The tools we now have at our disposal allow us to work from home just as easily as from the office. Cloud computing, VPN and smart phones allow us to work and communicate like we were sitting next to each other. If you agree that happy employees are productive employees, do you encourage remote working?
The results are in, employees that work from home (or coffee shops, or public libraries, or wherever) at least 50% of the week are the happiest. That’s right! 50% of the week – that’s two to three days a week. Before saying something like that’s impossible or they’re happy because they aren’t working or team spirit will suffer, listen to why they’re happier and you’ll see that productivity and team spirit will actually increase.
Why are web workers happier?
Intuitively you might think it’s because they’re more in control of their schedule, although that might be true, GigaOm reviewed a study that looked at the reasons. They two main reasons were:
Less disruptions
Spending less than 50 percent of the week in the collocated office affords more flexibility and aids in the balance of work and personal roles, which teleworkers find satisfying.
Telework is associated with less frequent information exchange, which relates to lower stress from meetings and interruptions.
It’s pretty much accepted that meetings, visits from your colleagues, emails and phone calls disrupt you from doing real work. Just ask Tim Ferriss, Jason Fried or Seth Godin. Working from home allows you to cut at least 50% of those distractions. By the way, if you want to learn how to cut down email and phone (and more) I strongly recommend you read The 4-Hour Workweek
Less exposure to office politics and negative behaviour
Teleworkers are less likely to perceive that general political behavior is pervasive in the organization, and in turn are less likely to perceive that people conform to political behavior in order to get ahead. Being less exposed to, or perceiving less of, this type of going along to get ahead behavior is linked to higher job satisfaction.
We conclude that decreased face-time in the office affords a distinct advantage by limiting teleworkers’ exposure to political behavior, or at least allowing them to feel removed enough to downplay its prevalence… Less frequent interaction with others may be desirable.
It’s no secret that the office space is full of political behavior and negative emotions. As people try to get to the top and deal with day-to-day frustrations the mood in the office can get depressing and frustrating. It looks like taking some time to be away from all that can actually improve the atmosphere and in turn increase productivity.
Unless your employees are directly face-to-face with customers, anyone can benefit from working away from the office. So the real question is, if you don’t encourage your employees to work from home, why do you not want them to be happy?
(Photo credit: Nick Keppol)
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