What flexibility do you have (working from home/hot desking)
Discussion
Hi PH,
So the hot topic in our office at the moment is all around flexible working environments. I work in recruitment and we have started to move in to a transitional period where flexible working is becoming available to the proven 'Seniors' within the business but we have quite a hard working and perhaps slightly old fashioned culture you could say.
I'd like to know the following:
- Do you work from home at the moment?
- Do you like doing it?
- Is it an attraction for you and what are the main benefits to you personally?
All thoughts and feelings on flexible working and varied start finish times welcomed!
So the hot topic in our office at the moment is all around flexible working environments. I work in recruitment and we have started to move in to a transitional period where flexible working is becoming available to the proven 'Seniors' within the business but we have quite a hard working and perhaps slightly old fashioned culture you could say.
I'd like to know the following:
- Do you work from home at the moment?
- Do you like doing it?
- Is it an attraction for you and what are the main benefits to you personally?
All thoughts and feelings on flexible working and varied start finish times welcomed!
Actively being encouraged to work from home, the role used to include a fair bit of travel (15k per annum plus regular train journeys) but cost saving has kicked in.
In general it’s great for a work life balance but endless video calls does become tiring and there are times I just want to spend time with a human being!
In general it’s great for a work life balance but endless video calls does become tiring and there are times I just want to spend time with a human being!
I get to WFH as often as I like. It’s great as I save 2 hours a day plus parking and petrol. I’d say on average half my team are WFH on any given day. The only slight downside is that we use Skype to keep in touch and if you’re already chatting to somebody other people cant tell you’re busy and wonder why you’re not responding.
However managers need to trust their staff implicitly and manage by objectives rather than time spent at desk.
However managers need to trust their staff implicitly and manage by objectives rather than time spent at desk.
I work from home unless I am in Court. No reason not to, all work is sent to me by email or post in any event, all I need is an internet connection. I am self employed however. This means I save hours each day commuting, the stress of the commute etc most of the time and the cost of it. I can walk the dogs during a time when it is not raining.... I doubt I can go back to office life now.
I work from home pretty much whenever I want, but broadly 2 days a week. I find it tough sometimes to steer clear of “just putting the washing on” but generally I will get more done at home of things that need quiet concentration. Our teams are dispersed across offices, countries and timezones anyway so most meetings involve Teams / Slack.
I would say it is a minimum hygiene thing now for most people. Anyone under 30 I reckon would think it quite strange not to be allowed to as a matter of course.
I have worked in places that made people log home working and demand explanations for >1 day per month. This was down to idiotic individual managers and you can guess which teams had the highest staff churn...
I would say it is a minimum hygiene thing now for most people. Anyone under 30 I reckon would think it quite strange not to be allowed to as a matter of course.
I have worked in places that made people log home working and demand explanations for >1 day per month. This was down to idiotic individual managers and you can guess which teams had the highest staff churn...
Have done for 15 years.
Family have long since got used to when I'm in the office I am not available for normal domestic chores, although odd stuff creeps in. I saw an awful lot of my daughter growing up than I would otherwise have done, albeit she always chose her moments to visit as a toddler.
I'm no longer self-employed, but still work from home when I am not travelling. My original employers bought another business and transferred me over. They were not used to home working, and it's taken a while for them to get away from watching the day time soaps jokes. Ultimately they can see what I'm doing by my billings and all seems rosy.
Family have long since got used to when I'm in the office I am not available for normal domestic chores, although odd stuff creeps in. I saw an awful lot of my daughter growing up than I would otherwise have done, albeit she always chose her moments to visit as a toddler.
I'm no longer self-employed, but still work from home when I am not travelling. My original employers bought another business and transferred me over. They were not used to home working, and it's taken a while for them to get away from watching the day time soaps jokes. Ultimately they can see what I'm doing by my billings and all seems rosy.
My place of work is very flexible, as long as you start before 8am, and finish after 5pm.
No opportunity for flexibility as far as I can see (maybe unless you have children, but even then it can be tricky).
I'm not sure working from home would be the right solution, but some flexibility wouldn't go amiss!
No opportunity for flexibility as far as I can see (maybe unless you have children, but even then it can be tricky).
I'm not sure working from home would be the right solution, but some flexibility wouldn't go amiss!
I have the option to work from home whenever I’m not required in the office, although 2 days per week is the norm for me. It saves me 2.5 hours a day plus the cost of fuel, means I get to have a lie in and generally feel more relaxed, it also breaks the working week up nicely.
