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?

I love wfh and feel very lucky to do so. I work my arse off because I know it gives me an extra hour in the day and saves me extortionate petrol costs, so I make sure I'm visibly working hard as I don't want to lose the option! So much easier to juggle life and caring commitments. As with most things though, I think it's an individual thing...

I think its easier after a while to let the work ethic slip at home. Too many distractions, and basically too comfortable an environment.

I agree with PP. Often individuals are more productive but it is the team working, teaching of new employees, learning about things in the business not directly in your area etc that are suffering.

I think some people are more productive, but this comes at the cost of the more hard to measure benefits of working as a team and informal discussions.

There are also some people in every organisation who completely take the piss when working from home and their conduct has cost all the hard working employees as employers have lost trust. Very selfish behaviour.

You are so right.

Sadly there are lots of poor managers out there who don't get it.

Dh is more productive at home but acknowledges it has certain repercussions not being in the office

I am more productive at home but I am in the office 1 day in 3 and our employer is happy with less work but more team building

Depends on the type of work and training new people is one activity that face to face really helps

Most of the academic studies suggest WFH is as productive or more so than the office

But no one likes facts over feels or management incompetence

YABU.

My work requires concentration, focus & attention to detail. I’m much more productive at home because there are far fewer distractions than in the office and far less expectation to attend pointless, time-wasting meetings.

There are benefits to the inconsequential chats that happen in a workplace for the both the employer and employee. It’s worth seeing the value in these small interactions, especially for young and new staff.

We lost out on shared ideas, helping our colleagues, training new staff etc when had to WFH
some people were very efficient at managing their own work loads others not do much
some tasks just took longer from home unless you were lucky enough to have easy access to copier, scanner, post office etc
Time was wasted on liaising with each other via email or phone when we just normally walk over and ask things
Hybrid is an option for some depending on role, others prefer the full time office experience
I feel we are nearly back to pre Covid levels of productivity with my team

I know I’m more productive. I’ve wfh for 15 years. I’ve had promotions and excellent reviews.

the key for me is that I am
an autistic introvert and my job requires intense mental focus. Being in the office, even with a private office, which I always had, was very stressful. At home I don’t have that fight or flight mechanism kicking in all the time. I can just sit in my home office and hyper-focus on my work.

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

I agree that productivity is only one of many factors to consider. There's a noticeable, rapid increase in the number of employers expecting a return to the office at the moment which is interesting.

It's really hard to train new people if everyone is at home, especially if you have a complex work environment. I worry for young people and newly qualified people being able to build a career when al their more experienced colleagues are at home.

I used to love wfh when it was an odd treat. After the lockdowns I like it less. I’m now hybrid with at least 3 days in the office.

I definitely do less on my wfh days because I will stick a load of washing in, get the dinner on or even work out during work hours if I didn’t have chance first thing. I find that I make it up easily on my days in the office as I get my head down and crack on. I’m not the only one as productivity has definitely dropped and we’ve had complaints about our customer facing team from clients struggling to get hold of them. It’s likely we’re all coming back to the office with wfh on an irregular ad-hoc basis only. It’s the right thing to do to reassure our clients.

It’s very easy to measure and manage productivity. The problem is that a large proportion of those in a management position are unable to manage or have difficult conversations, which results in the easy option of wanting everyone back in the office (which doesn’t actually stop people from being unproductive if they are going to be!)

i reckon its easier to manage crap people you can see Think this is true.

Also crap managers who don't understand what their staff do need to see them to make them feel like they are 'managing'.

I think this is the thing. If I have solo tasks to get on with then yes I am equally productive at home. I don’t exist in a silo however.
if wfh then I can’t supervise and mentor people the same. There are a lot of very useful but spontaneous conversations between team members that wouldn’t happen if we all wfh.
it’s not a task orientated job so it’s not a case of giving instructions or telling someone where to find the information . People are reliant on others knowledge and experience . That’s very difficult to achieve if we all work at home.

productivity isn’t just dependent on indiviudal output . There’s a lot of other factors to take into consideration.

My dh is clearly less productive at home, but they don't seem to mind. He wfh two days a week and then quite long hours the other days. It all works out and he's less burnt out.

I have a much better set up at home. Docking station, 2 large screens and external keyboard and mouse. Wireless headset and good quality webcam.

Loads of people at my place are remote and whilst I like getting out and going in for 2 days a week I can definitely get more focussed work done. Plus I can collaborate better as I can sit on a teams call with another person and talk without disturbing others .
As with all things there are many variables

My productivity is higher at home because 1) I work during what would have been my normal commute hours so I have more time, and 2) I'm happier WFH so do find I work more efficiently.
That's not to say I'm unproductive in an office setting. But I stick to 9-5 religiously as I have to factor in the commute so I have fewer working hours on those days, and I can't afford any distractions so no additional work is taken on.
So, for me, it is a fact that I'm more productive when WFH.
What I will say is that I do dedicate some days in the office specifically for face to face interactions where it will add value to my ongoing work. There's definitely a balance, but it'll be different for everyone so I don't think we need to enforce blanket policies to suit one camp or the other.

We are completely remote.

I detest travelling on public transport, I detest other commuters, I detest noisy, tappy, pen clicky interupters.

I get far, far, more done at home on my own than I do in the office. I'll never go back if I can help it.

Voted yabu as I think some people are genuinely more productive at home. I know, however, that I'm not and mainly worked from home as we desk share so couldn't go in every day. But I definitely believe some people work a lot better at home.

My company 'reorganised' during covid and my office was shut so I have no choice but to wfh unless I change company.

You wouldn't be able to tell the difference between me in the office and me at home as I am equally productive as I have to be as I'd be out of a job otherwise.

I don't think all wfh people can be tarnished with the same brush as some take the Micky some work very hard.

This is it for me too.
Companies are more than a collection of people working through tasks on their own.

My productivity is measured based on how many audits I run over 8 hours.

On an average WFH day, it's around 7 or 8.

On an office day, it's 3.

My productivity more than halves because I have distractions that I cannot ignore when my team ask me something rather than directing a question towards their entire senior team, as they would do over Teams chat, meaning I can let one of my colleagues answer it if I'm pre-occupied with something. I can't do that in person because it's rude.