How did Work-From-Home impact you and your team’s productivity?
More productive62%
Less productivie30%
Just the same9%
310 PARTICIPANTS
CIO in Government, 5,001 - 10,000 employees
I find myself taking more meetings since it's virtual. Built in travel times is no longer an issue. Also start the day earlier and work later in the day because of the convenience. Content you might like
Yes43%
No57%
347 PARTICIPANTS
eBook/Kindle20%
Print Edition56%
PDF/Tablet13%
Audio Books (I prefer to listen)9%
Something else?0%
352 PARTICIPANTS
CTO in Software, 201 - 500 employees
Without a doubt - Technical Debt! It's a ball and chain that creates an ever increasing drag on any organization, stifles innovation, and prevents transformation.
I get that the optics are certainly that we are more productive, certainly because of commute, time walking between meetings, etc. We likely also spend more time in front of a workstation. I’m just not certain or yet convinced that this has made us more productive.
My team has always measured itself with KPIs and OKRs and we have been doing a great job and the stats show we have been more productive. I also think you dismissed a very key part of working at home which includes less commute and more time working. Also, working at home allows an employee a better work-life balance which has led to more dedicated employees. Yes I have had to talk to a few people about the quality of work but that is the minority.
I didn't dismiss it. I still don't know that working at home is more productive. I'd suggest it is more efficient and I do think there is a difference, even if the semantic is minor. Better work-life balance doesn't necessarily lead to better productivity.
I concur with your point that if you're not measuring it, it's difficult to assess the impact. Another way this remote setup has benefited me is that I no longer worry about hiring individuals solely based on their proximity to our large offices. Now, I have the ability to tap into a much broader talent pool. It's important to note that the extent of remote work varies depending on the organization type. In my case, the majority of my 50 team members are not directly involved in hands-on work but instead engage with internal and external stakeholders worldwide. Having them sit in an office all day just to participate in virtual meetings doesn't provide significant value. We do have occasional collaborative workdays, typically one or two days per month. Remarkably, all our key performance indicators (KPIs) are soaring, and we are successfully achieving our objectives and key results (OKRs). On your last point, I also agree that the preference for remote work is subjective and relates to different leadership styles. Personally, I firmly believe that if people are content working from home, and I support and enable that, they will be more productive employees. I have witnessed this firsthand.