The ups and downs. Working from home.
Many people dream of working from home, as they sit in traffic, already late for work. However, its not all sunshine and rainbows when you work at the same place you relax, sleep, eat and live.
Libby Sander, Assistant Professor of Organisational Behaviour at Bond University, wrote an article for www.theconversation.com about the challenges and issues that have come from working at home instead of an office. We’ve summarized it a bit for you!
The good.
Before we get into the bad, let’s talk the good stuff. Studies have found that home working can trim down time spent commuting, travel fatigue, congestion and help the environment. (presumably due to reducing car fumes).
People see it as a way of maintaining work-life balance, and if they’re used to working in an open-plan office, a way of getting away from noise and interruptions. Research has suggested that working from home caused a 13% productivity increase with a 50% lower turnover, with people also taking less breaks, sick days and saving organizations money.
However…more than half of those involved in the study felt so isolated that they changed their minds about doing it.
The bad.
Ms Sander links a research article (click this link to see it: ( https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1529100615593273 ) which shows that working from home is far worse for team cohesion and innovation than working in an office. Yahoo, IBM and Bank of America have even banned working from home, due to its effects.
Another article has shown that a group of engineers who shared a physical office were 20% more likely to stay in touch digitally. than those who didnt. Projects had a 32% faster completion rate.
Other research (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S026323731300159X ) has found face to face interaction is essential for identifying opportunities for collaboration, innovation and developing relationships and networks
4. A sleep study discovered these numbers, which further reinforce the possibility of sleep issues with home working.
5. Stress is also 41% higher, as shown in another graph.
What do we take from this?
If you’re an employer, ensure the office workplace is designed to fit the work that will be done. Or, choose a halfway point, not quite the office nor the home - coworking spaces. Coworking spaces have been shown to reduce the level of isolation, provide expanded networks and all the other benefits of an office without having to travel in to an organizations actual office.
On that note, we hope you’ve learnt a bit more about the benefits and negatives of home working. And if you’re looking for a coworking space - look no further. Jump in.