Written by Lori Thiessen
I just came across an article in the Telegraph entitled, “Remote Working ‘Far Off'” which, as you may have guessed from the title, argues that the remote working phenomenon is not as widespread as you might imagine.
Writer Ben Bland cites a study by PricewaterhouseCoopers which shows that only 5% of international graduates polled felt that they would be working remotely.
Further in the article, Bland reports that British grads don’t expect to be working from home but a sizeable portion of American and Chinese grads expect to have more flexible hours.
Apparently, the British are a bit more wary of remote working than other nations. It is interesting thought that Cambridgeshire’s local goverment website offers tips on how to make remote working work. The initiative of teleworking has also been adopted by the councils of Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire and Durham, just to name a few.
Interviewing the Head of HR at PricewaterhouseCoopers, Bland quotes Michael Rendell saying there just isn’t a substitute for the social environment of an office and the creativity output generated in a face-to-face meeting.
And that’s quite true but I believe that companies are really interested in saving money on bricks and mortar as well as the costs of running an office. What I think is keeping companies and even people who want to freelance for a living from embracing remote working is a fall in productivity which affects the bottom line. If you don’t have direct supervision over the worker or a boss looking over your shoulder, it is really easy to see your productivity fall.
There are other concerns about making remote working a reality but I think that is the major consideration — making remote working or freelancing pay in real dollars. For the truly self-motivated, self-starter, this isn’t a dilemma, but for the rest of us the stable or increasing productivity hurdle can be a tough one to overcome.
Q: What tips and strategies do you use to keep your productivity flowing?
Thanks for dropping by and I’ll save your seat until next time!
January 14, 2009 at 11:04 pm
That’s where we were a year ago – a lot has changed since then. Remote working is very much on the up in the UK.
January 16, 2009 at 8:30 pm
Hi Alex!
Thanks for updating me and your fellow cafe commuters on the remote work situation in the UK. Can you tell us a little more about what you are experiencing in terms of the increase in remote working? Is it become more accepted, more normalized? Are UK companies becoming more open to the idea of having flexible hours/places?
Cheers,
Lori
January 21, 2009 at 11:30 am
I’m finding that the public sector is primarily driving forward remote working and the work/life balance. Have worked for a number of gov orgs and depts that encourage home working and flexible working patterns. I’m now entirely home based but unfortunately still tied to a desk somewhat as wi-fi isn’t seen as secure enough for the work I do. My hopes of emulating some of your working practices have gone up in smoke!
January 26, 2009 at 9:39 pm
Hey Phil!
Thanks for sharing your experience and what you are seeing re: remote working initiatives. Where are you located? What a shame that you are kinda ‘stuck’ at a desk. Perhaps once greater wifi security measures are in place you can roam freely about at will! 🙂 How are you finding working at home? Is it what you expected? Wanted?
Cheers,
Lori
February 20, 2009 at 4:28 pm
I work for reserach group based at a University in the UK and they are really keen to support remote working. We have 6 remote workers in our organisation of 32 and I am the official ‘remote worker champion’. I do my best to support them and even write a blog on my experiences of being a remote worker.
Ramblings of a Remote Worker
I think big US corperations have led the way in this field but we are not far behind!
February 21, 2009 at 6:49 am
Great to hear that organizations around the world are waking up to the possibilities of remote working. We’ll definitely check out your blog, and hope you’ll pass along the link to our survey if any of your colleagues do a portion of their remote working from a cafe or similar venue! We want to study the experiences of a wide range of cafe commuters…
Gregg
February 25, 2009 at 5:42 pm
Hi Marieke!
Thanks for letting us know about your blog! Always wonderful to meet another remote worker. I’ll put your blog on our blogroll. I’d be delighted if you would put the coffeeshopoffice blog on your blogroll.
Cheers,
Lori