Workers who work from home often claim that they are more productive when at home. Is there a reason for that? They say they can get all their tasks done without any interruptions. Sounds good, right? It is important, but getting more done is not how true productivity is defined. These are simply not the same thing.
Imagine not being surrounded by distractions …
Usually, people working from home, or remotely, truly complete more tasks in a certain time period when compare to people who are working in the office. There are no colleague distractions and no boss is around. So people working from their home get much less distracted or sucked into discussions. Therefore they have longer times available to fully concentrated on their to-do list.
… but there are drawbacks
When there is no one around you don’t get enough feedback and input. Therefore others, with experience or knowledge can’t warn you when you are going down a wrong path. Troubleshooting problems may be too difficult on your own and electronic communication may not be quick enough. You may overlook some important requirements of your customers. Reworking may be needed. Therefore the benefit of getting a task done faster may disappear.
In fact, working remotely often means that you lose some of your productivity, not gain more of it. Of course, it depends on the nature of the work you do. Also if you have a question or concern, don’t be shy to use instant messaging or other available tools to check your assumptions with your boss and teammates.
When you are not sure, ask
Check with your boss about what he or she thinks could be an obstacle to the task you are going to work on. Take your time. Ask – your ultimate success and therefore your true productivity depend on that, summarizes the management-issues.com website.
-jk-