[Misc] Does WFH (working from home) reduce productivity?

wardy wonder land · Friday at 10:24 AM

all depends on the job, colleuges / enviroment i work for a supplier for a vehcile OEM and have had several versions of the work place :

(the work alawys got done)

A) inside the massive OEM site - huge, muliple builds - was easy to slack-off as you could justifiably be away from your desk for hours

B) off siite in a small office - hard to hide from the cock of a boss - but he had a WFH benifit on a tuesday - so we would slack-off to the max on that day

C) WFH full time since covid - so now have to plan to meet-up with collegues to slck off (play par 3 golf mostly)

TBF, i finish at 12.30 on a friday - but will always check e-mails around 5.30 / 6 after playing golf to catch any big iusses before the weekend

dsr-burnley · Friday at 2:18 PM

If you're 50, in a steady job that you know backwards, and have a house with a spare room as a study - working from home may very well be wonderful, and profitable for both employer and employee.

If you're 18 and in your first job and have half a bedroom which you share with a school age brother - not so much. Not only are you in a bad place to work from, you're in a very bad place to learn anything.

Of course, as time goes by and home working becomes more universal, there will be no reason to employ 18 year old Brits. Those jobs could be done far more cheaply by experienced personnel overseas.

hans kraay fan club · Friday at 2:47 PM

dsr-burnley said:
If you're 18 and in your first job and have half a bedroom which you share with a school age brother - not so much. Not only are you in a bad place to work from, you're in a very bad place to learn anything.

I do agree this is another valid argument.

I know my own job very well (I've ought to, after 30 years) and I could absolutely do 90% from home, if that were allowed by my company (as it happens, it isn't, and personally, it wouldn't be my preference anyway). But there are 2 other people in my office, and 2 in my workshop downstairs. Both the admin staff have been here less than a year (one for just a month), and never does a day go by without somebody asking me for help with something.

If they want to ask anything, they can easily judge an appropriate moment, and just ask, across the office. for help. I can give a short answer if that solves the query, or can go over to their desk and help them out.

However good the technology becomes, such interaction will NEVER be as simple, if you are all remote from each other. I hate that my own boss is not in the office (in his case with ill health rather than WFH by choice).

Judging the moment isn't possible. How busy is your boss? What kind of mood are they in? I think I'll just not ask.

American Seagle · Friday at 10:19 PM

dazzer6666 said:
Ok, explain how you can collect comprehensive data to meaningfully compare productivity between office working and WFH (spoiler - you can’t, least not in the environment I worked in).

You measure the output of the company/team over a significant period where they work at home and compare it to the same period when they are working on the office. Historical data must exist for the later already: task burn down rates etc etc.
It worries me you don't think productivity can not be measured at all.

dazzer6666 · Friday at 10:23 PM

American Seagle said:
You measure the output of the company/team over a significant period where they work at home and compare it to the same period when they are working on the office. Historical data must exist for the later already: task burn down rates etc etc.
It worries me you don't think productivity can not be measured at all.

I didn’t say at all …….you just can’t do it comprehensively. Qualitative assessment of written reports for example…..maybe the report written in the office was much more difficult/much easier than the one written in the office, dealing with completely different counterparts with varying degrees of co-operation etc etc. There’s a massive subjective, non-data element to a lot of output. Why do my thoughts worry you ?

American Seagle · Sunday at 6:43 AM

dazzer6666 said:
I didn’t say at all …….you just can’t do it comprehensively. Qualitative assessment of written reports for example…..maybe the report written in the office was much more difficult/much easier than the one written in the office, dealing with completely different counterparts with varying degrees of co-operation etc etc. There’s a massive subjective, non-data element to a lot of output. Why do my thoughts worry you ?

You obviously would not compare those two reports in your example. What makes you think they should be? That's what worries me.

Springal · Sunday at 7:19 AM

For me yes - when I commuted to London 10-15 years ago I was getting up at 6am, getting into the office just before 9 and pretty tired by the time I started work. I’d always leave bang on 4:45 so I was home a relatively sensible time.

Now I’m fresher, less distractions and generally will have no problems if I work a bit longer or do a few bits in the evening if I had to. It never happened when I commuted.

In the office twice this week (Reading) which is a horrible drive and no doubt being distracted by people I haven’t seen in person for ages

Herr Tubthumper · Sunday at 7:24 AM

Springal said:
For me yes - when I commuted to London 10-15 years ago I was getting up at 6am, getting into the office just before 9 and pretty tired by the time I started work. I’d always leave bang on 4:45 so I was home a relatively sensible time.

Now I’m fresher, less distractions and generally will have no problems if I work a bit longer or do a few bits in the evening if I had to. It never happened when I commuted.

In the office twice this week (Reading) which is a horrible drive and no doubt being distracted by people I haven’t seen in person for ages

I hated commuting and decided I’d only accept remote work around 20 odd years ago now. Literally, a complete waste of time. I still remember the initial feeling of having an extra 2-3 hours in my life each day.

Springal · Sunday at 7:30 AM

Herr Tubthumper said:
I hated commuting and decided I’d only accept remote work around 20 odd years ago now. Literally, a complete waste of time. I still remember the initial feeling of having an extra 2-3 hours in my life each day.

Agreed - except for that ‘short’ 2-3 year stint (coinciding with Southern’s reliability problems) and my first job I’ve been remote pretty much always. Maybe that’s the difference as i know more remote than I do in office

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[Misc] Does WFH (working from home) reduce productivity?

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wardy wonder land

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