Home only works for some organisations

Alan Laing gives his view on the news that Yahoo! plans to ban working from home

So Yahoo!'s chief executive Marissa Mayer wants to ban home working? This move seems counter-intuitive at a time when there is so much talk of mobility.

This may be a misunderstanding of Mayer's decision. The leaked memo to employees read: "To become the absolute best place to work, communication and collaboration will be important, so we need to be working side by side. That is why it is critical that we are all present in our offices."

As an organisation, Yahoo! is not dependent on employee mobility. It has developed a culture that enables remote working but Mayer has obviously decided the benefits employees gain from working from home are outweighed by the disadvantages.

"Some of the best decisions and insights come from hallway and cafeteria discussions, meeting new people and impromptu team meetings," the memo was quoted as saying. "Speed and quality are often sacrificed when we work from home."

No comment was made about the technology that enables and supports remote working. It homes in on the perceived social and collaborative weaknesses of working from home, compared with a traditional office environment.

Many proponents of workplace flexibility might take issue with her decision. Employees who waste an hour or more commuting to the office will lose the comfort of working in an environment they prefer, and sacrifice the ability to work their own way.

The assertion that speed and quality are negatively affected when working from home may also be questioned. Some have said that telecommuting and working from home is associated, conversely, with higher productivity.

But it's not clear that this would benefit Yahoo!. However, whatever the consequences of the decision for the company, it is no definitive judgement on mobility – which is not the same thing as home working, even if many companies conflate the notions.

Home working can disrupt company structure and culture. Employees who previously worked in a collaborative environment would be working remotely and on their own.

Even so, communications technology has evolved over the past few years. In my experience, most workplace communication is no longer delivered face to face or on paper but by email, text message or video, so often a team may not need to work in the same space.

It's true that technology cannot replicate the collaborative and social aspects of working together in the same location, but it can deliver and facilitate collaboration in data terms.

While companies like Yahoo! might not see significant benefits to their organisation from home working, there are many businesses that rely on remote workers or that see gains to be made.

Alan Laing is an EMEA vice president at Acronis