Working from home

Maizey06

I just read an article that the new CEO of Yahoo, Marissa Mayer, implemented a policy that NO employees can work remotely.  This is the same woman that took a 2-week maternity leave in the fall.

Part of her rationale is that workers are unproductive at home. I have just started working from home about one day a week because then I do not have to commute and it gives me a little extra time with DD in the morning because I do not have to get ready.  

I feel like I am more productive at home.  Sure, I will throw a load of laundry in or do a 30-minute workout DVD during my lunch break but I get my work done. 

 What do you think?  Are you or your SO more productive from working from home?  Do you think that people working from home are slackers? 

CLeigh03

2 week leave...ahhh!

I think it all depends on the person and job. My DH works from home a day or two a week. He maybe puts in 2 to 3 solid hours. In good weather, he's on the golf course. Yet he also will take conference calls and calls from his CEO at 10 at night.

In general though he is much more productive at his office but due to his schedule his boss could care less if he takes it easy at home.

vic8504

Some times I am more productive at home other days not so much. But it is nice because like PP said I can do some laundry, or now that DD is older I take her to kindermusik on my lunch how. I still have my mom come to watch her though or else I would never get anything done.

Rhomonk

I'm lucky enough to work from home twice a week, and I can work from home whenever I need to.

There are other departments that work entirely from home. And I know people who take complete advantage of the work from home (like not being able to contact people who "work from home")

Like other said.  Some days I am very productive.  On slow days, not so much.

I saw the article, and I do believe that some jobs are more productive by having face to face interactions.  I'm not sure how Yahoo runs, so this may be true for them.

SJandVA

DH works from home sometimes. Maybe 23 times a month. He is more productive at work for sure. But he also sets it up so when he does work from home he doesn't have a ton to do. But he is connected to the office all day and if something becomes pressing he gets it done. If work is busy in the office he doesn't work from home.

piphigirl

I don't have a job where it is possible to work from home.  However, if I did, I would be SUPER productive at home if DD wasn't there.  I'm a pretty intrinsically motivated person, so if I like the work I will buckle down and get it done.

Megispreg

When I worked from home, I was very unproductive. I thought I would love it, but I think I needed more structure and interaction.

Jillwithani

I work 4, 10 hour shifts with the ability to work around 3 hours a day at home. I drive a lot to appointments to this saves my company gas ect if I work from home. I am SUPER productive at home because I don't put a limit on my work hours. I get things done that need to be done even if it means working on the weekend. 

Tash13

I'm very lucky to be able to work from home full time.  I'd say that it can easily go both ways.  In a lot of ways I'm more productive in the office.  I'm distracted less, it's easy to bounce things off of my co-workers and I'm right there for them to include me in meetings, discussions, etc.

That being said, once I have a project on my plate, I'm more productive at home.  I can dive into it without coworkers interrupting me as frequently, I don't have vendors stopping by and I rarely have meetings, especially last minute.

 

It really depends on the person and the job type, but it is a shame to make the rule across the board.  Her inability to work well from home shouldn't stop her from letting others test the waters. 

mamahawk12

I work for a very large corporation, like Yahoo, and we have generally the same policy. We can work remotely here and there if things come up, but not on a scheduled basis. I personally think it's a little backwards in today's technology age. Certainly they can still monitor productivity from home so they should allow it and deal with employees on an individual basis if it becomes a problem.

I'm definitely more productive at home AND work longer hours.

DollEri

DH has the flexibility to work from home sometimes, and we take advantage of it when I have an appointment or something so he can keep an eye on DD while working. He says it depends on what he has to do. If it's a project or a report that he's working on, he's more productive at home because he's not constantly being given other tasks or asked questions, being called into meetings, etc. As a manager though, he really needs the time to interact with his team and so I don't think he would ever consider working from home full time (even though his team works in offices all over the country).

I run my business at home, and I feel like I'm much more productive than I used to be when I worked in an office. I have a touch of ADHD, so it's nice to tell myself "reach this goal, then go do a load of laundry" or "when you've finished this you can go clean the bathroom". 

Rhomonk

Scout2005:

kikimo327:

 That being said, I don't think we can say OMG a woman CEO is so harsh.  Would we be having this conversation if it was a man CEO? 

Amen. Or commenting that he only took two weeks paternity leave?

This is a very wealthy woman with I am sure her choice of childcare situations. If she doesn't want to take a long maternity leave, why is that anyone's business or concern? I doubt sincerely her child is being neglected in any way.

The general outrage over her decision to not take a longer maternity leave has confused me since day one. It's her business, and the business of her family. I don't care.

eta: the outrage was a general observation, not specific to this board in any way

OMG.  YES!  I never understood the backlash, or the whole "It sets a bad example". Honestly, I had an easy birth/recovery, and if I had the money she does and can bring in people to help, I could see me going back to work after a couple of weeks.  I'm not saying it's for everyone, but I don't see it as a big deal, since it was her decision.

Twizzle

I have been working from home at least one day a week for about 5 years. I was the first one at my job to do it, I wrote up a proposal on why it would be beneficial and I started with a trial period. It went so well that now several others work from home as well.

I am way more productive at home. No one to bother me with unimportant questions, no one to chit chat with, I spend less time on lunch and breaks.

Right now I am almost always working at home since DS won't take a bottle. If I couldn't work from home I would have quit my job. I am so thankful they have been flexible with me.

Twizzle

I should add that when I do wah, I have a sitter for the kids. There's no way I could do it without that, other than checking emails or doing quick little fixes.