Telecommuting has suddenly
become a hot topic these past few weeks as Yahoo’s CEO Marissa Mayer announced
through a HR Memorandum to her employees that there would be no more
telecommuting at Yahoo – period.
Shockwaves reverberated throughout the media and business world, but I’m
sure they were mild in comparison to the shockwaves that must have been felt at
Yahoo. Let’s face it – Yahoo is an
internet company.
Shouldn’t they be leaders in
telecommuting? Apparently not.
Marissa’s
memorandum indicated that there is a need for all employees to be under the
same roof in order to begin producing more creatively. Apparently she feels that some of the
company’s problems are due to the fact that employees don’t have the
opportunity to work together creatively unless they are spending time together.
Does she have a point?
I
remember working in office settings as a high school teen and young adult. Our desks were in one big room – no
partitions, no cubicles, no hiding from everyone. Everyone saw how diligently you were working and
producing. Everyone overheard your
phone conversations. It forced you
to learn to focus on your own work
and overlook distractions. But the
best part for me was that I could observe and take notes and learn from the
others in my office. They shared
their knowledge. They shared their
tips and strategies for dealing with problems, they helped me learn how to deal
with people, and they became friends.
When
I moved on to a new job, I found
myself in a cubicle. It felt good
to not always have somebody looking over my shoulder, to not be interrupted by
others in nearby proximity, to not feeling like I had days where I was
constantly being distracted, but I
soon found the cubicle to be isolating.
It was harder to get to know others in the office. It was harder to collaborate on
projects – we were always looking for an open conference room so that we could
discuss/hash out the
project/problem and then be able to lay out the project.
In
telling you all of this, I am trying to relate my “cubicle” experience to that
of telecommuting. Of course, there
are upsides to telecommuting – it’s much greener; you can telecommute from
almost anywhere in the world, so your employee pool is infinitely greater; it’s
lower overhead for the company in terms of necessary office space; it’s great
for employees who need to be on call for children or elderly family members,
etc. etc. The list could go on and
on.
But
there are some of the same downsides to telecommuting that I experienced in my
little cubicle. Lack of personal
involvement, lack of mentorship, lack of camaraderie, etc. etc.
So
how do I view Ms. Mayer’s edict?
Well – she has chosen a “one size fits all” type of approach that I
think will only serve to alienate employees. Not the outcome she is looking for. Instead, I think a better, more
balanced approach would have been to decide which of the positions really need
to be “in office” to generate the creativity/productivity she is looking for,
while leaving the other positions open to telecommuting.
Discernment is a quality of
a true leader
