Work From Home Vs Office – Pros & Cons

Even at the start of this year, we would not have imagined that we would be completely working from home due to the uncertainty of the COVID-19 outbreak. We have passed days and now months working from home, so now many would have realized or experienced the pros and cons of work from home vs office.

In our near past days, we were ready to grab this work from home option or were keenly looking whether the employer was ready to provide any option like WFH. Have you ever thought why most of them are eager to have a “work from home” option for their work? The main reasons which stood behind this are taking a long time to commute to the office and moreover at home, you are the in-charge of your work and can be more flexible at work.

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It looks like a comfort zone at the initial stage of remote work or work from home. However, when working from home for months, you would definitely get to know the cons of work from home and would realize the pros of working from the office.

Here, let us discuss the pros and cons of work from home vs in-office.

The Pros Of Working From Home

Save Commute Time

As we already discussed, one of the main reasons why people prefer to work from home is the daily commute time. You can save this time and make use of it for yourself or for any productive work. This will allow you to start off your day with a relaxed mood instead of rushing up in the heavy traffic and getting stressed before starting the actual office work. You need not skip your breakfast which you always do when you are in a hurry to go to the office.

You can spend the saved time efficiently with your family and maintain a good relationship with your spouse and children with that strong emotional bond. Getting time for yourself is always difficult with a tight schedule so you would get this additional time at the start of the day which reflects more productivity in your office work.

Be In-Charge Of Your Work Environment

When you work at your own place, you can decide how to set up your work environment. You choose whether you need small cubicle walls or enough space for your work environment. It makes you more comfortable to do your work.

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You fix your hours

Most of the time employers will not stick to the exact schedule like 9 am to 5 pm instead you can start a bit early or a bit late just maintaining the total working hours. As long as you meet the condition of working the required hours, it will not affect your work.

Be very Casual At Dress Code

You can be very casual at your dress code until you need to attend any video conference or skype call. Employers are not much bothered about your dress code as you are not present in the office. Almost every day you can wear any comfortable dress as you like and it’s all-day casual where it is only Friday casual when you work from the office.

More productivity

Many employees working from home have experienced a boost in their productivity. They are getting more work done in less time. Working from the comforts of their homes has given employees the choice to make their own hours and work in their own schedule. Using employee time tracking software, the work hours and productivity of your employees can be tracked effectively.

Increased flexibility

Employees can experience ultimate flexibility while working from home. They have the choice to work when they feel the most productive. This would be very much attractive for Employees with family responsibilities. As they can take care of their responsibilities and do their job at the same time. All the hours worked by employees in their flexible schedule can be tracked using employee time tracking software.

The Cons Of Working From Home

Feeling Isolated

Most of them feel isolated when they work from home. We all feel contentment in interacting with others and virtual meetings like video conferences, skype calls may not completely satisfy us. Though you are on track with virtual meetings or video calls, consistently the support may not be provided from your higher authorities or colleagues.

Connectivity/Technical Issues

When there is no glitch in your office tools, software, or no connectivity issues like unstable internet connection, then the work is streamlined. However, if there is an intermittent connectivity issue or unable to access the company’s intranet, then there will be an interrupted workflow that indirectly impacts daily productivity.

Near-By Distractions

When you work from home, you would face distractions like TV sound, crying child, ringing bell, etc at your home. Though you set up a good workplace environment at your home such distractions are difficult to avoid.

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Less Focussed

It is easy to get diverted from your actual work when you work from home. As we already discussed, some distractions cannot be avoided at home, you may switch over to some other home chores or start taking a break at your work very frequently. This impacts your productivity consistency at your work.

Poor Work Life Balance

Though initially, most of them feel that working from home would save their commute time and can spend that time for some other work, you would get a feeling that you are working from morning to night. It starts along with your household work and ends the same way. Finding a separation line between household work and office work at home is difficult. Actually, it impacts your work-life balance as WFH becomes a part of the daily routine at home.

The Pros Of Working In An Office

So now you may wonder if there is no need to dress up or commute back and forth daily then why really we have to do this? or what are the advantages of working in an office.

Let us have a look at it!

Keeps You Motivated

When you work from the office, the workplace supervision, policies, and the interaction among the team members will keep you motivated at your work as you get enough support from your team. You almost feel like comfortable teamwork rather than feeling it as individual work. Moreover, a healthy competitive environment at the office would make you get more engaged at work.

Immediate Response

If you are working from the office and you seek any kind of support, you would get an immediate response as you can approach any specific team easily. You can go to their desk and ask for any help. Similarly, they can come to your desk and see the actual issue you are facing. Sometimes this issue cannot be resolved via chat messages or video calls as it is easy to understand and resolve any issue when you meet the specific team directly.

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Social Interaction Relieves Work Stress

When you sit alone at home, you may find yourself stressed to complete your work. Social interaction should be a part of your office work as it gives stress relief like going out for a few min break with your coworkers, spending lunchtime with your teammates. Sharing ideas make you feel more positive towards work and get satisfied with the work culture. A satisfied employee would be definitely more productive at work as he/she enjoys doing their work.

The Cons Of Working From Office

Daily Commute Time

One of the main benefits of working from home is the main disadvantage faced while working from the office. When you commute daily, it takes one or two hours in traffic congestion, and all these tiring factors would increase the stress level. Thus impacts productivity.

Though you plan your day to reach on time to the office, some factors are out of your control like high traffic may delay and make you late at reaching the office. Sometimes you are flustered that your manager would question this late arrival and it makes you tensed before starting the actual productive work.

Travel Expense

You may need to spend money from your pocket to reach the office and if you prefer going in your own vehicle rather than choosing the public transport, it may add up your travel expense depending upon how far you travel. This can be totally avoided when you work from home.

Restricted WorkSpace

It will not be more spacious with windows when you work from the office and mostly it will be like small cubicles allotted for you. Most of the time you don’t know whether it is day or night without having a look at your watch. This makes you detached from natural sunlight and indirectly impacts your health condition as most of the time you will be sitting under an AC, whereas you can sit near a window at home and can be more productive by getting fresh air.

Conclusion

Finally which is a more comfortable option? Work from home vs office depends upon your own perspective. You need to look at your priority and choose the best options by knowing the pros and cons of work from home vs in-office. Analyze whether your work involves more individual contribution or team contribution, how far your workplace is, how well you manage your work alone, etc before opting any of the two options.

Employers can make use of the right productivity monitoring tools when the employees need to work from home due to any pandemic outbreak or an intermittent condition where daily commute becomes difficult for the employees.