Skip to main content

Why working from home is a bad idea

A couple of years ago I wrote this piece about how to work from home. From the stats and comments I received, it looked like a pretty famous topic close to many people's heart. However, after having worked from home for 2 years (and also having worked from office before that), I believe today that working from home ALL THE TIME is not such a good idea. 
I am not denying the benefits of WFH entirely. You get to babysit when needed, spend time with parents if required, run errands etc. But, this cannot be the norm! The days you decide to work from your home should be an exception which should be generously allowed by your employer. Like, an acquaintance who worked from home for 6 months to look after her bed ridden mother. Or, like another friend who could work from home while her husband got transferred from city to city.
But what changed my mind? Here it is -
  1. Networking: one of the main advantages of going to an office facility is when you come face to face with people who matter. This helps you network and build professional & personal bridges. Without being physically present, you are left to virtual means to achieving the same results. 
  2. Work environment: When everyone around you is working, you want to be working. If others around you are watching TV, reading books or worse having a siesta, how can you work?
  3. Accelarators: The scanner, the VOIP, the copier, the dispatch office are all so handy and co located at your work place. You waste very little time doing any of these over head activities. That is a pain when at home!
  4. The Commute: Your commute to and from office is the time you gradually go from 'home' mode to 'work' mode. Take that away and you are left feeling guilty most of the day for mixing work with family.
  5. The work-life boundaries: When working from home (especially in India), it is difficult to convince your colleagues that though you are working from home, you need a lunch break! or that at 6 PM, when rest of the world is commuting back home, you need to take your kids to the park!
Just like everything else in life, access of WFH is not good. So, let your employees work from home, don't make them work from home.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Community Supported Agriculture

Most products have the cost of failure built into the price of the product. For example, a film. When a film gets made, there are so many things at stake, that the all these risks are covered by the premium on the ticket. If a film ticket was prices simply by dividing the cost + profit by the number of people watching, it would be pretty cheap. Or consider for example, the price of a car. The insurance premium that the manufacturer pays is built into the cost of the car. Or say a doctor, who conducts very risky operations get paid highly...and now you ask what's the point?? The point is, this doesn't happen with a farmer.A farmer faces all the vagries of nature or monsoon. Alll his risks are unmeasurable and unpredictable. But does he get to decide his pricing? Why does market not behave perfectly when it comes to agriculture? Why doesn't the theory of high risk - high return apply to agriculture? How does a farmer hedge his risks then is the main question! The answer as I
4 comments
Read more

How to change flat ownership in GHMC records

It's been close to a year since we bought a new flat in Hyderabad. It has been one hell of a learning exercise for the sheer amount of paper work and procedures it involved before, during or after the purchase. Buying a house in Hyderabad has been an exciting and taxing journey, so far. All through this journey, I had a desire to document my experiences so that it would help others who wished to be helped. But luck, laziness and life kept me away from this. However, I'll at least start now with an account of what needs to be done to change the ownership records in GHMC [Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation]. The first time it struck me that I need to do this is when I received a property tax notice addressed to the previous owner of the flat (we made a second hand purchase). All along I thought once I had registered with the land records department, the government would take care of updating all other records. I was so wrong! So, I rushed to the nearest Municipal Citizen
3 comments
Read more

|| Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh ||

What we are today is a function of our environment through our past. Our parents, teachers, relatives, neighbours are our key influencers. One such influencer in my life and in the life of millions in this country is Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh or the RSS. This organization established in 1925 has a very interesting history . Established with a aim of nation building, the initiative had no trace of fundamentalism in it. Started with a clear cut nationalistic view, and on time tested values of ‘simple living-high thinking’, the organization spread like a wild fire. Then happened, what was destined to, for an organization that was all-inclusive, had no political representation or was based on non-sensational issues (like religion, cast or region). What RSS is today (or is perceived to be) is certainly not what it was (or is) meant to be. I, as an individual, strongly believe in the RSS, its motives, its structure and its values. I feel being a part of the Sangha and consider myse
4 comments
Read more