We say Yahoo! to working from home.

The recent news from Yahoo about stopping employees working from home raises some interesting questions and dilemmas for companies and their managers.

Struggling in just about every market it operates in, you can see why new Yahoo CEO, Marissa Mayer, needed to quickly make some drastic changes. Her latest decree, that employees working remotely would now have to find their local Yahoo office and get used to the commute, has certainly rattled the cages of employees and commentators alike.

Back in October last year, she made the noble attempt to lead by example with a mere 2 weeks maternity leave. She even built a nursery next to her office (at her own expense) so that she could spend more time at work.

Having people sat in an office makes bosses feel better about what their employees are doing. They must be doing SOMETHING productive tapping away there. Right?

Maybe it makes you feel more responsive. After all, if you’ve got more agile decision making abilities then maybe the company can leap on market opportunities faster, if everyone is in the same office. You know that great idea you’ve just had? Having to dig out Larry’s mobile number, but then remembering Larry’s home has bad reception, so asking Human Resources for it, only for them to get all snooty because you shouldn’t be able to access his personal details… just doesn’t have the feeling of agility, does it?

But, in the case of Yahoo, there’s something a little jarring about both the message and the source of the message. Why would you, in the greatest age of flexible working (powered by technological conveniences like the cloud), expect people to be tied to an office? Commuting sucks, it’s expensive and takes hours of potentially productive time from your day. If you’re on public transport you can’t really work that effectively because, you know what? Your job is already online and reliant on an internet connection! That much won’t change, whether you’re working from the office or at home.

Being in the internet business ourselves, we’ve become absolutely reliant on our connection to the web. Email, calendars, project management, customer services, creating and accessing documents, CRM, financial software and social networking are all reliant on that internet connection being live and reliable. Even our office music comes through Spotify!

So, fair to say, if the Aframe office internet connection goes down (which is hardly ever, thankfully), we have to think for a minute about the work we did before this ‘always online’ way of working became the norm.

But anyway, back to the point: will having everyone in the office make the company more productive? Answer: I’m not sure.

Certainly for our customers, having the ability to employ someone based on their talent and not their geographic location, gives production companies, agencies and brands the opportunity to produce better video content. When you’re working in a multi-national organisation, across timezones, it’s just not practical or necessary to expect people to be in an office all of the time.

Maybe Marissa is cut from different cloth to me, but doesn’t this just boil down to a lack of trust? Whether someone works from home or the office, isn’t it a manager’s responsibility to ensure they get the most from their staff? Surely that’s the whole point of being a manager?

At Aframe, we like it when our staff are in the office; it creates a vibrant atmosphere and encourages dynamic discussions on random subjects (some of which may turn into great ideas). And yet, we understand that this isn’t always the best for our employees. When it becomes a requirement for them to work from home, we’d far rather they didn’t “work” from home and that they were actually able to continue like any other day in the office.

This ideology is at the core of Aframe and is one of the reasons our customers love using us. The ability to jump from one workspace to the next, taking everything with them as they do so, is what making great video is about. Without the stresses of life in the back of your mind, you can focus on doing what you do best; making great video.

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About Aframe

Aframe's cloud video technology helps people connect and collaborate, making them more productive and improving execution in their video projects.
The ability to access high resolution rushes and production footage from anywhere in the world via a web browser enables companies to save time, money and focus on producing better video.

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