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Telecommuting Can Be Bad For Those Who Don't
SirLurksAlot writes "An article up on Ars Technica reports on a study of telecommuting from the point of view of those who show up at the office every day. The study discovered that telecommuting can have adverse effects on the office-bound. Researcher Timothy Golden 'found that in-office employees took less satisfaction in their jobs and felt less of a relationship and obligation to their company as the number of telecommuting coworkers grew. In-office employees in his study became disappointed at having fewer and weaker relationships. They also got frustrated at a perceived increase in workload and difficulties that telecommuting can present to finishing projects and building strong working relationships.'" The article notes that telecommuting is "not an exact science." Some good insights in the discussion forum too.
I can't help but suspect that the whole low morale issue is created by those in the office feeling that they're not being treated so well as those who get to work from home in their pyjamas, and, as a result, resenting that they have to be in the office.
Generally with this sort of study (along the lines of 'ZOMG! Office workers costing billions by surfing Facebook!') the sponsors of the study are, coincidentally I'm sure, selling a 'solution' to the problem. So I'm kinda curious as to the intent of the study, the hypothesis that was examined and the assumptions/biases made as a result.
I must say that the in-person relationships are over-rated. If I'm really crunching on some problem, I don't want you stopping by to say hello and distracting me. Send me an IM if it is urgent, or an email if it isn't. Ad-hoc conference calls fill in the gaps if the scheduled meetings aren't going to be timely enough for a given issue. Shit, I've been on disperse teams for years, and sometimes I've never even seen a team-mate outside of their headshot on the company whitepages site.
I like working with my teammates, and don't mind a little small talk, but really...I'm here to make money not friends. The fact that I enjoy the work is a plus, but it's not super important to me. My home-time is spent doing things that most 'middle Americans' would find scary or offensive so I really don't want to mix my work/home lives.
Blar.
Read TFS (or TFA) again! This is NOT showing problems of telecommuters, it is showing problems of those who do not. It's saying that those who work in the office get worse as others start telecommuting, and that "the health, life, and work benefits for those who can telecommute are undeniable".
Moving work overseas causes the same type of disconnection for those left behind. As work moves to India some of my company's offices have become ghost towns. Email and conference calls aren't enough to help junior people along or to diffuse the occasional interpersonal frustration like some social interaction would.
As a new-grad entering the workforce I have mixed feelings over telecommuting.
The first 2-5 years of your employment can be a crucial component to the success of the rest of your career. I get the feeling that you most definitely want to be coming to work everyday. Certainly you may change tracks, jobs, or even fields down the road, but the business/social skills that you'll learn and more importantly, the relationships you will develop are very important and seem impossible to foster over the phone or a video conference. Spending time at your company's office means you are working, eating, and socializing (work and recreational) with your peers. You will undoubtedly discuss your interests both related and unrelated to your job that may lead to hundreds of different possibilites. For example, during a lunch break at the office with your friend you may have a discussion on a common interest technology that could lead to a startup. Or during an on-campus softball break you may find that a peer has a common interest or contacts in a different field altogether. Let alone the 'hands-on' communication needed to complete software projects, how in the world are you going to make these relationships and get these contacts when you are at home during the work week?
I'm not arguing that you can't be successful at your job telecommuting; certainly telecommuting may be beneficial for the truly brilliant people who can produce great code or make a sale to a client from the comfort of the home, but if you are that brilliant, imagine how much your peers would benefit from having you around more often to pick your brain?
Certainly for more veteran people who have 3 kids and live far from work, telecommuting can be a blessing and that is where telecommuting should be applied; experienced individuals who already have excellent communication skills and extensive experience in the industry. The benefits of increased productivity and the positive environmental impact are great positives.
As for disgruntled non-telecommuting employees left behind at work: I think a company that properly uses telecommuting has some sort of obligation to employees that don't telecommute to improve their office experience. The company should be saving a good amount of money from reduced operating expenses because fewer employees are on campus and increased productivity from those who telecommute. Certainly some of this savings should be put to use for those who still commute to work; improve their work experience by having more benefits on campus; drinks, food, recreation, and public transportation or company shuttles. Certainly these services should be simpler to implement on campus if more employees telecommute and would certainly be appreciated by those who still come to work.
It seems like those who are permitted to telecommute tend to be those who have shown they are responsible people who can contribute meaningfully without actually coming in. If you look at the remainings, it's no surprise that they are a grumpy lot about the overall state of affairs. It's not that everyone who telecommutes is a self-motivated creative genius, and that everyone who doesn't is a goofoff who needs constant supervision, but if there is some kind of connection, it would show up sharply in a study like this one.
The general idea I take away from reading this article: The needy, politics-playing, "face-to-face" types that require a rigid schedule lest they have to manage their own time are feeling abandoned and unwanted when people flee the office to get away from them and actually get some work done. "We're not a *team* anymore! It's far to clear who's actually doing work here while I piss away my time in the office! I need you back here to help dilute the scrutiny I am receiving!"
