Work from Home vs Work from Office -- Chime in

Before jumping into the debate of "Which one is better? - Work from home or Work from office", let us check out what these two concepts broadly encompass:

• “Work from home” (WFH) refers to a perpetual “work from home” model - with only a need-based work from office. It also includes all varieties like "Work From Anywhere" or "Work While Traveling" or "Your Work, Our Execution" models.
  
• “Work from office” (WFO) refers to a model of working from the corporate office premises in some pattern for any number of days – from all days a week to a few days a week/ month/ quarter. Hybrid working model is also included in Work from office.
  

Let us see some benefits of both WFH & WFO:

WFH

• Better productivity: Working from home allows you to be more productive. More meetings can be attended without idle chats
• Mobility:You are not tied to a desk at work so you can be mobile.
• More Time: Since you are working from home, you will not have to worry about your morning and evening commute.You can use this time to get some rest, be with your family, or get more work done.
• Save Money: While working from home, your petrol costs will go down
• Better Communication: When working from home you will have to hone your communication skills. You will learn to communicate via email and text versus person to person communication.
• Flexibility: Working from home gives you the ultimate flexibility. You are your own boss and can decide when and where you will get your work done. If you want to take a walk in between meetings, you are able to. Being able to be flexible with your work can also help if you have a family.
• Work Life Balance: Working from home can help you maintain a healthy work/life balance. You are no longer chained to a desk for a certain number of hours only to have to end up working overtime because you were not able to get your work done during those hours. Now you can make your hours and get your work done on your schedule.

WFO

• Structure: When you work in an office you are provided structure for the whole day. There is less of a chance to slack off so you are able to get more work completed.
• Collaboration: Being in an office will give you a better chance of collaborating with your colleagues.
• Socialization: Working in an office gives you plenty of chances to socialize during your work day. You can take a break and walk around the office and talk to your friends.
• Expectations: When you work in an office you know what is expected of you and when you are expected to do things. Your manager will keep you on track and make sure your work is getting done in an efficient time period.
• Work/Life Balance: Being able to leave your work at the office can be beneficial for your work/life balance. Once you are out of the office, your work is basically done and you are free to exercise, socialize, or go home.
• Varied Meals: When you work at an office you have the option of eating there or eating out. Chances are there will be a variety of nearby restaurants within walking distance that you can choose from.
• Career Growth: Working in an office can provide a quicker path to career growth. You are visible to your manager and their bosses.

India (& broadly many countries in the world) have traditionally operated in a WFO model. But COVID-19 has forced even the most traditional companies to adapt to the WFH model. The way these companies rose to the challenge was commendable.

However, with the resumption of economic activities and opening up of borders post COVID-19, most, if not all companies have again slowly returned to the WFO model.

So guys, what do you think should WFH be the norm? or WFO is preferable? Or should it be dependent on type of work - for example emergency services which necessitate WFO but backend and support services could be in in WFH mode?

WFH or Hybrid is the way to go. There are several advantages to this in my view.

1. You let people decide when they need to come in and when they don't. This gives employees autonomy and they can take decide when they want to come in and when they don't.
2. Saves time and money for the employee. Most people don't live across their office. They live at least a couple to even a hundred kms from work. Just imagine not having to commute (driving, transit, bike, walking, etc.) everyday. You can do other things during that time, including sleeping in.
3. More control over work schedule because now instead of having to do everything after hours, you can do certain things during work - like making a fresh lunch or visiting the doctor for what isn't an emergency but could become one, etc.
4. More freedom over where you live - a lot of people live close to work so they can save time. Now, if you're only going 1 or 2 days, you have more freedom to live afar. And if you aren't going in at all and your work allows it, you can go visit family in another country and still work.

I personally am very happy with my company on this. They have made it hybrid and will keep it as such for the foreseeable future. I go in one day or sometimes 2 days a week. This saves me a lot of time and a lot of money. I used to have to travel at least an hour in the morning and an hour to 2 hours in the evening. The commute is very tiring. Now I take the morning to go to the gym instead and I can make fresh lunch or run a quick errand sometimes during the day. Also instead of cutting off at 5 PM and then going home and working after dinner, I can stay online late if I need to finish something urgently.

I do sometimes miss the human connections, but honestly I have yet to work in an atmosphere where my colleagues become a second family so it doesn't feel like I'm missing out on a lot except some small talk.

