Working from home (references, work from home, companies, education)

[missdiagnosis]

What are you guys views about working from home, say once or twice a week. Do you think it hurts you in the long run, say when it comes down to evaluation time, or do you think as long as you stay consistently on point it shouldn't really matter. Mind you, work from home would not be everyday, so you are still garnering face time with co workers in the office.

Thoughts please.

[cowherjaw]

There are few generalities that equate to absolutes and sufficiently answer all situations.

The answer is very dependent on multiple factors, only some of which are:
- the norm in your corporate culture
- your boss's preferences
- your team and/or co-workers situations
- the increase in productivity from being able to work remotely (your personal ability as well as general productivity gains)
- are there security concerns from accessing information and systems remotely

....and many more. Complete the sentence, "I want to work remotely because ________", and if you, as a boss would approve it, then propose it; otherwise, it's probably not a good idea.

[westcoastbabe]

Working from home is a sham. I work for one of the major banks who does not get to work from home unfortunately. However I have taken a vacation day here or there and caught co-workers out shopping,beauty salon, etc. when they should have been at home "working" They are are doing their everyday normal, trivial activities on company time....not cool.

[GTRdad]

Originally Posted by westcoastbabe

Working from home is a sham. I work for one of the major banks who does not get to work from home unfortunately. However I have taken a vacation day here or there and caught co-workers out shopping,beauty salon, etc. when they should have been at home "working" They are are doing their everyday normal, trivial activities on company time....not cool.

bah people just watch oprah or ellen. I'm allowed to WFH but I very rarely use it because I know its unproductive.

[missdiagnosis]

Cowherjaw , a couple people do it in the company and I don't think the boss would be opposed...im speaking from a job standpoint if it hurts advancement opportunities since you aren't getting face time everyday...then again, one could argue that they go in everyday and don't regularly interact with everyone, unless need be...as long as the work gets done, that is what is cared about...

westcoastbabe, I guess I could see how that could be a problem, but to each their own.

im of the opinion that as long as the work is getting done right and efficiently, there should be some leeway

[bande1102]

I've worked from home for various companies over the past 10 years. The answer: it depends on the culture.

When I first started working for my current company, the president and CEO wanted everyone in office. He "allowed" remote working, but he rewarded those who were in office. Now we have new leadership and all of my superiors are full-time remote and climbing the ladder. This could also be due to the fact that we are international and have shutdown several US locations.

One of the reasons that there has been a shift towards remote workers is because we are far more productive than the in-office workers. Our quality and production have always surpassed in-office. It's nice to see the leadership recognize that.

[ccm123]

I work in field sales, so at least 20-30% of my work is done, from my home office. The other 50-60% is "in the field" and I am probably in the office 10-20% of the time.

We are measured by our achievement of our quarterly sales quota, and not by hours worked, or where we work.

I think it depends on your job function, management style and corporate culture. Some functions can be done effectively from home and some cannot. I have been working from a home office (at least part of the time) since around 2004 and love the flexibility that I have.

[johnnytang24]

One or two days usually doesn't matter as long as you make your important meetings face to face.

In some offices, not being there at all doesn't matter. As others have said, company culture.

[groar]

working from home is not for everyone. you have to be super organized and conscientious to do it properly, and have the proper resources and environment in your home. some people do really well with working from home and some can't ignore the temptations that come with being unsupervised. you need to take a long, hard look at what kind of person you are and also look critically at your time if you're allowed to do it.

it's true, too, that it really depends on your boss and corporate culture. some bosses and coworkers will look at working from home as slacking off no matter what; some will look at your results and if they're good, they will be happy with the arrangement.

there is a lot of working from home at my new job; people who are usually in the office doing it here and there, people who have 1 or 2 wfh days every week, and a couple of people who work entirely from home. it seems to work well and it's not regarded badly as long as people are performing well and doing what they need to do.

there can definitely be a disconnect from the rest of the office (which may or may not be important) if you work from home 100% of the time, but a couple of days a week shouldn't affect things much.

[missdiagnosis]

Its an educational tech company, promoting online education...email operations, so minimal face time with others, sans for a fe3w questions here and there, otherwise its me and my laptop cranking work out...

There are those who would rather get out of the house and go to work, as they are better able to focus with structure and they like the social aspect as well...I fall into id probably be more productive at home with less interuptions and wouldn't mind saving a couple extra on gas, food, and commute time, to name a few things...

Obviously if theres a meeting, going to work is a no brainer