To think that everyone WFH thinks they are more productive but this view isn’t necessarily shared

[Cucumbertomatoes]

On here, everyone who WFH insists they are much more productive than in the office. However, I’ve noticed this view is rarely shared by others, hence companies wanting workers back. It’s an interesting one as clearly perceptions vary. AIBU to think that while you might think you’re more productive you may not be?

My productivity is very easily measured and I have been told I am more productive at home.

What is harder is training other people and asking questions.

Or it could be that looking active in an office isn’t actually as productive as it looks.

Busy doesn’t necessarily equal productive.

I probably used to say that. It definitely wasn't true. I'm 75% in the office now and get a lot more done.
I was probably pretty productive for a while but became really lazy over the years.

I think some people are efficient and contientious wherever they work and others are a bit lazy and crap wherever they are.

But i reckon its easier to manage crap people you can see.

In my view managers tend quite unconsciously to use measures of productivity such as 'the number of times I see X physically present'. Obviously this measure goes down when wfh.

When my department worked from home we hit targets more consistently than we ever had in the office where we were also expected to field admin calls and had pointless meetings that could have easily been emails.

Sometimes at home it's easier to work smarter and more efficiently.

Its not about productivity its about trust. Presenteeism is pointless. If you dont trust your staff, why are they working for you in the first place.

We employ few people who all worked from home until last month and let’s just say productivity was rather questionable. They all have to go in office at least 3 times a week now and things are started to improve. I believe when people say they’re more productive is that they have more time in the day as no commute etc but that doesn’t always translate to work productivity

If I'm busy I'm more productive at home as there are less distractions. But if I'm not busy it's easier to slack off at home.

I'm disabled. I get far far more done WFH than I've ever done being office based and my sickness is also down to nearly nil.

I'm just as productive as is 90% of our workforce - we've delivered record results since the pandemic year on year.

I'm in a role that's easily quantifiable in terms of output though, I'd imagine perhaps in a role with less obvious deliverables or time pressured tasks it might be easy to slip. There are several team members who are less productive though, but they're the minority!

In office is nice a few times a week but I'm just as productive being able to beaver away at home without as many distractions.

It depends who. I have colleagues who I believe are more productive because they care about their output and reputation. I certainly use my commuting time to WFH when I am at home but I love the office so try to get in 2-3 times a week. Then I have a couple working from me who go off the radar for ages and I'm sure are napping or watching Netflix.

I do think the office can be more effective though, especially if you need to build relationships to progress.

I'm a mixy mix. I love being in and seeing everyone BUT our office is louder and I do focus more when WFH. Everyone at work agrees.

However the main flaw is the software. We've tangibly lost productivity since switching emails from Outlook to another platform. And it's even worse when WFH since you don't have someone around to ask "hey, don't suppose you know how to do XX with this email?"

We rely on emails to help project manage and track projects.

It's definitely down to the individual company as my previous role was impossible to WFH so I was in the office alone during lockdown as I couldn't abide being home.

I'm very focused and efficient on site but just can't manage myself at home. I become a swirl of procrastination and distraction. It's a stressful guilt-ridden disaster for me and not something I'll do voluntarily ever again.

My role includes a lot of creativity, I need to have time that looks like I’m wasting it, to be able to do my job. So it’s not possible to measure productivity really.

Apparently individual productivity either remained the same or increased when initially measured during WFH lockdowns. However, since then, more thorough research has discovered that team productivity is way down.

My company has a record breaking year in 2020, largely put down to the workforce being able to enjoy better quality breaks and also easier to work on for the half hour/hour that they would have otherwise wasted on the commute.
We are now officially a hybrid/flex workforce and the targets for 2023 have already been surpassed.
I think it depends on the workers and the company how well WFH works. Daft to argue it's all one way or the other.

This.

Also, IME many people are more productive at
home. I go into the office fairly often. The amount of time wasted with inconsequential chats, general catching up with people (we have lots of peripatetic workers even pre covid), trips to the kitchen and so on is incredible. I churn out so much more work when I’m at home.

It’s the same as anything. Some people will be more productive. Some people won’t. Some people will have a realistic view of their own performance. Some won’t.

I have been hybrid for years so it doesn’t really impact me. But if my teams have a particularly busy week, they wfh all week. Because they are more productive. I can measure it. They come in, usually, once or twice a week.
The company I worked for refused a one size fits all approach. Teams that were productive at home kept the freedom of wfh and hybrid. Those whose performance suffered, had to go back in.

I think it’s naive to believe that companies want people back just based on performance though.

I think as more companies try an enforce people to return to the office full time (or even 3 or 4 days a week) they will see more push back. It’s interesting times.

Some things are better from home- e.g. concentrated work, completing a task you know how to do, managing queries online. Things which the individual employee feels they benefit from.

Some things you need your employees to do as a business and they are less well done from home. E.g. helping a team learn new behaviours, improving quality levels by working on processes together, line management and performance management. Annoyingly these aren't usually seen as so key by the employee, especially those who don't see a need to grow or a burning platform to improve anything.

So people think they are more productive at home but are more useful to the organisation in the office. Hybrid is the tedious way forward.

My work place values its employees and wfh is a choice open to all. Most choose this.

As a result retention is high and when we recruit we are inundated with high calibre candidates who wish to join us.

Our productivity has never been higher and our staff surveys tell us that people love working here.

My DH has wfh for 15 years. Productively. achieving promotions throughout that time.

Perhaps OP it's you who is not productive.

It doesn't affect mine, as I have the type of job where things have to get done by deadlines, however long it takes me to do them.

It's very lonely in the office, though as no one I work with is based in my location. I sit there feeling a total Billy No-Mates - have tried starting conversations but nothing catches on - it's hot desking so I'm in the middle of different random teams every time.

Dh and I are both self employed, so only respond to our own efforts. Business is a success, targets met, therefore that’s good enough for me.

Our revenue targets increased by 50% this year. We now wfh four days a week, so no wasting time on commuting.

We're currently 31% ahead of last year. Money inward is a very accurate way to measure efficiency. Nowhere to hide.

Oh and I would also question the quality of leaders in a company, if they can’t manage their staff and manage productivity unless they have staff sat in front of them.