Both have their pros and cons tbh, in the end it depends on the individual's preference. Maybe lazier people would prefer to work from home, whereas people who like to socialize will prefer going to the office.

But looking at our generation, it is evident that humans are becoming more lazier and anti-social, which is not a good thing in the long run. One needs to go out and socialize in order to get experience and learn how things work, how to deal with certain situations, etc.

Seeing the way things are going, I wouldn't be surprised if the next generation stops going to schools even, and starts being home-schooled with online classes. How will they make friends?

Nice topic.👍🏼

I must say, it is different for different people and it also depends on what type of work they are doing.

Our office has offered hybrid working arrangements long time ago. Many of the employees have been working from home for 2 to 3 days a week since forever.

My personal preference is working from office.

• I live just 2kms away from work.
• My work is a mix of hands on plus working on the computer. So, I have to be in the office at least for half of the working hours during any given week.
• We have flexible working arrangements. I can duck out to run an errand for 1 to 2 hours and then stay back at work to compensate the lost time when it suits me. It just works on trust. I can also drive home during tea breaks and lunch time if something needs to be done quickly at home.
• If two people are working from home, you have to be cautious all the time. That was another reason, why I prefer working from office.
• Our office encourages us to take regular breaks from the computers. There is a program on office devices, which freezes the computer screen if we forget to take a break.

Cheers..

As a scientist, I've always made the effort to work from anywhere (WFH) while keeping up with work that could only be done on site (WFO).

Some experiments require my presence in the lab day after day (no weekend breaks), whereas writing up my results for publication requires me to read papers and analyze data whenever I can open my laptop, even on the bus to the grocery store.

I don't think "Varied Meals" is a valid point in the WFO list, because variety is not necessarily healthy. When you eat out, you don't really know what you're getting, and you get bigger portions. Someone else might put the same point in the WFH list. I have done WFO where there were no eateries nearby, and I've used mealtimes as an excuse to get out of the house while doing WFH.

Two points that weren't in the WFO list are important in my field: Safety and Training. When my work requires me to be away from the lab (e.g. at a field station or attending a conference), it's always a concern that the person entrusted to supervise will decide to WFH and write a paper (or just catch up on sleep), and meanwhile trainees will blow up the building or destroy expensive equipment. (Fortunately, most trainees only slack off.) A fixed schedule of who is on site regularly can ensure that hazards get reported and cleaned up, not covered up. My commitment to train and evaluate undergraduate helpers, graduate students, and post-doctoral researchers means that all of them must have access to someone who can demonstrate a protocol, answer their technical questions on the spot, and anticipate mistakes. The validity and reliability of scientific publications depends on consistency in methods from one pair of hands to the next, for which in-person observation (WFO) is crucial. Unfortunately, scientific fraud is a serious problem, for which observing the person working next to you is the first line of defense.

Long before the pandemic, while teaching a university course that was designed to be entirely online (WFH), I noticed that certain groups of students desperately needed something closer to WFO. Students who had recently transferred from community colleges, where online classes (WFH) were the norm, did not readily adjust to the university's expectation that they should do the assignments before turning them in. Ex-military students were reluctant to ask for help without visual cues from a sympathetic face.

One disadvantage of WFH is that the people around you will assume that you are available anytime, and they may not believe that you actually want to work. Of course, there are co-workers and even managers like that too!

So, while I will WFH if I have to, I am strongly in favour of WFO.

Just few months ago our workplace gave permanent remote work to our whole staff so federal government is totally favoring remote or work from home😆

Anyways WFH has pros and cons both, pros is more productivity, flexiblity, saving money, saving commuting time and many more but cons are distractions, less social time, indiscipline and many more.

Both WFH or WFO has pros and cons, it downs down to personal choices. I personally like WFH hence I opted for remote work.

Nice topic

Thank you for tagging Tanu 🤗

I have never had privilege to WFH as I work in healthcare so no chance working at home only except doing the notes which I couldn’t complete during my work day at office.

I would love to wfh during times like covid ( before the vaccine ) but alas not a chance for me.
Wfh is work for home like cleaning, laundry, cooking , decluttering etc.

Both the situation has its pros and cons.

In wfh situations you don’t have your fix hours of work.

While in office it’s always 9 to 5 or 8-10 hour shifts and you will be at home after work and relax n no more thinking about work.

