| >and, all other things being equal, you're better off having your organization in N locations versus N+1 locations. All other things aren't equal, though. There can be less interuptions at home, there's less time wasted on commuting, and more flexibility - allowing (for instance) people with children to have a better work/life balance, which should hopefully make them more effective workers. There's also things like the simple cost of the building - if 20% of your staff are typically at home on any given day, you need 20% less floorspace etc (I know it's not quite that simplisticaly linear, but you get the point). For meetings, things like Facetime can be remarkably effective at getting someone "in the room" when they are physically at home. It's not quite as good as them actually being there, but it's remarkably close. Obviously there's a balance. There are quite definitely upsides to having people in the building - a quick 2 minute chat at someone's desk with a piece of paper and a pencil can sometimes be as effective as a Visio diagram and an email that took an hour to write, and even more importantly having people sat right next to you can make working far more collaborative. But depending on what your job is, having the flexibility to work for a day or more a week at home can be hugely valuable. |