I came across this article the other day on Fast Company’s website: Should You Let Your Employees Work From Home. It talks about how working from home isn’t for everyone and presents a decision tree to help companies decide whether or not an employee should be allowed to work remotely or in-house. I was very curious to see what this article was going to say. The article doesn't actually say much, it simply displays the decision tree. I have to say that I’m not overly impressed with the decision tree but it does make some valid points. Here are some of the good (albeit obvious) questions/points:
· If they need to be closely managed, then the answer is ‘no’ to working virtually and if they are self-sufficient then the answer is ‘yes.’ In another section of the tree it asks about being organized and self-motivated. If the answer is ‘yes’ then they can work from home. Both of these seem obvious in my opinion but it’s worth pointing out.
· If you can easily track their progress (or results) then the answer is ‘yes’ but if you can’t the answer is ‘no.’ I generally agree with this *decision* but the previous statement overrides this one.
· Can they do all of their work on a typewriter/computer? If the answer is yes then they can work from home. I would also agree with this (but really…who does all of their work on a typewriter anymore? LOL).
Some of the questions/points that I did not agree with (and seriously made me question the legitimacy of this type of decision tree and where that data came from):
· Asking whether or not the employee is hourly or salaried, and then if you are salaried asking if you would let them baby sit your children. If yes to watching your kids then ‘yes’ to working from home. Huh?! What in the world does being good at watching children have to do with working from home? Is it supposed to be some kind of gauge for responsibility? I don’t get it. Loving kids and being good WITH kids has nothing to do with your ability to work from home. Any why wouldn’t the hourly employee be put to the same test? Makes no sense to me.
· Another question that really struck me as odd was, “Do they live in their mother’s basement?” and if they ‘do’ then the tree says it’s “sketchy” to let them work virtually. Really? Why? If you are close to your mother and are saving money and have your own space in her basement why would that prevent you from working from home? Are they making the assumption that you are financially irresponsible? Even if you are…so what? Plenty of people are financially irresponsible and can still get their work done. What assumption ARE they making here exactly?
Some of the questions/points were clearly put on here just to be funny. For example, if you work with raw meat or dead animals then you can work from home “if you have a big kitchen, strong stomach and lots of industrial cleaner.” Ummm…okay?
When I read this article, I had a light bulb moment. Although I don’t think that THIS is the tree that one should solely base their decisions on, I do think that there COULD be some type of decision tree to help companies make that very tough decision as to whether or not to allow their employees to work from home. Maybe there is a generic tree and then there are customized trees for each company or even department. Maybe the decision trees are fluid depending on the type of management that exists within each workgroup or department?
If you are a company that is considering allowing your employees to work from home, I think that the most important thing to remember is that while it’s not for everybody, some employees really will be higher producers if given that freedom and flexibility. They will work at night and on weekends without even realizing it. Okay, they might realize it but they most likely won’t complain about it! In the end what really matters is results.
