Research can be found in support of and warning against the work from home model.
The most common issues that transcend job types are isolation and loneliness.
It only makes sense, as you spend 10 hours working and commuting, 8 hours sleeping, that leaves you only 6 hours a day to split between family, friends, and every other aspect of your life.
Adults, particularly men, gain the majority of their self-esteem through their occupation.
With the majority of the time we all spend at work, it is only logical that many of our relationships are built with co-workers and other business associates.
All relationships require three things; first, all parties must desire the connection. Secondly, there must be common interest and or goals, and lastly, physical proximity.
In a working situation, you have chosen to be there, and it is assumed you desire some level of connection for the sake of peace if not for making you and the business as successful as possible.
Common interests are provided by the goals and direction of the business.
That leaves physical proximity. The importance of being physically present in a relationship is evident to anyone who has tried to maintain a long-distance relationship with a significant other.
Long deployments wreak havoc on military marriages.
This need for nearness is not restricted to romantic couples.
When was the last time you had dinner or coffee with your best friend from college or your previous job?
It is a simple fact that relationships rarely flourish when people are removed from each other’s physical realities.
Loneliness and feeling isolated are natural responses to losing the closeness of those relationships at work.
Those feelings have a real effect on the well being of the employee and the bottom line. Research shows that working from home is far worse for team cohesion and innovation than working in the office.
I think we can all agree that team cohesion and innovation are critical for success.
Part of the stress is due to being tied to mobile devices, often kept close at hand long after traditional business hours. Other challenges of working from home are contacting associates to keep projects moving and trying to have conference calls surrounded by children, barking dogs, and the myriad of other distractions in one’s own home.
Each of our personalities is different; some are naturally more inclined to be successful working at home; other’s not so much.
The Dominate Personality is task-oriented and fast-paced, which is suitable for working remotely. As an Extrovert, the lack of connection is problematic for the Dominate Personality.
The Influencer Personality is people-focused and extroverted. Therefore, they are least likely to be happy and successful at home, as they lose their ability to connect easily with coworkers and clients.
Both the Steady and Compliant Personality Types are introverted and slower-paced. This combination allows for a high chance of success working remotely. The Compliant has a slight edge over the Steady when you consider they are also task-oriented.
To fully explore each personality and how they could best work remotely would require its own book. I have only mentioned it here for your consideration.
It is not all doom and gloom for those that love working from home. There are some positions in which telecommuting is quite workable.
Call center employees do well working from home as do certain sales positions that rely on phone calls as the primary means of communication.
Writers and columnists are also generally fine working from home.
That leaves the vast majority of workers in the “Work from home is less than optimal camp.”
We will spend the rest of this book sharing tips and best practices.
