Do I want my team to work from home?

Remote work is being reflected as the dream as well as the nightmare - from both directions, that of the possible remote worker and that of the employer.

My personal reflection on the topic – and be warned, there is no conclusion in this story.

Home sweet home

Well, obviously there are big gains for remote workers: no travel time to work can add up quickly (the potential of that time is nicely illustrated in the Washington Post), the freedom ranging from cloth choices and seating positions to locations (home, café, my grandma's place...). Especially for those with extra strings attached as parents or care takers, the remote work opens up a possible work-life balance that seems impossible with a job that needs you to be in an office from nine to five. As easy as it is to quickly throw in a round of laundry, our home also can suck away our attention with the beep of a finished washing machine.

Still, while it might be true that the lines blur between work and free time for remote workers, no one said it would be necessary to compare the time from start-of-work to end-of-work at a given working day. That is already true for the office, where coffee breaks and browsing distractions already open up the “working hours”, and it is obviously a possibility for those working from home while taking care of a child there.

Especially for creative workers, that might be a big plus. How many great ideas need reflective time, need nurturing and distraction – that is true for “heureka”-moments of ideas under the shower as well as for a fresh perspective for the programmer while the coffee is running into the cup.

Research supports these ideas: In addition to more productivity (CoSo Cloud study & Stanford's view on CTrips WFH-experiment) there is also less time off, since the occasional free day due to doctor’s or handyman appointments are no longer needed, and the light cold that might feel very inappropriate while snorting next to your colleagues is not a problem at home.

Research suggests believably, that remote workers are less often sick (as this US study shows), less stressed (according to a meta-analysis of 37 studies) and overall happier (at least this is what polls suggest). Plus it does cost a lot of money to provide for office spaces for everyone. 

Where’s my team?

The moment we are discussing the benefits of a great team, one that knows each other inside and out, works closely together, has hustle and status of each other in sight and in mind, remote work seems far away from that ideal. And there are voices out there claiming that remote work makes lonely (according to Harvard Business Review) and some of the studies celebrating remote work for higher earnings (if looking at freelancers is a valid way of talking about remote work) might be backwards in logic.

Humans form connections through joined experiences. And those just come naturally when you stick them into a room and feed them the same coffee. Even though we already know of marriages formed in cyber realities and there are teams out there doing great work that have never seen each other (think of the successful open source projects), even though there are those examples and studies: Do I really believe that with a new project I can put together a new team that will work together though they rarely share a joined space? Will they agree on processes, working habits, will they form bonds that allow them to compromise, to discuss? I don’t see myself being as productive or as aligned from home.

Am I a believer?

My personal experience shows me that good work has absolutely nothing to do with sitting at a desk for as many hours as possible. I have had five hour days where I am crazy proud of my accomplishments and twelve hour shifts where my work wasn’t worth the cost of coffee I drank during the day. I also know that empowerment, freedom of choice, transparency and openness are valid and needed compounds of team work, and therefore the occasional “I work from my paddle boat/sister’s apartment/father’s basement” needs to be okay. This is basically what it means to have humans in the team.

If I don’t know from experience, I might start with what I believe, though. I do believe in people. At least I do believe in my colleagues, ‘cause they are a really cool crowd. I believe in teams. I believe that each team has their own rhythm, rules and pace, and I have seen how different successful teams can look like. So, should they decide how best to work? Why not? And seeing it from that angle does give a meaning to those studies. Teams (and companies) that decide on remote work and are proud of it, thrive with it. They attract people who do. They get better at it. And they make it work, even if it is not easy sometimes.

The decision of where to work might be yet another “to each their own”. Whatever works best. Mac or PC, coffee or tea… What we can't afford in today's job market is not to give a choice and not to discuss: What do you need? What does your team need? What do you (consciously and unconsciously) believe?