is working from home better or worse than working in office?

Introduction

The debate over whether working from home (WFH) is better or worse than working in an office has gained significant attention, especially with the rise of remote work during the COVID-19 pandemic. This synthesis aims to present key insights from multiple research papers to provide a comprehensive understanding of the advantages and disadvantages of WFH compared to traditional office settings.

Key Insights

Impact on Individual and Team Performance:
- Co-workers working from home can negatively impact individual and team performance.
- WFH has mixed effects on individual efficiency; some researchers report decreased efficiency, while others find it beneficial for tasks like manuscript writing and data analysis.
Job Satisfaction and Work-Life Balance:
- WFH reduces attrition rates by 35% and improves self-reported work satisfaction scores, indicating that employees value the flexibility of remote work.
- Despite the potential for increased job satisfaction, WFH can lead to lower organizational commitment and higher role conflict.
Communication and Collaboration:
- WFH increases individual messaging and group video call communication, even when employees are in the office, reflecting changes in working patterns.
- In-office work is better for sharing thoughts with colleagues and team collaboration, whereas WFH is more suited for individual tasks.
Productivity and Performance:
- Hybrid WFH models show a small positive impact on productivity, with an 8% increase in lines of code written and a 1.8% increase in self-assessed productivity.
- Supervisors often prefer employees to be on-site, as they are more comfortable managing them in person, which can affect the acceptance of WFH.

Conclusion

The research indicates that WFH has both benefits and challenges. While it can improve job satisfaction, reduce attrition rates, and slightly boost productivity, it also poses challenges for team performance, organizational commitment, and role conflict. Hybrid models that combine office and home workdays may offer a balanced approach, leveraging the benefits of both environments.

Is working from home better or worse than working in office?

Summary

Introduction

Key Insights

Conclusion

Sources and full results

Co‐workers working from home and individual and team performance

Working from home negatively impacts individual and team performance, with more co-workers working from home leading to worse performance in both groups.

Researchers working from home: Benefits and challenges

Working from home can improve efficiency and work-life balance for academics, with 70% believing they could be similarly or more efficient if allowed to spend more time at home.

How Hybrid Working From Home Works Out

Hybrid working from home reduced attrition rates by 35% and improved job satisfaction, leading to increased productivity and reduced work hours.

Work at home for computer professionals: current attitudes and future prospects

Work at home for computer professionals has little impact on performance, but supervisors prefer on-site employees, and telecommuting is associated with lower job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and higher role conflict.

Does Working from Home Work? Evidence from a Chinese Experiment

Working from home in China's Ctrip travel agency led to a 13% performance increase, improved work satisfaction, and a halved attrition rate, with the option being rolled out to the whole firm.

Working from Home: Impact on Wellbeing and Work-Life Balance

Working from home negatively impacts work-life balance, particularly for women, and workplaces should align strategies to support employee wellbeing and growth.

Does Working from Home Work? Evidence from a Chinese Experiment

Working from home in China's CTrip travel agency led to a 13% performance increase and improved work satisfaction, but promotion rates conditional on performance declined.

Motivated to Work or Working to Stay Motivated: A Diary and Interview Study on Working From Home

Working from home can be challenging, as motivation shifts from people-centric to work-centric, requiring tailored support for managing time and detaching from work.

Work from Home: Lessons Learned and Implications for Post-pandemic Workspaces

During COVID-19, more people worked from home, but experienced distractions and challenges in workspace design, supporting hybrid work options and design strategies for accommodating home offices in the future.

Out of office: The big problem and bigger promise of working from home

Working from home during a pandemic is more complex than regular remote work, with health, financial, social isolation, childcare, and childcare issues affecting employees' work-life balance.

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