Working from home- Yahoo CEO says no more (1 Viewer)

[St.Fury]

If more people knew how to work from home, and managers had the equipment for it to work it would be great. But so few managers know how to manage employees not within reach. Time will tell if she is right or not. I think it's a step in the wrong direction (getting rid of working from home). Jet Blue showed you could have you booking agents work from home (by hiring stay at home moms to handle bookings), but then again not everyone has management savvy enough to pick up the ball and run with it...or even take a minuet to look for said ball.

If you work entirely off of commission, it won't really all that much where you work. If you want to get paid, you will do the work. But I'm not sure how that could translate to some fields.

 

[p0pe]

I work from home as a programmer and I'm a lot more productive than when I was in an office. In terms of productivity my experience has been: working at home > working at an office with your own office > working at an office in a cubicle.

I was the first at our company to work from home, then my boss shortly after. It's been so successful that all but 4-5 employees out of 20 total are going to be working from home soon, and they are downsizing our actual office to save about $13,000 a month in rent.

 

[jasonj]

not familiar with...is that like IT?

if so, what im gettin at is lets say im at office, system starts acting up and I call you and your not at home office. I call cell, and you tell me give me 15 min because you had to get lil jrdbrn from school because he is ill. That delays my ability to get my work done, which may be under time constraints.

I could see where that could/would cause some friction among the workforce.

I think that would be something to avoid.

Generally if you are working from home, you are supposed to be... at home working. Not cruising the town running errands.

Your scenario is no different than if your IT guy worked in the office but had to leave to get their kid from school. He's unavailable when he needed to be available. His work location makes no difference.

Do you see why?

 

[JonsDuu]

I live in the Bay Area. Yahoo is down the street. The "we need to see people face" are bunches of baloney.

I work from home 3 times a week. I come into the office twice a week (meeting with big guys). The big guys like to see your face for whatever reason. After that, I work in my cube at the corporate campus and I interact with exactly ZERO other co-workers face-to-face.

My work is pretty easy to measure via "deliverables". Very easy for my manager to know if I'm goofing off and/or if I'm delivering exception results.

The other issue Yahoo facing is there is a huge shortage of workers in the Bay Area. Companies are throwing sign-on bonuses like the early 90's. If Marissa is betting that only the most dedicated will stick around, methink it's a losing bet. Why would I stick with a company that have shown no upside when I can jump ship to a start-up and have all the flexible schedule I want.

As a side note, usually after my meeintgs with the big guys, I head home and work from home the rest of the day. So really, I work from home 90% of the time. My employee rating is 5 out 5. My performance & productivies, per my manager, is extraordinary. As all almost all of my peers who regularly work from home.

 

[V Chip]

But so few managers know how to manage employees not within reach

Truth. Most only know MBWA (Management by walking around) or Hover Management, or the worst "Can You Come to My Office For a Sec" management.

WFH enables me to get more work done, saves costs for the company (no need to power up or operate as much office space), reduces traffic, saves me time (45 min to 1 hour each way commute; that's 15-20 hours a week saved) and allows me to work after hours or be available at a moments notice if needed, whereas if I had to go into the office for a problem after hours that would be at least 30 minutes, maybe up to an hour before I could start work. Plus companies often get tax credits for letting their workers remote (in Georgia they have in the past, part of the Clean Air campaign and less traffic campaign).

It's a stupid move by Yahoo to eliminate it altogether. If my company did I would look for something else immediately.

 

[BHM]

not familiar with...is that like IT?

if so, what im gettin at is lets say im at office, system starts acting up and I call you and your not at home office. I call cell, and you tell me give me 15 min because you had to get lil jrdbrn from school because he is ill. That delays my ability to get my work done, which may be under time constraints.

I could see where that could/would cause some friction among the workforce.

I think that would be something to avoid.

You would never know that he was picking up lil jrdbrn. You would simply get his voice mail and he would call you back telling you that he was swamped with issues. Then he takes over your computer and you don't see anything happen for about 20 minutes and he gets quiet. He is not trying to fix your computer, he is playing World of Warcraft.


This is how you picture jrdbrn...

But sadly, this is actually jrdbrn

 

[parlorcitysaint]

NYS Health Department regulations state that food prepared in a residential kitchen may not be served in a commercial establishment. Eliminates chefs working at home.



I'm not a chef. I'm just sayin'......