It seems like a bitter opinion and it is. Corpolitics and the need to regiment and formalize everyday activities that had little to do with the task at hand drove me out of the industry and have kept me away. It is no wonder that other studies have shown people to be happier, more productive workers when they escape the micro-managerial tyrants and sycophantic coworkers that routinely bog down the average office workday. That this study shows that those left behind are sad pandas when everyone else takes their toys and goes home rather than play with them is no surprise.
I like working with my teammates, and don't mind a little small talk, but really...I'm here to make money not friends. The fact that I enjoy the work is a plus, but it's not super important to me. My home-time is spent doing things that most 'middle Americans' would find scary or offensive so I really don't want to mix my work/home lives.
I don't have autism and I'm not anti-social and I have absolutely no interest in making friends at work (I have discouraged it on Slashdot at least twice before). I'm there to get a job done and go the fuck home and spend time with my wife, dog and our friends that don't give a fuck about what we did at work.
I don't have any hobbies that make "Middle Americans" (I assume I'm one) uncomfortable but I honestly believe you work your shift and you go home. Once you're home you don't talk about work, you don't worry about work, and you certainly don't concern yourself with what you're going to be doing tomorrow.
Work isn't important enough to care about it that much. Do your job to the best of your ability and go home. Too many people have it backwards -- worrying about work at day and all night.
I find that if I leave my personal computer off, then I am not tempted by Civ4. Civ4 is by FAR the biggest threat to my work productivity.
Blar.
As someone who has been telecommuting for about a decade, let me give my thoughts:
Yes, if you don't get to telecommute, you may feel bad. I'm sorry. I feel bad when other people get huge pay raises that I don't get or when they get various forms of family leave for their own personal choices that I don't have or when the big-whigs get to fly around in the corporate jet and I have to spend two hours each way in commute. Life isn't fair and isn't always even.
I put in a lot of time working, simply because I have everything at my fingers here that I would have in the office, except I can put in extra hours any time of day or night that I want. I don't have to spend two or four hours commuting, either. I don't spend long periods of time chatting around the water cooler, either.
There are people who work hard and are productive and those who are not. Whether it's in an office or in a home office is not relevant.
Where I work, it wouldn't much matter wherever I conducted my business. Even if I work in the office, I am 1500 miles away from people on my team on the west coast and 1500 miles away from my boss and other people on my team who are on the east coast. Also, some of my team are in India. My colleagues and other people in the company that I deal with on a daily basis are spread throughout the world. West coast. Midwest. East coast. India. China. South America. Australia. Throughout the UK. Singapore.
The benefits to me are that I do not have to commute or sit in an uncomfortable office all day. The benefits to my company are that I can afford and am willing to put in far more time than I ever would before. For instance, I just put in a full week and today is one of my days off. I spent almost the entire day working. I won't be paid for it. I won't get anything out of it. I simply felt that we had a lot of things to get done and I could be of some benefit to my colleagues by helping out with the work load. I would not have bothered to shower, dress, go across the city to get to the office and spend all day in a noisy busy environment with people poking their heads over my cubicle walls. I think a lot of people would be more likely to adopt the "outside of 9-5 is MY time" philosophy and duck out the front door the moment the clock strikes 5pm than they would be if they could telecommute.
Again, that isn't most people. I'm just saying that is how some would react. In my experience - at least at my company - we have very dedicated people in every area regardless of how or where they work.
I also offer the company the added benefit that I am less upset when they don't had out pay raises for various reasons. After all, telecommuting does compensate for such things to a degree (though not infinitely, of course). And more than anything, I offer my company not only more work hours of my own accord, but faster response. When we are short-handed or otherwise have emergencies, they have the option of trying to get someone by phone or pager and ask them to get themselves together and come into the office. That could take a couple hours. Aside form the time they put in once they're there, it could involve three or four hours round trip. Or they could ping me and I can be working within a minute. From home.
I know that not all companies are globally distributed like mine, so they may have different experiences. I've simply found that we are spread about that whether I'm at a desk in the office or at a desk at home is irrelevant to the experience. After all, I've seen my boss in person twice in eight years. But I talk to him almost every day, thanks to email, phone and company-wide IM. And when one of our colleagues had a sad death in the family, the condolences were just as real and meaningful by those of us across the country as those sitting next to him and we were all eager to help cover him while he was gone for weeks to deal with the loss and everyone was equally concerned about him when he returned. Being across a desk from him or across two timezones from him was irrelevant.
Damn skippy. I don't even think about work when I'm in the office. Fuck them, they'll smartsize my headcount in a heartbeat the moment that they think it'll add ten cents to next quarter's bottom line, so I'm getting my retaliation in preemptively. Curiously, the more I slack off, the more they over-value my skills. Making this post probably put another $100 on next year's salary.
If you were blocking sigs, you wouldn't have to read this.
Seems to me, the article talks about the effect telecommuting had on the extrovert. Well, sure. I can absolutely see where the lack of an audience is going to be a total bummer for the extrovert.
