Telecommuting?

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I am tired of hearing that Marissa Mayer made a mistake.  For those of you who live under a rock, she’s the head of Yahoo that was hired to turn the company around.  And, when she came off her maternity leave, she decreed that working from home is not in Yahoo’s best interest. Her ostensible reasons?  Yahoo needs to move quickly, it needs to focus on collaboration and communication.  And, in her mind, that means working remotely full-time doesn’t work. That also means that some of the Yahoo employees are going to have to move- or quit. Teleworking- 1 or more day a week Immediately, many folks (in and out of the company) began complaining, citing that there is data that folks are more productive when working from home.  That folks need to balance life and work- and this move does not fit that model. Cali Ressler and Jody Thompson, the creators of ROWE (Results Only Work Environment),  took tremendous umbrage at Ms. Mayer’s approach.  Their site posted this letter

…Your decision to ban working from home is uninformed, outdated, and most importantly, not focused on the results we all hoped Yahoo! had front of mind…Your memo to Yahoo! employees stating that they need to be physically side-by-side to communicate and collaborate frankly blew our minds. Only the the most out-of-touch, old school CEOs would actually say that out loud in 2013…

So, now it’s my turn.  These are not factory workers.  They don’t produce widgets- so productivity may not be the best indication of corporate progress.  Yahoo needs creativity, ideas, imagination.  And, yes those can be solo activities, but, to be honest, it’s best when everyone works together on an idea- to bring it to the marketplace, to help evaluate it, and hone it’s rough edges. Because when creative folks work together on a project, wondrous things happen.  Think about something non-technical for a second.  Art.  (For those of you who know me, you recognize that my house is laden [ok, overloaded] with art.)  Each artist in a movement learns from the other and moves the bar just a little higher.  Even though, they each paint separately.  The same thing happens with creative technology. Don’t believe me?  Why do you think Route 128 became the tech capital of Boston (and the Northeast) in the 70’s?  And, what about Silicon Valley?  Because we need to interact with one another and boost our creative edge- and we need critical mass to do so! Moreover, Yahoo has been a disaster.  Mayer is the 5th CEO in as many years.  And, that means the mission, vision, and culture are, at best, a mishmash.  The only way someone can develop culture, communicate the mission, and achieve the vision is to get folks to work together, to get those instant feedback loops working, unless and until the culture, mission, and vision are fully formed in more than the minimal, critical mass.  So, the world sees the company as one unit. Our firm couldn’t have its facilities around the US and the world when we first began, until we had everyone playing from the same page.  That our culture, mission, and vision were the permeating drive that kept us all going.  It’s hard to have leaders and followers when no one is in contact with another- more than once a month. Oh, there’s another thing.  Mayer, the data-driven techie that she is, knew what she was doing.  Before she delivered this missive, she checked the VPN logs and realized that slacking was the name of the game.   (Most people “telework” from home on Mondays and Fridays, so they can have a much longer weekend, by the way.) So, stop bitching about the policy- and give Mayer credit for honing the vision for a new Yahoo.  Let’s see what she accomplishes. And, now Best Buy has terminated it’s similar program- Results Only Work Environment (ROWE), which let folks telework.  (The same one cited above, where the progenitors published their letter on their site.)  Matt Furman, the Senior VP of Best Buy said it best: “Particularly in a turnaround, what matters is the ability of employees to collaborate and work together on solving the problems the company faces…”

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24 thoughts on “Telecommuting?”

    1. I don’t think it’s a matter of being lazy or ill-at-ease, Anita-Clare.
      I think it’s the need for a vision and mission to be undertaken by all. With clear communication capabilities. Without these three things, there is no “we” working from home; just lots of me’s, all going in different directions.