It’s something I definitely look for in a job, although most jobs in my field allow this nowadays...
My employer also offers flexible working hours, anytime from 7AM/10AM - 3PM onwards is allowed.
I’ve worked in places that don’t have this in place, the morale tends to be much lower and general churn is much higher as a result.
It’s something I definitely look for in a job, although most jobs in my field allow this nowadays...
My employer also offers flexible working hours, anytime from 7AM/10AM - 3PM onwards is allowed.
I’ve worked in places that don’t have this in place, the morale tends to be much lower and general churn is much higher as a result.
Edited by 95JO on Tuesday 3rd March 08:40
My work requires me to be in the office most of the time as whilst I can work remotely on the hardware I develop software for it's much simpler being next to it to press reset etc. (This is an over simplified example 
) I also work in small team and the reason we work so well is because we are co-located. If I want to discuss something I can just walk over to their desk or we can grab a room / whiteboard and go through something. Again I'm sure this could be achieved with Skype/Teams but it just doesn't work so well for us.
That said I can WFH if the need arises. This has proved useful in the past especially when my missus broke her ankle a few years back. Also if you're feeling a bit unwell it does mean you can carry on without infecting everyone and I'm sure this may come into play if the Coronavirus rears it's head.
Also have flexibility in the working day, can start anytime from whenever the first key holder is in (small office) to 09:30. Finish from 16:00 to whenever the last key holder goes home. Just need to do 7.75 hours Mon-Thurs and 6.5 on a Friday, often do more (unpaid).
My boss has no problem if I need an hour or two for a school assembly / parents evening / dentist / etc. Just make up the hours in the week.
) I also work in small team and the reason we work so well is because we are co-located. If I want to discuss something I can just walk over to their desk or we can grab a room / whiteboard and go through something. Again I'm sure this could be achieved with Skype/Teams but it just doesn't work so well for us.That said I can WFH if the need arises. This has proved useful in the past especially when my missus broke her ankle a few years back. Also if you're feeling a bit unwell it does mean you can carry on without infecting everyone and I'm sure this may come into play if the Coronavirus rears it's head.
Also have flexibility in the working day, can start anytime from whenever the first key holder is in (small office) to 09:30. Finish from 16:00 to whenever the last key holder goes home. Just need to do 7.75 hours Mon-Thurs and 6.5 on a Friday, often do more (unpaid).
My boss has no problem if I need an hour or two for a school assembly / parents evening / dentist / etc. Just make up the hours in the week.
This is interesting as it is now causing some issues and animosity within our dept of a large city corporate.
We have the tech etc to do it easily, but some seem to have taken advantage of this and are generally working at home 2-3 days a week leaving front-line staff to "cover" the work. They are now called t
t's (Tue, Wed and Thurs) as invariably these WFH days are at the end and beginning of the week, fueling the story that they are just in it for a long weekend. They tend to crunch their meetings into the remaining work days making them almost absent full time.
I'm fairly senior myself but have always been hands on and must admit look at it with a bit of distrust. The work still gets done but must admit feel for the junior staff who have difficulty taking advantage of the policy.
We have the tech etc to do it easily, but some seem to have taken advantage of this and are generally working at home 2-3 days a week leaving front-line staff to "cover" the work. They are now called t
t's (Tue, Wed and Thurs) as invariably these WFH days are at the end and beginning of the week, fueling the story that they are just in it for a long weekend. They tend to crunch their meetings into the remaining work days making them almost absent full time. I'm fairly senior myself but have always been hands on and must admit look at it with a bit of distrust. The work still gets done but must admit feel for the junior staff who have difficulty taking advantage of the policy.
I work in a development type IT function, there are just two of us on the team in the UK. We used to always sit together, but about 18 months ago (while I was off) he somehow swung WFH five days a week - he lives literally 15 minutes from the office. The rest of the team are overseas, so all comms are either bluejeans, slack or get on a plane.
Official policy is WFH one day a week, but I've been in about three or four days total this year (I'm in today, but only because I want to go to Costco at lunch) as nobody on the rest of the team seems to know or care where I actually am - if I am here in the office or at home in my office I still talk to them via Slack or bluejeans. I'm not pressing the question with anyone on the basis that they might have something to say about it - and unlike my colleague I have over an hours commute each way.
The best thing though is that Sundays become a "proper" weekend day - I don't have to be in the car driving at 6am on the Monday morning, so I can go to the pub etc.
