Response to the New York Times: Working From Home is NOT Overrated

Yesterday, as I sat in the quiet of my home office, I happened upon a New York Times piece entitled, "Sorry, but Working From Home Is Overrated," by Kevin Roose. Sorry, not sorry, Kevin, but it's not overrated at all, and the bulk of the research actually supports that there's tremendous value in remote working. You can't just quote a few studies and ignore the rest.

In the article, the author mentioned his "bunker," "cabin fever," and how it's been "hours (days?)" since he interacted face-to-face with another, non-related person. And then he said the big point of this article: "Most people should work in an office, or near other people, and avoid solitary work-from-home arrangements whenever possible." It's a strong statement that needs to be refuted. Strongly.

98% of remote workers would like to work from home at least some of the time for the rest of their careers. 97% would recommend remote work to others and they are happy. Maybe Kevin simply falls in the 2-3% that don't love remote work for a variety of reasons.

But it's bigger than that. In this article I'll walk you through more of the research than Kevin did, so you have a bigger and clearer picture of the true value of remote work, why it's not going anywhere, and why Kevin is so very, very wrong.

When Working From Home Doesn't Work

There are times when remote work doesn't work. My mechanic can't work from home. Restaurant servers can't work from home. The fact is, if everyone works from home, then the mail won't be delivered, cars won't get built, store shelves won't get stocked, and all those Amazon orders won't get packed and shipped. There are just some jobs - many jobs - that cannot be done remotely.

If you're an extrovert, working from home full-time for an extended period of time in a solitary space might be a challenging experience for you. That's just reality. As an extrovert, you need interaction and engagement to fuel you. In the following sections, I'll offer some suggestions for making remote work more tolerable for you.

Most importantly, aside from individual personality differences, working from home doesn't work when companies are ill-equipped to lead their teams remotely. Right now, with many companies and higher education institutions asking their office workers to stay home, we're in danger of seeing a lot of remote work managed very poorly.

Right now, we're seeing a plethora of academic institutions encouraging faculty to teach online - whatever it takes; which might very well poor instructional design, as faculty rush to upload their lectures. Unfortunately, here, too, best practice in instructional design suggests that a different approach is needed for online learning. This may lead to an inappropriate disdain for the value of online education, and one can only hope that educators don't fall into that trap.

The rush to integrate remote opportunities to meet a pressing and urgent need to minimize the coronavirus just means there will be a lot of remote activity that's done very, very badly.

The likely result? We'll see more articles like Kevin's, preaching against remote work and online learning, more importantly, contradicting the copious research that demonstrates the value of working from home (here, here, and here, just as a few very beginning examples).

Who Should Work from Home?

Folks with compromised immune systems or other health challenges certainly should work from home. One of my colleagues lives with a compromised immune system and could never maintain her health if she was working in an office with others. Anyone who is particularly susceptible to illness should probably work from home, if at all possible.

Anyone who is sick should work from home, at least temporarily. I've always advised my C-Suite clients to develop a work culture where employees who are sick, but feel well enough to work, are allowed to work from home, to avoid infecting others on the team. Whether it's the flu, coronavirus, or something else, why would you want someone coming in who could take out the rest of your team? That's just poor risk management.

I've had clients argue that if someone is too sick to come in, they're too sick to work, because they almost certainly won't do their best work. At some point, you have to trust your people. They're not children. They know if they can work or not. If they feel up to working, but not up to coming in, let them do the work they feel well enough to do.

Finally, right now, we're at the point with this outbreak that anyone who can work from home probably should, at least temporarily. And all companies with office workers who can work from home should be looking at best practices for managing a remote team.

In fact, most of the remote workers who don't recommend working from home are people who work in a blended environment, where some team members work from home and others work in the office. When companies don't follow best practices for managing blended teams, remote workers will be the ones who feel left out, disengaged, and dissatisfied.

This likely won't be the last time we see a viral outbreak, and if you learn how to successfully lead a remote and/or blended team now, implementing security measures, communication strategies, and mechanisms for developing a positive company culture within a remote space, you won't be scrambling next time.

The Benefits of Working From Home

Having said all that, let's look at the many, many benefits to working from home.

Focus

Folks who work from home experience reduced interruptions and increased concentration and problem-solving. One challenge I hear repeatedly from clients who work in offices is that either they're working in an open office environment, where focus is always a challenge, or they're working in a private office, where the question becomes, "If I need to focus, do I leave the door open and risk interruptions or do I close it and risk being perceived as unfriendly and unavailable?" Working from home eliminates interruptions for those who need time to focus and solve high-level problems.

Happiness and job satisfaction

Most remote workers report increased job satisfaction and happiness. Remote workers say they're happier 29% more than on-site workers. Plus, they experience less stress and are earning more on average. They're also saving money on transportation, child care, clothing, and food.

