Working in an Office environment is better than working from home (almost always).
Since the outbreak of the Corona Virus, there is much debate on the merits of working from home and all with a good foundation. I however am going to stick my neck out and say that you can achieve greater results with people working together in an office environment. I can already hear the shouts and shrieks of those of a different persuasion.
I would like to concentrate and base my theory on four headings.
Company Culture – This is one of the great intangible elements of any business, large or small – its culture. The culture within the company highly dictates the attitude of staff to their peers, their management and most importantly their customers/clients. People are not trained in culture, so how is it defined and endorsed by employees? Culture is a shared value among all the stakeholders who should all have a similar attitude and behavioural traits. Good leadership styles can create a positive culture among the team who work together every day, sometimes in trying conditions. This is where I believe you cannot achieve the same level of company culture if people are working remotely as opposed to working together, in one or multiple locations. It is also very difficult for new employee to grasp and understand company culture if they never work alongside their colleagues.
Employee Fit – This leads me nicely into the area of employee fit within an organisation. We have all started a new job at some stage in our careers, remember the thought after a few weeks “what am I doing here”. Fitting into a new job, company and maybe location can be a very difficult period for anyone until they find their feet. Therefore, a new employee joining an organisation that works remotely will find it challenging to feel they are part of the team. It is challenging for the line manager or company owner from a distance, to ascertain how this person is engaging with other team members. When people are not connected physically, as in an office environment, then exiting an organisation is easier and may lead to employee retention problems.
Social interaction – In speaking to many people on the topic of working from home, Social Interaction is always mentioned in the conversion. Since the Corona Virus outbreak more people are working from home than ever, some under very trying conditions. People are creatures of habit and we need to meet other people to feel that we are part of something, our tribe mentality. This interaction with others allows us to create relationships that are crucial to personal and business development. In our office we have a coffee dock where people love to congregate and chat, now working from home this social element of their working day is missing. People find that discussing mundane things such as sport, TV and films over platforms is not as engaging in comparison to face to face conversions. While working in a home environment employers may miss signs of staff morale being low due to their home surroundings, longer hours, and plain loneliness. People in an office environment often go daily for lunch, walks, or even runs together, they cannot achieve this satisfaction or interaction at home.
Zoom and Teams Call – Lastly but not least are the modern communication tools of Zoom and Teams. We are now all experts in this modem of communication that was alien to us only nine short months ago. However, there certainly seems to be an element of Zoom / Teams fatigue among people that I have been talking to. The consensus seems to be that getting something done remotely takes much longer than if the parties were in an office together. People are almost afraid to leave their home office desk for fear that they will miss a Zoom/Teams call from a colleague. Of course, there is a cohort of people who love Zoom/Teams calls as a means of communication and that is quite understandable. Sometimes when a decision needs to be made, it is much more difficult to get this done remotely due to linking people together promptly. In a working office environment, this is much easier as people are working in close proximity and can gather quickly.
In conclusion, I will finish with an old Irish Saying:
“Trí na chéile a thógtar na cáisléain”. (In our togetherness, castles are built).
