Teleworking is set to be a mainstay of the future. We can sleep in, work in our pyjamas in the comfort of our home, spend more time with our family, avoid the daily commute, etc. all thanks to teleworking. However, I was reading an article in the BRW which discussed Google and how it bucked the teleworking trend – something you wouldn’t expect given the nature of Google. Yet this made me think of my own experience.
This year I would have been working one day a week from home. It would be great! Now I could sleep in, there would be no distractions and, best of all, no hour long commute back and forth from work. I was wrong. My teleworking lasted one day and the next week I came into the office everyday. It doesn’t bother me that I have to get up a couple of hours earlier or that I have to commute every day, the atmosphere of the office and the people that I work with make this a far more enjoyable option than if I were to work at home. If anything I felt more distracted at home and didn’t get through as much as I should have (I also missed out on mango froyo – Devastated!).
As the article’s heading suggests, I felt isolated. I’m not saying that a day of work at home on occasion is a bad thing; often this can be a great way to knuckle down and sort out something particularly difficult or time consuming in which you can’t afford to be distracted. Yet regular teleworking, in my opinion, is not ideal. This may be more indicative of the workplace culture here at Pollenizer rather than a general observation, but I believe it is far more beneficial, on both a social and professional level, to interact with your colleagues in person.
Member of the Facebook generation I may be, but I’ll take in-person contact over virtual contact any day.