Home .....Work???

     To go to the office to work or to telecommute? Herein lies the question.

     Innovation is the main reason cited by Yahoo for the recent requirement that all employees work from the company's offices instead of working from home.  That is an ideal situation for all employees who are constantly in "innovation" mode.  The research and development department(s) would house most of those that fall under the innovative category, but what about support, programmers, content up daters, and so on and so forth?  Must they be present and accounted for every day at the office?  Is there a fear that some employees will be non-productive?  Let us interject reality here. Most non-productive or should I say less-productive employees have it down to an art or a science anyway, and regardless of where they 'work' from, they will continue to be less productive while still appearing to to be the rising stars of the organization.  Tele-commuting might actually weed some of these employees out as with them being out of the office, it is harder for them to pilfer someone's idea, or give their well rehearsed and ego flattering 'bs-talk' to their immediate supervisor every evening before they leave.  This "what I accomplished today" report and this "how great thou art" spiel wastes the time of the supervisor, and if one really paid attention, they would realize that each daily report is simply a rehashed and modified version of the ten or so the "accomplisher" gushes out on rotation once every two weeks.

     Yes, group effort often spawns creativity, and one idea may very well be a corner stone for an entire new feature or set of applications for a company.  However,  put someone with the mindset of Bill Gates in a basement by himself, and who knows what may be born.

     For organizations which fear that they are unable to monitor their employee's workload if the employee works from home, and thus fear that they may be paying for some wasted time, then the solution is simple. Monitor the productivity of the employee.  That is a variable that can be bench marked and tracked.  Besides, it may be a good idea for the powers that be to take a hard look at their offices one day; these same offices where they believe more work, innovation and team effort will be produced.  Add up those eight or so fifteen minute conversations, socializing, or cigarette breaks that each employee takes, and realize where approximately two hours every day for each employee is evaporating.

     Not everyone works well in a hustle and bustle noisy environment, and I for one am one of those people.  Give me an office or a cubicle in a non-stop "chatty" and noisy environment, and my productivity/effort ratio drops dramatically.  The job at hand is going to take much longer and require more effort due to the noisy distractions, and the constant questions and interruptions.

 

     Of course there will be situations where one employee needs information quickly, or a hurried answer to a question; but is that not the reason we have all the smart phones, instant messaging, expensive software programs, ICloud, smart applications, and chat rooms?  Certainly we do not have them so that we can go into the office and maintain contact with our friends, spouses, and partners. Correct?

 

     Then there is the time factor.  Working from home works for me and works for whoever I may be working for. Why?  For now my employee not only gets the additional benefit of my commute time which usually averages an hour each way every day, but they also have the best of my high level productivity time.  With no distractions,  I can disappear into my home office and take advantage of that burst of productivity that hits me at around 9:00pm or whenever, even though I have already put in what the "commuter employees" would term a full day's work.  Better yet, with the exceptions of when  I have to meet with a client, or attend an online face to face conference, then I do not have to perform more than the basic hygiene in the way of grooming.  A shower and the donning of some comfortable garments is a lot quicker than the selection and ironing of clothes, the selection of shoes and accessories, and the required cosmetic and hair styling transformations.  The company just got some more time I can allocate to them,  and I just got more productive by being comfortable.

 

     Did I mention space?  As a telecommuter, the only space I require is an occasional  seat at the conference table at staff meetings and client / employer meetings.  There is no need to carve a niche out in the company floor plan, and name that cubicle or office for me. 

 

     Yahoo and Facebook merged, and shortly after that Yahoo announced it's decision to have all employees to return to office on a daily basis.  Facebook has been changing many things in their environment in a fast and furious manner.  Yahoo has reversed a change that they made years ago with regards to telecommuting.  Perhaps there still remains the "unknown factor" in the equation, and great things will evolve for these merged companies with all of their employees constantly seated at the table.  Only time will tell.  In the meantime, I will be seated with my laptop and smart phone, wherever and in as much space as they require, and be one happy and content productive producer.

 

 

Yvonne Michele Harris

 

 



 

    

    

Another Dawning of Valentine's Day.

For the happily married, engaged, dating, or even the deluded, Valentine’s Day is a much anticipated and welcomed day every February. Many weddings are performed, especially at the Courthouse on this “Romantic Day” of the year. The happiness of being “in love” and/or “loved” should be contagious, but unfortunately, there are many who do not have ‘a significant other’ and this one day of the year is when most ‘singles’ really do feel single to the point of feeling lonely. Caught up in the giddiness of this delightful day full of anticipated and perhaps expected or even demanded surprises, many choose to ignore or remain ignorant of the uncomfortable feeling of others. Additionally, there are some people out there who go out of their way to rub it in the faces of those who received no flowery gifts, or who did not go out to delightful two hour lunches, and did not receive professions of love in all imaginable ways.

Valentine’s Day did not necessarily start off as a day for lovers, but instead has it’s beginnings in the church. A brief summary of the history behind this day is as follows. An honorable man named Valentine was persecuted because he was a Christian. Roman Emperor Claudius II did not think that married soldiers were good soldier material, and so he forbade soldiers to get married. Valentine performed secret Christian weddings for some of those who were forbidden to get married. Roman Emperor Claudius II tried to get Valentine to convert to Roman Paganism, and promised him he would spare his life if he did so. However, Valentine, in turn, tried to convert the Emperor Claudius II instead, and for his efforts, he was ordered executed. Prior to being executed, Valentine healed the Asterius’ daughter who was blind. Asterius was Valentine’s jailer. Asterius, his daughter and his entire household of forty four members (which included his family members and servants) were converted to Christianity and baptized by Valentine. According to legend, in order to “remind them of God’s love and to encourage them to remain faithful Christians,” Valentine, who was cannonized as a Saint when he died, is said to have cut heart shapes from parchment, and gave them to soldiers and persecuted Christians. Saint Valentine gave them these parchment hearts to remind them of God’s love and to encourage them to be good Christians. One important fact to note in this short synopsis of the history of Valentine’s Day is that parchment hearts were given to many, and not just to one special lover or spouse or suchlike.

Over the years, perhaps through the magnitude of the love that Valentine displayed, Valentines Day has been narrowed into celebration by couples. Couples celebrating their love is lovely, but it would be even more wonderful if the celebrations were opened up to include family and friends, and even strangers who do not have people to “share the love” with. Small acts of goodwill such as crossing the street to knock on the ‘grumpy neighbor’s door’ to wish them a Happy Valentines Day would take such little effort and yet could accomplish so much. Of course we should celebrate Valentines Day with our loved ones, but we could also make some time and effort to include others in our gifts of love to each other. These gifts of love can be anything from a heartfelt wish to an actual gift; a handmade card or a purchased card; a daisy picked from the garden to an actual bouquet; the possibilities are endless.

Valentines Day is all about love, and that is what we should make it – a gift of love for everyone. Besides, who would be more surprised and happier on Valentines Day: the lady who has received two dozen red roses sent every year for the past twenty years of her marriage, knowing full well that her husband’s secretary is the one who ensures that they are delivered to her office early enough for all to ‘ooh and aah’ over them; or the man who just got divorced and wears his misery like a suit of clothes every day who received one red carnation from someone with a simple “Happy Valentines Day because we care” message? Let us celebrate this day of love by including as many as we can in our efforts, for the simple reason that life is all about love.

 


Yvonne Michele Harris