Telecommuting and Your Social Brain
I worked from a remote location for a few months in a previous job. This worked well for me even though I found my perspective on the office change as I continued to work from home. I no longer had the stress of being in a loud office environment with clashing personalities surrounding me all day. I discovered that I actually missed being at the office. I missed the camaraderie of my workplace friends and I missed being first in learning of new things. In order to erase this perceived lack in my life, I scheduled myself to go into the office one day per week. I felt like I was keeping up with all of the news that didn’t reach the electronic format. I felt like I was part of that team again. It came as a surprise that I experienced this need to stay connected.
It turns out that my experience with telecommuting was not all that unusual. We are social beings who benefit from our connection to other people. When we work remotely those connections are strained because it just isn’t the same as being in that environment every day. People get tired of trying to maintain close ties over distance. Our brain is a social brain – it benefits from interaction with other people. These interactions help us make and retain memories. Our brain is flexible when we are with others because we are taking in new information, processing it for a response. We are seeing our world through different lenses and our brain changes.
The workplace is a dynamic culture. In US News Money Report (2012), Rebecca Healy lists the 5 Challenges of Telecommuting:
Difficult Conversation:
When you are working remotely you don’t pick up on workplace conversations, which may contain important information. It is difficult to develop workplace friendships when you aren’t there to talk and laugh together. Instant messaging may get information to you but it can’t relay inflection or nuances.
Lack of Career Advancement:
When you are not in the office – you lose direct face time. Even though you may be communicating electronically you are not there in person to champion your talents. Managers don’t see how you work and don’t get spur of the moment comments and suggestions. You are faceless to the company so may not be treated seriously. You also don’t hear about plum assignments or promotions before everyone else. That promotion could be lost because you never knew it even existed.
Poor Relationships:
Being by yourself all the time can lead to loneliness. Remember – we need that human connection. Alternative methods of being with others might offset this dilemma (e.g. networking groups, professional organizations, co-working groups).
Overwhelming Schedule:
A big concern with telecommuting is that you never leave your workplace – you are at home! This can create a less organized approach to your work because the office structure isn’t surrounding you. It can result in being less productive and working nights and weekends. The flexibility of your work schedule can be a plus if you maintain a definitive schedule and then close the door to your office and get on with your life. You need to be able to turn your work off and let your brain reboot.
Loss of Culture:
There might be Casual Fridays, birthday parties, other celebrations and social events that you can’t participate in when you are not in the office every day. Office culture is important to motivation, engagement, and productivity. Being a part of your company is very empowering. If you have no allegiance to your company then you won’t be a worker – you will just be a worker. Bonding with fellow co-workers over projects and office events promotes individual ownership and loyalty. That is hard to do from a remote location.
When Marissa Mayer, CEO of Yahoo, brought the remote employees back into the office there was widespread criticism directed at her. But this action enabled the employees to reconnect with each other and support the mission and culture of Yahoo. Your brain needs that connection. 10 minutes per day of talking with other people has been shown to allow the brain to make and retain memories.
In this electronic age, working remotely can be very cost effective. However, attention must be paid to helping those employees develop relationships with the company and other employees in order to feel like they are a part of the company. The responsibility ultimately lies with both the company and their employees who work remotely. Employees need to understand the challenges as well as the benefits of working from home. They must be educated on the communication channels that are available to them. Partnering a remote employee with an in-house employee would give the connection the remote employee needs to feel that they are indeed part of the company. The organization too must understand that they have to eliminate barriers to company information and communication and develop an inclusive company culture.
Telecommuting is an operational model whose time has come. Technology has made it possible to work anywhere. But technology is hard, cold science and remote employees need the benefit of soft people skills. Success will come to companies and employees who understand their roles in fulfilling the social brain’s need to be connected.
Biro,M. (January, 2014). Telecommuting is the future of work. Retrieved July 14, 2015 from http://www.forbes.com/sites/meghanbiro/2014/01/12/telecommuting-is-the-future-of-work
Healy,R. (November, 2012). 5 challenges of telecommuting and how to overcome them. Retrieved July 15,2015 from http://money.usnews.com/money/blogs/outside-voices-careers/2012/11/01/5-challenges-of-telecommuting-and-how-to-overcome-them