  1. Interesting and thought provoking. I have mixed feelings on this. I feel that it would depend on the particular job that each person has. I worked from home doing graphic design, so my productivity could be measured, as well as my creativity. To make a blanket policy for all workers may not be necessary, but to make it part of the job description for certain positions that need to collaborate together is likely a good idea.
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    1. Suerae:
      I, too, have mixed feelings. As I said, our firm needed to insure that our mission and vision where clearly understood and articulated by all, with communication vocabulary and processes understood. And, then, one can essay remote collaboration. But, if one lacks communication, common mission, a clear vision- then there is no collaboration.

  2. I guess you are right, Roy. Technology has advanced a great deal to bring people together but it is still not delivering some important feaatures of interrelationships and collaborative work . Maybe in the future it’ll do; who knows..

    1. I think that technology lets us work collaboratively- but we need that incubation period, where we all buy in, learn each other’s foibles, understand the communication process, etc.- before we can succeed at a distance, Gustavo.

    1. I am not sure that I disagree, Bill. Part of my problem with that answer is that I don’t use it, so I’m not highly familiar with its offerings.
      I did think they offered groups and newsletters, which is different that what others offer (not that there are not groups or newsletters from other vendors).
      We shall see what Ms. Mayer does offer soon enough.

  3. It sounds like she is just doing what is best for the company, but it also sounds like they’ll lose a lot of employees. I think it really depends on the business to say whether or not this would be beneficial. I know in my field, telecommuting is very important, but in others it may not be. I think telecommuting helps companies find more variety of individuals with more experience and knowledge, but at the same time I can see the communication factor as a problem. Honestly, I think it all depends on the company and how they work to say whether or not telecommuting is good or bad. I’m not quite sure in this situation because I don’t know that much about it.
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    1. So, let’s consider that, Alicia.
      Yes, they will lose some folks who can’t move or tolerate the commutes that they may now be required to endeavor. More will leave if they don’t like the idrection of the company- but those that remain should be more invested in the mission and vision that is propounded.
      Now, back to the rest of the premise…
      Telecommuting certainly saves money for the company- no office required. It certainly saves money for the employee- no commuting, parking, tolls, whatever.
      But, what about the “watercooler” effect? What about sharing stories and common vision… I’m not saying that can’t be done remotely- I’m saying that I’ve never seen it done. I HAVE seen (and been involved with) the development of teams and missions/visions that then maintained that esprit de corps remotely- with frequent “booster shots” of intimate gatherings. Whether that was a week (yes, more than two or three days) in the office or via a retreat location, it did not seem to make much of a difference- but it required that “time together”.

  4. Thanks for this post. I agree with your point of view. In theory, working from home is good. That said, in my former company, colleagues used to ‘work from home’ to have a longer week-end or a day off. Sad but true. As a mother of two, I have always made a point of working at my desk, in my office. I need some distance with home.
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    1. Muriel,
      I think your ambivalent response is exactly the issue. In theory, working from home- one or two days a week is probably good. Our policy is to have Monday morning meetings- with an agenda produced for actions that week by the end of the day. So, Monday’s were never work from home days. Was that done to preclude 4 day weekends? I don’t honestly recall. (I have been searching my notes to see some indication- and at least as far back as DOS, I can find none…I can’t read the Osborne disks to go back to 1981…)
      I have been able to work from home- or from the office- on on the airplane… so that’s never been an impediment.

      Thanks for the visit AND the comment.

  5. I don’t know who those lazy people are abusing the gift of working from home. I work 6 days a week from 8 to 10 hours average and I am always behind. I don’t get up to let the dogs out, go “out” myself, or give my sister her breakfast drink and meds. If I do leave the house, I work extra late to make up for it. Do I get tired and want to lie down? Yes. Do I occasionally have to take that nap? Yes. Do I get paid for all my time and effort? No, but I am thankful to have this job at all.

    1. In a nutshell- you are an independent contractor. No “delivery”- no payment. Not quite the same thing when you are an employee. But, that’s still not the point…
      The point is that Yahoo is floundering, at best. It needs to develop cohesion AND an adhesion to a mission and vision statement that is developing. And, they need the interaction of all to get this ship turned around. That’s the crux of the matter.

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