Flexible working has finally come of age. It’s no longer frowned upon to schedule in some working from home days. Who doesn’t enjoy the 1 minute commute from bedroom to home office/ lounge/ kitchen, complete with ‘dress for your day’ outfit of Pjs or joggers. But have you ever stopped to wonder if working from home is a good thing? On the surface it seems like a fantastic idea but the science may surprise you.
At the EX Forum conference in London last week, we were lucky enough to enjoy a key note from Bruce Daisley, VP at Twitter. Bruce is also author of a brilliant book ‘Joy at work’ and also the ‘eat, sleep, work, repeat’ podcast – both of which I highly recommend checking out. When Bruce declared that he really encourages his team NOT to work from home if at all possible (GP appointments, nativity plays etc. aside), there were some confused faces in the crowd. ‘But you’re a tech company, you guys practically invented working from home!” Then Bruce shared his rationale, all based on some compelling scientific findings.
First up – working from home is not good for business. When you’re working from home you miss out on the ‘water-cooler’ moments. And it turns out that up to 40% of productivity of different groups of people can be accounted for by the conversations that happen as a result of informal interactions (Pentland, Social Physics). Pentland found that the best ideas are often not a result of people working on their own, but come about when they take ideas and road test them with others. And if you’re thinking this effect can be replicated via email, his research found that email had very little to do with productivity or creative output. Bruce argued, like Pentland, that’s its important to do whatever you can to encourage informal conversations at work.
Second up – it’s good for the employee. Did you know that loneliness kills more people than obesity and smoking? Again, another room of frowns and gasps as Bruce shared this little known fact. Essentially we’re social creatures, craving connections and interactions, and if we don’t get them it’s not a good thing. The research shows that social isolation increases the risk of premature death. You may argue that working from home is not going to lead to social isolation – and your personality definitely plays a role. As an extrovert, one day of working at home for me and I’m craving company, chatting to the post-man, and then popping to Tesco just to have a chat! Rather than looking at loneliness, it’s maybe better to focus instead on how work can facilitate a sense of belonging. The work of Baumeister and Leary have argued that a sense of belonging is not a ‘nice to have’ towards the top of Maslow’s hierarchy but is every bit as important as the fundamentals of physiological needs. The science shows that being connected is a fundamental human need, critical for our wellbeing and that being in a workspace with others helps to facilitate this.
I’m not saying working from home is always a bad idea. There are of course times when we need to recharge after a heavy week of travel, or we have an appointment, or be there for when the new washing machine gets delivered. But don’t ignore the science, being in a physical workspace with our colleagues helps us be more creative, hone our ideas, connect with others, and helps us to feel like we belong. I’m really interested to see how technology can help support this – whilst we know email doesn’t cut it, I wonder if other apps, platforms, and tech can help to foster that sense of belonging for those people who aren’t able to be in a physical space with their colleagues – I’d love to hear what you think?
@Emma
