Sunday, August 19, 2012

Working from home hurts your career?

According to Forbes http://www.forbes.com/sites/susanadams/2012/08/16/why-working-at-home-could-hurt-your-career/ working remote, too often, can cause you to get worse performance reviews. While I don't like to think this is true, it probably is.

Think about it this way. Much of our communication is hallway discussions. While we do have meetings, most of what we talk about is outside of those formal times. This means if you are remote, likely you are missing out on that piece. This will probably make you feel disconnected. Plus it's hard to build relationships without a less formal setting than a meeting.

How can we solve this though? I mean it's not possible for everyone to be in the same location.

Tools like Google hangouts, chatter and other informal communications can help. The trick is to use them informally or all the time. For example, can you setup a permanent hangout between two development centers? This way as people walk by they casually communicate.

Chatter, if used for casual purposes, can also help build relationships. Letting people talk about music they like, restaurants they like or vacation plans can help people discover shared likes.

Will this help performance reviews? I don't know, but it seems like it should. Thoughts?

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