RSSEmployees love to slack off
It's usually pretty easy to get to the "Duh" moment in reading any study commissioned by Microsoft. I get the impression that those released for public consumption are generally the ones where the company (and by extension, anyone else) can guess the results of before they even commission it. They are a marketing tool rather than a "study" and if the facts happen to coincide with the results, it's often because some are left out or that particular set of facts are favorable to the company. Of course it's not just Microsoft that does this, but who else has the spare cash laying around to fund so many of these as Microsoft does?
Anyway, I got the "Duh" moment when I read the headline of the company's latest survey, which is "Study: Remote-Work Programs Benefit Employers Too" but was rewarded with a double when I hit the second paragraph, which starts off with,
Sixty percent of respondents to the Microsoft Telework survey – conducted among 3,600 employees in 36 cities nationwide – say they are actually more productive and efficient when working remotely.
So even though the result was obvious, it turns out that it was supported by nothing more than the people with the motivation to say so, saying so. And, duh, of course that was what they were going to say. Who doesn't want to be chilling at home at ten AM with a box of donuts and a beer, wearing only a stained and torn UW sweatshirt, while the rest of those suckers at the office are stuck in hour two of a droning staff meeting?
The rest of the document goes on in that vein, saying that workers are happier, overhead is lower, coverage is better, but employers nonetheless are not supportive of the effort, all the things we already think we know about remote work. Except for this gem, which may be justification for the whole study in and of itself:
Employees conduct business in unusual places when working remotely, including bathrooms, movie theaters and even at funerals.
To which I say, if it can get that sort of motivation out of your employees, then you need a remote work program today.
Of course, none of this addresses the very real concerns that employers have about accountability, cohesion, and coordination; all solvable problems, but problems that prevent businesses from simply issuing laptops and sending their staff home some afternoon, never to return. I know from conversations with staff there that Microsoft hasn't even managed yet to address some of the employer failings noted in the study, so it's unlikely that the good folks down at the local vulcanized rubber plant have got it all figured out yet.
I think business can generally be trusted to find the most efficient methods over a period of time, but I also think most businesses are fairly conservative and have to be shown the best way of doing something rather than being expected to actively go out and seek it themselves. I think a remote workforce is one of those things. Employers in any given market segment will have to start getting their asses kicked by someone else in that segment who is taking advantage of the benefits of these capabilities before they begin to wholeheartedly adopt them.
