Working From Home Increased Productivity: A Reality or Fallacy?

It is no longer news that the COVID-19 pandemic shattered work life across the globe, with workers having to
work from their homes. Jobs that were thought to be impossible to do remotely also got affected. The
transition from office working to remote working did not go easy with a number of companies, especially
those that are not technologically savvy. Only a few companies were able to put the pieces together in
surprising ways.
Challenges of remote working
Some of the changes that followed the forceful transition included companies having to expand resources
(time and money) in ensuring a seamless remote access, older employees having to find their way through
becoming tech-adept, and department heads and supervisors developing an alternative means of supervising
their team members to get organizational tasks completed with the same level of efficiency, howbeit without
their physical presence.
Besides, since almost all employees started working from home, many of them have to do a lot of (additional)
jobs – their job and other people’s. Remember students could no longer go to school; childcare homes are
still under lock, among others. These employees who now work remotely have taken up these tasks.
The implication of this is that the number of things competing for employees’ attention at home, apart from
their job, grew by a sizeable amount. This tends to impact their level of concentration, efficiency, and
consequently, productivity as they tend to find it difficult to stay on track in their daily responsibilities.
Also, remote working has been associated with employees’ feelings of isolation and loneliness, which in turn,
resulted in decreased morale or productivity. Some companies attributed employees’ turnover to these
reasons, and have made provisions for in-person meetings once in a while to compensate for the loss of in-
person interaction.
Benefits of working from home
Nevertheless, there are a host of benefits associated with the sudden transition. For instance, employees
who spent an average of one hour going to work every day, prior to the pandemic, no longer have to deal
with the stress of getting behind the wheels and driving for long hours to and from work or even getting
stuck in traffic for long hours. There have been cases where employees had to quit their former jobs just
because of long commuting stress and long hours.
The implication of this is that, employees, by the end of the year, would have saved significant amount of
money that would have been spent on commuting to and from work. Also, remote workers now have longer
break time than when they operated in-office. All these, coupled with the knowledge that their work
progress is being tracked, make employees to be focused and productive.
Also, by working from home, employees can stay out of the city centers to reorganize their lives, redefine
their goals, and have a relative amount of tranquility.
On the part of the employers, they are able to save money on office space.
Productive employees: who are they?
While some studies have revealed that employees who work from home are more focused, it is necessary to
also consider some indices that have to be present, for the ‘assertion’ to appeal to logical reasoning.
Remember one of the shortcomings of working from home as it relates to productivity is distractions. The
caveats to the actual participants of most of the studies include meeting some criteria, such as having no
kids, having another room other than a bedroom or the dining table to work from, and having quality
internet connection and good IT support.
It is more difficult to be productive in an unfavorable environment or working condition. It can be rather
challenging for employees who have young children, live in a small dwelling apartment, or have little or no
access to fast internet connection and or poor mobile data coverage who will experience a productivity boost
in their work or to even meet task timelines. Imagine having a lot of background activities that could distract
you when having an online meeting (via Zoom, GoToMeeting, Webex, Google Hangout or any other
platforms), for instance.
Staying productive when working from home
What comes out of working from home depends on how employers are able to strike a balance between
their work life and home tasks. Definitely, every company had set out working/office hours and tasks to be
completed within the hours. Employees are expected to know what task is expected of them to be completed
and at what time.
To aid in this process, employees may keep to-do lists. With that, you know the time to get your phone
recharged or get a Netflix break to watch your next movie. In fact, a dedicated employee only requires
minimal supervision.
Also, employees that are given breaks or rest time tend to have enough time to unwind and ease themselves
of stress.
The fact that you are working from home doesn’t imply that you have to cut connection from your colleagues
completely. Definitely, there will be a point or the other when you will require their input, even if it means
scheduling an impromptu conversation.
Conclusion
Though crises cannot be completely eradicated from life, the best that could be done is to get opportunities
out of them. We can only view the transition as a redefinition of an ideal worker – whether virtual or in-office
– as someone who is focused, committed, and can balance work obligations with other activities competing
for their attention. Fujitsu and Twitter (along with many other corporations), for instance, have reiterated
their commitment to continue with working from home, even after the pandemic.
In other words, working from home can have both positive and negative impacts on employees’ productivity,
depending on the attitude and commitment of employees and whether the team head, supervisor is capable
of managing virtually too.

To learn more; come and join our information sessions at EDUK8U Grad School Asia.
Send queries to:
info@eduk8u.com or call: +6012 553 3654

Dr. Roy Prasad

Dean EDUK8U Grad School Asia & Head of Executive Programme IUKL
info@eduk8u.com