http://www.fourhourworkweek.com/blog/

You did bring up interesting (and very logical) arguments…i also do not understand why we do not see more companies relaying on “telework” as it clearly has advantages for a great deal of professions.

And, just like you mentioned, if you do not work IT will (or should) be noticed!

So i really think it IS a jealousy issue (and the fact that upper management thinks they will get more work done if they can keep an eye on you)!

I actually saw a documentary about a company who restructured and allowed all the employees to work under a flexible schedule (part time remote, part time local) and productivity went through the roof!

The employees said they felt a lot more relaxed because they didn’t have to get up as early in the morning, had time to go jogging and didn’t have to get stuck on traffic which made them A LOT more productive! ;o)

Hugs,
Luis

I’m guessing you are talking about Portuguese IT companies, right?

And if that is the case, the answer is simple: it’s very difficult for Portuguese managers to coop with it because they immediately associate working from home with working from a beach in the Caribbeans or something similar and it is very difficult for them to grasp why are YOU on a beach while they’re stuck at the office…

Borderline: they’re idiots…and have THE Portuguese gene )…

Best,
Luis

As for micro-managers … let’s say I’ve seen my share

Thanks for the input

1. Working remotely gives you an excuse not to work. I’m paid hourly, so if I don’t produce enough for the amount of time I bill, I get the axe. But, really, no one needs an excuse not to work. It’s just as easy to argue that having co-workers to talk during the day is an excuse not to work. After all, if we’re caught, we can always say we were talking about work.

2. You are more easily distracted. I’ll concede this one because it’s something I have to work hard with. Some days I can block everything else out and be completely productive. Other days, I’m constantly distracted. However, this isn’t actually much different from the cycles of focus and distraction one has in an office environment. The biggest difference is that the threshold for being distracted may be lower when working at home.

3. I can’t just go to your desk and discuss something with you. You missed the underlying issue on this one. The bulk of our communication with other human beings is encoded in body language, inflection, tempo, and other meta aspects that don’t translate into text-based communication. It’s hard to communicate with somebody you know only through text, but text communication is easier if you know them already. Some companies mitigate this by requiring remote employees to first work on site for a while before being remote. I’ve seen this issue bite teams enough times to know that it’s a real concern.

4. I cannot control what you do. That’s something a micro-manager might say. Good managers know that they don’t control, they enable and motivate. And generally, it’s good to avoid hiring the people that need to be micro-managed as they will lower the group’s productivity.