Official policy is WFH one day a week, but I've been in about three or four days total this year (I'm in today, but only because I want to go to Costco at lunch) as nobody on the rest of the team seems to know or care where I actually am - if I am here in the office or at home in my office I still talk to them via Slack or bluejeans. I'm not pressing the question with anyone on the basis that they might have something to say about it - and unlike my colleague I have over an hours commute each way.
The best thing though is that Sundays become a "proper" weekend day - I don't have to be in the car driving at 6am on the Monday morning, so I can go to the pub etc.
I've worked from home since about 2007 / 2008. Sales / presales focused roles which complements home working quite well. Lucky that I can control my diary.
Few thoughts about it myself:
Hotdesking is the devil - so it's great not to need to go to an office and make small talk with people I don't give a fk about.
It takes maturity: from you, your employer and even your family, if applicable. It's hugely beneficial if your company culture already has homeworking as a standard part of the way it does business. Nothing worse than begging to WFH, or having a manager that doesn't trust your or your team.
For yourself, you have be able to compartmentalise things - when you're working, you're working. Not, 'i'll do this whilst watching homes under the hammer'.
For your family: they also need to know not to disturb you. Over the years, I've had relative try to dump their kids on me ("since you're about, can you take cuthbert as he's being a st an i want to go for a coffee with bev"), my inlaws ask me to assemble flatpack ("all you do is talk on the phone and fiddle on your laptop, thats not work!!"), etc etc.
Designate somewhere in your home as 'work'. When I bought my current house, it was essential that I had an office, somewhere I can leave everything setup, be able to close the door on at the end of the day, or shut the door when I'm having a loud conference call. Do not work at your dining table! You will be distracted, you will have poor desk posture, and a numb arse. It also doesn't help mentally either when it comes to 'switching off' after work.
In addition, be willing to spend a bit of money on your home office setup - nice desk, chair, speakers. Most employees have a homeworking allowance, so you can sometimes claim a certain amount to put toward furniture, etc.
Maximise your regained travel time - assuming you start working at 9-930, reclaim all the time before to do your activities or chores. Same for your non-commute home. Use your lunch hour and breaks to get life admin done. It frees the weekend up massively.
Few thoughts about it myself:
Hotdesking is the devil - so it's great not to need to go to an office and make small talk with people I don't give a f
k about. It takes maturity: from you, your employer and even your family, if applicable. It's hugely beneficial if your company culture already has homeworking as a standard part of the way it does business. Nothing worse than begging to WFH, or having a manager that doesn't trust your or your team.
For yourself, you have be able to compartmentalise things - when you're working, you're working. Not, 'i'll do this whilst watching homes under the hammer'.
For your family: they also need to know not to disturb you. Over the years, I've had relative try to dump their kids on me ("since you're about, can you take cuthbert as he's being a s
t an i want to go for a coffee with bev"), my inlaws ask me to assemble flatpack ("all you do is talk on the phone and fiddle on your laptop, thats not work!!"), etc etc. Designate somewhere in your home as 'work'. When I bought my current house, it was essential that I had an office, somewhere I can leave everything setup, be able to close the door on at the end of the day, or shut the door when I'm having a loud conference call. Do not work at your dining table! You will be distracted, you will have poor desk posture, and a numb arse. It also doesn't help mentally either when it comes to 'switching off' after work.
In addition, be willing to spend a bit of money on your home office setup - nice desk, chair, speakers. Most employees have a homeworking allowance, so you can sometimes claim a certain amount to put toward furniture, etc.
Maximise your regained travel time - assuming you start working at 9-930, reclaim all the time before to do your activities or chores. Same for your non-commute home. Use your lunch hour and breaks to get life admin done. It frees the weekend up massively.
Edited by devnull on Tuesday 3rd March 10:44
Edited by devnull on Tuesday 3rd March 10:46
I think that WFH is a rare event in a lot of the country. While major cities/bigger firms seem to encourage WFH as a matter of course, out in the regional towns where SMEs are in the majority the idea of WFH is still a novelty viewed with an element of suspicion.
Put it this way, I don't know of anyone who does WFH. Same with hot desking, this is a city-based concept for when a company has more employees than it has space for. In areas where space is (relatively) cheap there is no point.
Put it this way, I don't know of anyone who does WFH. Same with hot desking, this is a city-based concept for when a company has more employees than it has space for. In areas where space is (relatively) cheap there is no point.
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