But us introverts say a prayer of thanks when the telecommute offer comes in.
The study is probably a little bit skewed, in that extroverts want to come to work, so that they do get their audience. When offered the telecommute, the extroverts probably turned it down.... Yes, they were left behind. And sure, they may be more lonely now. But given my 'druthers, I'd rather the extroverts work in Sales.
"The most sensible request of government we make is not, "Do something!" But "Quit it!"
Work isn't important enough to care about it that much. Do your job to the best of your ability and go home. Too many people have it backwards -- worrying about work at day and all night.
That seems to be the attitude of most people I run into outside of work, and I certainly respect their wishes.
However, after the first 5 years of work I had the opportunity to move to a new city and get a new job. I did a bit of goal planning and soul searching and really started asking what I wanted to do with my life. I started making career decisions based on doing more of what I get excited about and less of what I dislike, even though it meant passing up opportunities for promotions and raises.
You know what? It worked. I love my job now, and can't imagine not wanting to go into work in the morning. I have a bad day maybe 1 out of 10 now, rather than 2 out of 3 like before. Of course, I have to be very careful and guarded if someone asks me what I do at work or I'm liable to get overly detailed. Most people only ask out of courtesy. However, on the rare occasion that I connect with guys like me, it can be fun to geek out and talk about work.
So it really depends on your point of view. If you don't find your job fulfilling or it stresses you out, then you need to leave it at work when you go home. On the other hand if your job is as interesting to you as a hobby, why not let the good parts come home with you? I leave the stress (and email) at the office, but I regularly read up on new technologies, etc., at home when I get a chance. There's still lots of time for family and other parts of your life (since having a hobby becomes somewhat redundant).
"I have never let my schooling interfere with my education." - Mark Twain
Incompetent management aggravates the situation by failing to protect the office staff from disturbances and trivial tasks. Worse yet, some bad managers are the source of such disturbances, grabbing the nearest person to handle undesirable tasks. This results in resentment from the office employees.
Have gnu, will travel.
For future reference, the giveaway wasn't the obvious free time that you have, it's that you didn't use the workload as an excuse to get the hell out of the house for another day. Kids are so rewarding, in very. Short. Doses.
If you were blocking sigs, you wouldn't have to read this.
Wow a sample of 240 professional employees from an unnamed medium-sized company. One can definitely see a pattern.
Man will never be free until the last king is strangled with the entrails of the last priest. --Denis Diderot
Of course, everyone seems to forget - if you can telecommute, your job can be easily outsourced!
Skip ------ See the latest from http://www.anArchyFortWorth.com
There is a lot of truth in what you say. If you work slavishly then people think you are powerless and do it out of desperation, in the manner of begging. For example, if you work 12 hours it is because you believe your 8 hours is not good enough, so you have to compensate for your shit skills by working more along the lines of "well I am not that productive per hour, so let me work more hours in desperate hopes that my employer will notice me and at least refrain from firing me, or at least put me in the back of the line when firing." It's a fear-based, victim, loser mentality. And funny enough, if you stop doing it, people value you more. If you kill yourself for the company, you get fired with the rest of the workaholic office flotsam.
It's the exact same dynamic that exists between men and women. Men who are desperate for women and who bend over backward to please women are despised by women. Women hate the "nice guy". And the corps hate the "nice employee" too for the same reason.
I know this from experience. When I was "nice", I got zero respect and my only reward was an ever-increasing workload and responsibility with the ever decreasing decision making power. So if something ever went wrong it was my fault, even though I had no decision making power to do it better or even just plain differently. I was a nervous wreck on hastening to take my place 6ft under with no other motivation besides fear. When I realized how pathetic that was, for me and for others around me (even for the corp itself), I changed and never looked back. I'd rather die free than be a slave.
Great, yet-another intelligent (I assume, given your non-AC status on /. - I know, it's no guarantee, but aside from the trolls, the least that can be said of /. is that there aren't many mouth-breathers here) person who doesn't want kids. Are you trying to ensure the transition from fiction to non-fiction of the movie Idiocracy?
Is Capitalism Good for the Poor?
Being a long time telecommuter and in-office worker, and managing telecommuting teams, telecommuting could be considered no different than asking "where are the sales guys" prior to or even during the shift to more people telecommuting. The fact is that going to an office does not make a person more productive, just more visible and likely less productive. I n todays society the question is "Do I or "can I be an effective telecommuter, or virtual team member" And be productive and feel good at the end of the day?
Though "my kid is sick, I'll be working from home today" is more productive than "my kid is sick, I can't come into the office so I won't be able to work today".
rant
The people who never really produce anything on their own, instead manipulating others to do their work for them & taking credit for that work, can't do that with less people around.
Wanna fight ? Bend over, stick your head up your ass, and fight for air.
Nah, it's not in your genes, you're just too tired to give a shit.
Oh, and happy too, of course.
Chuck
- These are small, *those* are _far away_