One Third of Telcom Staff More Productive Working From Home

Qedward writes "British telecoms operator O2 has found that 88% of its staff are just as productive working remotely, while one-third claimed that they actually got more work done when they worked from home. 3,000 employees at O2's head office took part in a program that had them to work from home for one day, as practice for problems that may occur during the Olympic Games. From the article: '“The success of O2’s experiment extends much further than just allowing some of the workforce to stay at home and work. It proves that with the right thinking and planning, even the largest organizations can protect themselves from the most severe disruptions to their business,” said Ben Dowd, business director at O2.'"

Comments

"Telecommuting" still taboo

[Anonymous Coward]

Managers badmouth telecommuting because it more or less proves what we've known all along. Most managers are useless, redundant, wastes of space that spend more time putting on a show to justify their own existence than they do conducting actual management.

Re:"Telecommuting" still taboo

[Anonymous Coward]

Managers do serve some purpose. Where I work we haven't had one for over a year now - resulting in us having to put up with all of the political bullshit that goes on in the organisation and also getting rail-roaded despite objections to the idiotic ideas coming down from the Cxx types. Managers also sign off on budgets, performance reviews, salary reviews, etc., so guess what else hasn't been happening? Pretty soon our organisation will come down to give us more work and find nobody there because we're all slowly getting jobs elsewhere.

Re:"Telecommuting" still taboo

[Anonymous Coward]

That's why I said most. You need one good manager. Not 10 bad ones.
I stand by my statement that /most/ managers in American business culture are redundant.

Unfortunately bad management is often a self-perpetuating malignancy. Those with power aren't going to eliminate their own positions under any circumstances.

Unfortunately I envision the future of American business as feedback loop of middle managers, un-trackable N'th layer outsource subcontracts, and HR departments. Eventually the last actual producer will be eliminated, and all companies will suddenly collapse as they unknowingly try to subcontract services, supplies, and products from themselves.

One whole day.

[The Living Fractal]

Seriously, what is one day? The novelty of working from home would wear off after about a week and then what? I know what. You'd find me 'working' in my underwear, covered in fried chicken with several empty margarita glasses about me. My e-mails would show a very noticeable trend in typos from about noon onward...

Re:Keep the pjs on?

[Anonymous Coward]

I wear clothes instead of turning the heating on. I may be poor....

Re:Keep the pjs on?

[hairyfish]

Problem with being naked is the risks of dangley bits getting snagged on things and/or of staining the furniture (a hot sweaty arse on a fabric couch isn't a good mix :)

Re:Keep the pjs on?

[mark-t]

How about because one has a significant other who actually dislikes always having the blinds closed?

Somehwat BS

[Anonymous Coward]

I took a few weeks working from home, leading up to my wife giving birth to our second child. I'm a Staff Software Engineer for a large company, w/ 10 years experience. _I_ was far more productive in those weeks. But my overall productivity? Well, I sure as shit didn't help the new folks out, nearly as much as when I was actually in the office. So yes, local productivity (AKA me) improved. Global productivity, however, is arguable.