“I Want to Work Lying on a Lounge” or Employees Have the Right to Choose Where to Work From!

Today we would like to start our blog post with an appeal to big bosses. Give your employees the freedom of choice as to where they can work!

We are sure that lots of guys working in the IT sphere will support this request. And this will happen not because we are lazy-bones who just want to get out of the manager’s stifling grasp in order to sleep a couple of extra hours. We are serious, adult people who understand that the salary should be earned, so the job should be done no matter what.

But let’s put our emotions aside for the time being and discuss the possibility of “remote work”. Maybe our bosses are reasonable and we should be present at the office as this considerably affects the efficiency of our work…

What a load of rubbish! Do you talk to your colleagues all the time while at the office? Of course not! If you work for an IT Company, your day usually looks more or less like this. You spend all your time sitting at your desk with your headphones on in order not to hear the noise of mouse clicks and keyboard chatter.

Open Space in New York City Hall.

Peace and quiet (or maybe favorite music) are requisite when you are focused on coding, designing, writing and other activities. Sure, we won’t deny that cooperation and teamwork are also essential. But at whom are Skype, e-mail, social networks and conferencing systems targeted? With this commonly available software always at hand you can connect with people who are oceans away, share files, documents, spreadsheets, and slideshows on a screen that everyone taking part can see, live. All participating members can ask and respond to questions, suggest ideas, read body language, and take decisions together, just as easily as if they were all sitting in the same room. Have you any objections? If not, we’ll move along to the next portion of arguments supporting the right to work remotely.

The next benefit is your schedule flexibility. It’s a medical fact that people can be divided into early birds and night owls. Remote work helps the employer obtain maximum efficiency from all workers as even their biorhythms are on their side. On the other hand, the employees can plan their day according to their physical condition, doing the most complicated work when they feel fresh and peppy and leaving the mechanical tasks for the hours when they usually feel tired and apathetic.

Besides, it should be mentioned that when employers let their teams work remotely, this is an approach that indicates trust in their employees. Such attitudes greatly stimulate the workers, motivate them, and increase enthusiasm and productivity. They are always ready to go the extra mile when needed.

Here is a collage of company logos, enjoying successful results because of their cooperation with their staff in allowing them to work remotely, just like Richard Branson’s company, Virgin.

Impressive, isn’t it?

And now it’s time to ask the leading question. If remote work is so convenient for the employees and beneficial for their managers, why are the latter so reluctant to give you that freedom of choice? We guess the stumbling block is in the fear of losing control over the staff. And what do you think? How does your boss justify his/her refusal to give you the freedom to work from the place you wish?

The author of this blog post is in the same boat as you. She believes that people are born to be happy, but pressure, control and limitations don’t let us enjoy our lives to the fullest.

I want you to understand me correctly. I am not urging anybody to quit their job and get out of the office “strait-jacket” right away. Some people are just not self-starters and are unable to make unassisted decisions, etc. and need constant guidance. That’s the truth.

I just want to say that there are plenty of self-sufficient individuals among us on whom our managers can fully rely. The experienced professionals know exactly what to do, no matter where they are at the moment – at their kitchen or inside the stuffy office walls. People should have the right to choose where to work as we are not part of the herd; we are personalities with our own temperaments, habits, natures and many other features that are not taken into account when all of us sit side-by-side in the same room.

To wrap it up

This article was aimed to bring the attention of companies and workers to the subject and benefits of working remotely. With today’s advanced technologies more and more corporations are shifting to the hiring of remote workers. This practice saves them nearly 13% of workforce costs on staff hours and locations. Are you the owner of one of these companies? Please share your experience with other businessmen. We would like to know what freelancers and office workers think of the possibility of choosing from where to work. What’s your choice and why? What would you prefer, working from the comfort of your home, park, seaside or office premises? Please leave your feedback in the comment section. We anticipate an interesting discussion.