Productivity

Increased productivity, according to a study at Stanford (one of many, by the way, not the single Chinese study referenced by the NYT piece), is one big benefit of remote work.

Creativity

In fact, contrary to what Kevin Roose mentions in his article, there has been some research to suggest that the diversity that comes with remote work also lends itself to increased creativity. Additionally, the fact that remote work doesn't always require "work from home" but rather "not working at the office" means that you can experience greater flexibility in your working environment. One of my favorite places to work that also has free wifi? My local art museum. Try that on for size when you're thinking about cubicles and fluorescent overhead lighting.

Reduction in overhead, attrition, and even pollution

Add in the reduction in overhead and other expenses, including the reduction of turnover expenses by lowering attrition by 50%) for companies (to the tune of an estimated $5 billion in 2018) and decreased traffic congestion and pollution from commuters, not to mention the very timely protection from exposure to viruses and other illnesses, and the benefits really do begin to add up.

Best Practices for Employees Working From Home

Here are some best practices for team members who are embarking upon remote work:

Set boundaries.

Remote work requires self-management and maintenance of healthy boundaries. Schedule your work hours. Stick to them. Have a designated working area, if you can, and when it's not working hours, don't be in that space.

Get dressed.

This best practice will differ by individual. Kevin alluded to not being able to be his "best, most human self in sweatpants," so for him, I'd probably recommend that he actually get dressed so he feels more professional, and so his brain shifts into a more productive, work mindset.

I've worked from home for the last 19 years, running my company as an entirely remote coaching firm, and while I absolutely get dressed every day, the degree of casualness of my dress is often dependent on whether I'm hosting a webinar or video conference with a client.

If you're someone who finds that you feel more "at work" wearing work attire, then go with what works best for you and put on your khakis or suit. When I first started my company and was working remotely, I didn't feel like I was "working" if I was wearing sweats or yoga pants. I needed a few years of working in business attire (okay, business casual) before I felt like I could relax a bit. This is very much an "experiment and see what works best for you" thing. Some of my clients have always dressed up for work, whether they're working from home or in an office.

Be present.

Another thing Kevin mentioned in his article was "pretending to pay attention on video conferences between trips to the fridge." We've all been in unnecessary and boring meetings (see my best practices article for how to conduct more effective meetings for remote teams). Most team members tune out of meetings from time to time. But if you're working remotely (and frankly, even if you're not), you need to put down your devices and be fully present for your colleagues. Don't pretend to pay attention. Pay attention.

The caveat, of course, for leaders, is that you should only be hosting useful and outcome-focused meetings, and following best practices for leading meetings for your remote teams.

Keep it moving.

For those concerned about creativity, exercise has been shown repeatedly to improve brain function, cognition, learning, and yes, even creativity, independent of mood. I typically encourage my clients to take a walk outside or work out at strategic points during the day and/or invest in a treadmill desk or bike desk.

Make a friend.

One of the challenges of remote work that some people (especially extroverts) report is loneliness. However, the research indicates that we're all experiencing some measure of social isolation, today more than ever before, so it may not be remote work that's causing the problem.

That's okay. If you make friends at work, you'll be significantly happier. Research indicates that team members with at least three vital friends at work are 96% more likely to be satisfied with their lives. And, if you have a best friend at work, you're seven times more likely to be engaged in your job.

And friends can be virtual, when necessary. Several of my longest-running and closest friends are people I communicate with almost exclusively online, via chat or email, due to geographical distances or way-too-hectic schedules. Learn to use the tools available to you to stay connected, especially during a health scare.

Consider co-working when possible.

One of the best ways to combat feelings of loneliness is to set yourself up at a co-working facility or even a coffee shop (perhaps not during this particular crisis, but in the long run). You'll find plenty of other folks there, can expand your social circle, and feel the camaraderie of working in a shared environment (and many co-working spaces offer free snacks, craft beer, and social hours).

Communicate.

Avail yourself of company communication strategies like Slack and group chats. Consider taking a virtual coffee break with a friend or better yet, with a colleague you don't know well.

If you find that your company isn't following best practices to keep you informed and in the loop, step up and take it upon yourself to connect and communicate with your colleagues and boss.

Don't forget the "in between the lines game."

Good news: remote workers are 40% more likely to have been promoted in the last year. You're not going to suffer from a lack of opportunity. However, working from home means you have to learn what I call the "in between the lines game" because you won't be able to rely on staying late as a measure of working hard.

The "in between the lines game" focuses on all the things you won't find in a job description. It's what you have to read in between the lines. It's not the day-to-day tasks of your job, but rather the networking, soft skills, communication, and "managing up" that many don't know how to do. And the reason people don't know how to do it? We don't teach it, except through coaching and mentoring. In fact, I spend most of my day working with clients to help them improve their "in between the lines game" because that is what gets you promoted.

Want help negotiating a new remote work situation or learning how to play the "in between the lines game?" Schedule a time for a chat with me.