WFH is better when you save time on commute ( which was 2+ hours for me everyday) so it would increase your productivity but there are distractions at home unlike in office environment you are more focused on your work. Sometimes you crave for WFH when you are sick/ not in mood to wake up and go to work. 😆

For me I always like to keep my professional life out at my door step before I enter my house. It always makes a relaxing and enjoyable environment at home as you don’t have to worry about your work which can be done the next day during your work hours.

Same happening with me for my studies as I can’t dedicate proper hours like I used to do while in college/ university which sometimes become stressful in completing coursework by the deadline. As the thoughts of what to cook for dinner / lunch etc., grocery shopping n I need to clean this and that household work is pending lingering on my mind. This deter my focus.

Hence these were my thoughts. People have their own choices some would love WFH n people like me loves working from office.

I rest my case here. Don’t judge me by my pov 😆

As time for work is the only time I step out of my house 🤣( Covid has changed a lot of things since its inception)

Thanks for the tag dear Tanu , really sweet of you .

I went thru all the posts, and I agree with all that above members have spoken against WFH and in support of WFH. All points are very good and perfectly put forward.

I agree that all work places must have a balance between the two where ever possible. All jobs should offer the option to WFH and at the same time make their workers net savvy and ready to continue their work effectively and efficiently in case of situations like the recent pandemic. Since in India very few had experience of WFH there were many a hurdle to make things work efficiently . Companies should hold drills of 100% WFH and 100% WFO modes .

I stress on “wherever possible “ because many jobs can not be taken home. Take mine for example.

My work has to be on location, at peace times and at war, in cities or at remote border locations, be vigilant, be ready with arms and save ourselves and save those under my care otherwise attackers will over power you n destroy you. So I have to anhiliate them before they succeed in harming me or those under my care.

My work also involves taking care of other’s health. During peace time it is our countrymen and during war, we follow Red Cross conventions and give cover to injured enemy soldiers too. It sounds contradictory right ? What the fighting arms are inflicting on enemies, we are nursing them back n healing them so that they can fight with us again ? But that’s what the convention is about, being human first. Many countries do not follow these, but am proud to be in a country which respects humans first n hands injured back to enemy country after giving treatment. So you can guess what my work involves and in no way it can be brought at home. It’s a choice one has to make while joining.

Health care and many other essential services had to work harder at time of epidemic. Health care is better institutional, what can be offered online or at home is restricted.

This is about my aspect. Moving on with the times, all should be ready to provide full functionality in both WFH and WFO.

Am looking forwards to reading more replies from other members .

During Covid we all learnt how to do Work From Home (WFH) and it was a task to get the employees back to our empty office 😃 as they all got used to it.

As a business owner, I have implemented a hybrid Work from Home (WFH) and Work from Office (WFO) model in my company.

We provide our employees with the option to work from home for up to 3 days per month, depending on their job profile and responsibilities. This way they don't have to take whole day off when they have some small errands to run like a visit to the Bank, watching over a family member, or when travelling can be an issue.

Certainly. While implementing our hybrid Work from Home (WFH) and Work from Office (WFO) model, we did experience some challenges related to employee productivity and accountability. In some cases, employees took advantage of the WFH arrangement by not meeting their responsibilities or not being as productive as they could be.

To address this issue, we set clear goals and expectations for our employees, and made it clear that the onus was on them to prove that their work was 100% completed and of a high quality.

Another aspect of our hybrid Work from Home (WFH) and Work from Office (WFO) model that has been very effective for our business is the ability to hire remote employees who are located in another city or country. This approach has helped us to access a larger pool of talent, including highly skilled professionals who might not be available in our local area.

This approach has helped us to create a more flexible and dynamic work environment, while also allowing us to save on costs associated with maintaining office space. It has also improved employee satisfaction and productivity in many cases, as our employees appreciate the ability to work from the comfort of their own homes.

Overall, I believe that our hybrid WFH and WFO model has been a successful strategy for our company, and I would recommend it to other business owners who are looking for ways to create a more flexible and dynamic work environment while still achieving their objectives and meeting their goals.

Enjoyed reading the replies. Tbh, given a choice i would opt for WFH purely because of the nature of my work. Being backend and data oriented, i can easily work from anywhere. However as and when i require to go to meetings or present before clients, i travel to the site directly.

The only major issue I found in WFH is the internet reliability. If that can be ensured, given in India electricity goes off anytime, i would choose WFH anyday.

WFH saves the company and the user not only travel costs, food, rent and electricity bills, it also helps to focus better on the work, helps in upskilling and gives much more flexibility.

Regarding social issues, i think WFH helps manage social interactions better.