 

[Mr. Blue Sky]

Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer faces growing firestorm over remote worker recall - Sacramento Top News | Examiner.com


there is a growing contingent of folks who are saying she is wrong. Is she?

My personal belief is there are certain aspects of jobs that should be done from an office, on site. There are some that can be handled from home, but for most part, anything related to the day to day operation should be done from office on premises.

I have always held true to not working from home as home is my sanctuary. I think once u start bringing work "home" ( depending on what you do ) it cant be a good thing. Especially if its a fast-paced, attention to detail type job.

Im interested to know what most believe.

I'm glad to see you acknowledge that this is your own personal belief.. Because I am here to tell you that I believe the exact opposite.. True, there are some people who can't handle WFH-- but for those who can and do handle it, like myself-- there is absolutely no way (short of having no other options) that I'd ever go back to working in an office.. The quality of life when you WFH is better by a mile; does it take some discipline to not feel like you're *always* working? I suppose, but as others have mentioned, I'll take that over 45 min- 1hr commutes, sitting in a cubicle or office for hours on end, and dealing with hygiene-challenged, borderline ******** coworkers ANY day.. Do I slack off from time to time? Absolutely.. But if there were any way to measure it, I'd bet I spend less time slacking than the typical 8-5 office worker.. Ultimately, though, all depends on the results you bring in-- and my results and productivity working from home/in the field have far exceeded anything I ever accomplished while working in some fluorescent-lighted cage.

 

[RazorOye]

I suppose, but as others have mentioned, I'll take that over 45 min- 1hr commutes, sitting in a cubicle or office for hours on end, and dealing with hygiene-challenged, borderline ******** coworkers ANY day.

this wasn't my workplace, though

so I think that contributes to the difference in opinion, as well

 

[Mr. Blue Sky]

this wasn't my workplace, though

so I think that contributes to the difference in opinion, as well

For sure.. Working in an office vs working in a school is kind of an apples to airplanes comparison, so I can see how your experience may have been more positive.. But in that environment, you still are required to be somewhere from _______o'clock to _______o'clock, and then follow some sort of predefined structure.. Me, I like to do what I want, when I want-- as long as it gets done.. Yeah, I realize I'm spoiled, but I also realize that if the results aren't there, it ends.

 

[GrayMatter78]

I'm a programmer and have WFH for about the last 5 years. It's a give and take relationship in my mind because I do have to make myself not available (or working) when I shouldn't be. Yes, there are also cases where I am taking care of my wife who recently had back surgery or picking up the kids from school and then I would work late to make up the time. The flexible schedule is invaluable. I don't know if I could handle working in an office again.

 

[all2neat]

As a software developer, i have a lot less people walking up to my desk at home versus the office. At the office i get interrupted at least twice an hour if not more often.

 

[El Caliente]

see i get a "booking agent" working from home. That makes sense and the job description, from what I know, could be accomplished from home.

But like you, arent you a CPA? I would think that working from home for you would be much more complicated/hard.

Working from home in my profession isn't anything new. I bought into a practice in 09' after I got out of school, and my partner is the one who works in the office. I will come in from time to time (when the kids are home, too much going on at home) but by and large I work from home. There really isn't any point in me having an office now as I am no longer in El Centro, but El Cajon, and I don't think we need the added cost.

Working from home is the smarter thing to do in most cases. Outside of a job where "YOU HAVE TO BE IN FROM 9-5" a company would be smart to let people work from home as it would save them big time money in utilities for example. I am happy and productive at home, more than I am happy and productive in the office.

 

[El Caliente]

I have been listening to "The World is Flat" lately and it has opened my eyes. While it was written almost a decade ago, the points of the book are truer now than then. We need a diverse work force if we want to compete on a global scale. The guys that can work solo are low maintenance, high yielding in the two cases I have seen (2 because we have two employees). They will do their own research when they come up with a problem, but they will usually work through it. I get a call every now and again from these two, and I will check their work before I turn over the results to a client (basic work, nothing crazy) but it works out well.

Before this gig, I worked for the TSA and on the Radio. Those were some sad times when you had to lead people by the hand to get them to do their job effectively.

 

[Saint_Kyle]

I work from home, never had any problem with it, though I think it is a matter of responsibility. I think if you are irresponsible about it then you likely aren't the best worker when you are in 'the office' either.