The questions and concerns we address most when talking to folks about working at home are remote concerns. Questions like:

1. Isn’t face time important?
2. Can remote workers be as productive as in-office employees?
3. How will I access what I need from the central office?

The last blog addressed the first concern and we have dedicated the next post to answering the rest of these extremely valid concerns. We believe the answers are simple. We believe in a revolutionary wahve of work-at-home employees, remotely accessed, who are productive and passionate in their work!

Question 2: Can remote workers be as productive as in-office employees?

If you’ve spent the past 20 years or so in an office setting, you won’t be surprised by the tremendous amount of time that is wasted within the average American’s workweek. The 38 hours a year commuting to work, the two hours a day recovering from the 56 interruptions, and the constant chitchatting around the water cooler are just a few examples.

I recently read an article discussing the German’s workweek productivity and was fascinated at that productivity given their longer vacations and shorter workweek. One of the largest reasons for this occurrence is that when at work, Germans actually work whereas when at work, Americans work but are ALSO socializing.

In a lot of ways, remote workers work like the Germans. Without the distractions of Fantasy Football, waiting for the bathroom, minutes or hours of commute time or forced Secret Santa’s (a personal petpeeve), there’s not a whole lot to do except, well, work! Bloom reported in a story for Harvard Business Review, that one-third of productivity increase in work-at-home employees “was due to having a quieter environment, which makes it easier to process calls,” Bloom says. “At home, people don’t experience what we call the ‘cake in the break room’ effect. Offices are actually incredibly distracting places.”

In another study by professors at Stanford and Beijing University, they noted that stay-at-home employees “reported being sick less often, were happier and quit less frequently.” Productivity is actually measured for the work-at-home employee in a more efficient way because it’s about productivity, not the office politics!

We at WAHVE are committed to the work-at-home model and believe the changing tides are indicative of endless possibilities and potential. We’re riding the wave with you! Stay tuned for Part 3, Accessibility.