Work from home
This topic is more discussed in recent weeks as many companies plot their return to the office. This week the BBC ran an article quoting a City boss as saying people abuse working from home. So much of this article is clickbait-y, but the point of view expressed is a widely held one by a vocal minority. You hear it most often from the financial services sector. So much of the sector, especially at the senior levels, thinks the only “professional” approach is to be suited and booted and in the office all the time… I couldn’t disagree more. What bothers me the most about the POV expressed in the article is how lazy it is. An HBR article from last year shows that a company’s performance during forced WFH is mostly tied to how well the company was operating prior. In short, if a company struggled, then it is the fault of leadership. Oh the irony.
The effectiveness and viability of WFH depends on several factors, but the most important are the type of job and the person. Some jobs are easier to do remotely than others. A developer who works to a spec can more easily work remotely than a retail worker. However, most office jobs can be done remotely at least part of the time. Previous reasons like information security, internet speed, etc are just poor excuses today.
I do think seniority plays a role- junior staff benefit a lot from being in an office. You learn so much from all the small nuggets and nuances you observe. It leads to more formal and informal coaching and training. It also develops a routine and gives you a social outlet. Most people I know really value their friendships developed early in their careers. It is worthwhile to be in the office early in your career.
The person is the other key factor- this includes individual personality, family situation, and work from home set up. When the pandemic hit, I was lucky that I could fall back on an earlier experience in my career working from home. My wife was the same. And yet after six months we moved to accommodate two separate workspaces. I was surprised how much it helped to be settled in one space instead of shifting half the day. It made me more productive and less stressed.
While I like working from home, I prefer splitting my week between and office and home. This is the right balance for me. I get the uplift of being in an office — seeing people, the energy generation, my commute by bicycle- and I get the advantages of working from home- seeing kids, working out at lunch, time back from the commute.
That is what works for me. I have plenty of friends who feel strongly that they are best only working from home or from the office. I think great leadership starts with creating an environment that allows people to flourish. It doesn’t start with your hubristic opinion being forced on other people. Here’s to hoping that we keep adding more empathetic leaders to the ranks!
