Robert Cummings wrote:
This being 2007 and all I get quite curious why so many businesses are
still trying to follow the archaic physical location infrastructure. I
mean sure, I can see it if you need to set up machines, or make the boss
some coffee, but for programming, running DB queries, etc... it's seems
somewhat asinine.
I was a big supporter of remote work until recently. I myself worked
extensively from a home office (every day, barring a day or two a month
when a client visit was required, usually for sales meetings), and loved
the freedom and extra time it gave me.
When we started our new business, my business partner convinced me that
this wasn't always a good idea, and now I can see the other side. We
have a design and development team here that works VERY closely
together. I don't mean we have meetings once a day, I mean we talk
CONSTANTLY. You couldn't possibly do this with IM or e-mail - it's too
slow, and too annoying, and you can't do things like slide your chair
over and see your colleague's screen. We'd need to be on the phone the
entire day.
If we didn't have a development TEAM - if everybody worked on their own
projects - it wouldn't be a problem. Also, if we had a HUGE project that
we could document very well, then go off and do our own things for a
while and come back to meet up and discuss, we'd be fine. But we're a
startup, so our requirements are changing daily - it's not poor software
engineering, it's just the nature of a startup. Agility is one of our
best assets, and not one we'd ever want to sacrifice.
Are there solutions? Sure. You could talk about remote control apps,
Skype, and so on, but they're all hacks, things to make it 'ok' to do
remotely what would really be better in the same office, the same room.
All of this is just IN THIS CASE - I'm not saying working remotely is
wrong. However, I CAN say (honestly) that for an average employee
commute time of 20 minutes each way we gain 2.5 hours a day in
productivity gains. We work together as a team, we can comment on each
others' ideas all as a group, and we don't have to say "Well, Chris said
that Eric said ..."
From an employer's perspective, it has other benefits. For one thing,
morale is much higher this way. It's hard to feel like a member of a
family when you never see the people you work with. If somebody puts in
some long hours, you don't get the emotional impact from seeing an
e-mail sent at 1am that you get from seeing a guy in the same chair,
same clothes, that he was in when you left late last night, because he
pulled an all-nighter.
I think each method has its place. Working from an office isn't the
'old' way, it's just 'one' way. Working from home or a remote location
is 'another' way. Each is appropriate for different situations, and
neither is inherently wrong or right. Use the best thing that works for
your situation.
Regards,
Chad
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