Does your business offer you the flexibility of working from home or working in the office? If so, would you be more productive working in sweatpants vs your usual business casual?
Can video conferences, video production, phone calls, and remote access allow you to have full control over your business when you are not physically present?
Here are a few positives and negatives of working remotely vs. working from an office.
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The Advantages of Working Remotely
The great advantage of working from home is that you save a lot of time commuting to work. This may mean some extra shuteye or the opportunity not to skip breakfast in the morning. You can spend more time with your children or spouse, and read the newspaper instead of sitting in traffic. Calmly start your day instead of being stressed and rushed to get to the office.
Taking time for yourself is often very difficult. You may find that having extra time in the mornings will make you happy and, therefore, a more productive manager. Another benefit of working from home can create a pleasant working environment. With no cubical walls or designated office defining your space, you have the freedom to choose your office location, the perfect corner office, perhaps?
When the Going (or Staying Home) Gets Tough
Sure, when everything works, it is fantastic, but if your Internet cuts out or you lose access to your company’s intranet, you may be unable to do your job. Most companies have technology support designed to handle off-site operations, but you will never receive the same level of comfort as you would in an office setting. Have you ever thought that working from home also takes discipline?
It is effortless to switch to surfing the web or to home chores that need to be done. The work-life balance discipline makes it harder to focus and get your work done. When you work from home, your workday never ends.
Since it starts and stops in the same place, you may find yourself working later into the evening, not realizing what time it is. Some people find that when they work from home that their jobs start to bleed into their personal life.
The Positive Aspects of Office-based Work
If you are in an office, you can walk over to someone’s desk and directly engage with them. You can bring them to your desk to show them something on your computer screen. You can have a meeting that does not involve video conferencing. You can collaborate with your team on a project without a digital whiteboard, and you can use an actual whiteboard.
Having a social life is very important, and for many, their co-workers are their social network. Having lunch with your co-workers, catching up with one another, and going out for a happy hour, are all positive and rewarding activities. Again, when you are comfortable and satisfied, you are a more effective leader and colleague.
Same Site, Different Day
You can spend up to three hours commuting to work every day. Traffic, congestion, and wasted time all add up to stress. Have you ever found yourself running to work flustered that a client would be angry with you for being late, even if the circumstances were out of your control?
The extra time it takes to get to and from the office is time wasted that could be utilized more productively. As a business owner, you could spend the time strategizing and holding a full meeting or brief. And not to mention the boredom of being confined to the same space every day of the workweek!
Offices consist typically of a few corner offices, a wall of windows, and a sea of cubicles that you overseas and have direct interaction or control of as a leader. It is possible that you may not be able to tell the weather or if it is day or night from where you sit in the office. Sunlight increases happiness and indirectly your productivity.
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