gallup study said those with a “best” work buddy are “seven times as likely to be engaged in their jobs, are better at engaging customers, produce higher quality work, and have higher well-being”, compared to those without. The tight-knit camaraderie that makes for great teams is very difficult to achieve in remote working.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology Professor Thomas Allen has showed that if people are more than 150 feet apart, the probability that they will communicate frequently plummets. This shows that no amount of Skype or dirt cheap broadband services can compensate for the need to meet physically.

When somebody works from home, the line between work-life and home-life becomes blurred. After all, it’s hard to leave your work at work when your office is literally down the hall from your bedroom. After the initial sense of relief is over, people who work from home often feel nostalgic for the notion of gung-ho solidarity and team spirit that working in a shared space with colleagues can provide. That’s because the more people work apart, the less they work together, and this can hinder productivity and sense of community.

It creates unnecessary anxieties as well. When you work from home and can’t get to a call or email right away, your co-workers may not give you as much leeway as they might if you were in the office. People might wonder if you’re taking it easy rather than pulling your weight.

At least two of the world’s largest companies have moved away from it because of the perceived negative effects. Many managements have misgivings about allowing work from home on a wide scale because of the behaviour of quite a few employees who have interpreted it as “shirk-from-home”.

In 2013, former Yahoo chief executive Marissa Mayer decreed that workers must start showing up at the office, saying that in order “to become the absolute best place to work, communication and collaboration will be important, so we need to be working side-by-side”. Though Mayer was roundly criticised for the decision, The New York Times had reported at that time that some Yahoo employees used their working time at home to start their own businesses.

IBM which had also overturned its earlier decision to allow work from home had said its goal was to make the company more agile where “the leaders have to be with the squads”.  

In its memo asking employees to stop working from home, Yahoo had said that some of the best decisions and insights came from hallway and cafeteria discussions, meeting new people, and impromptu team meetings. Once the COVID-19 threat is over, the corporate world may once again realise that more work gets done at the hallways and cafeterias than at home.