This is what the ‘Flexibility’ or ‘WFH’ debate is really about
Work from home / flexibility debate is really about control over workers’ time.
Organizations want to control a worker’s time because:
- It is easier to manage compared to motivation or productivity
- They assume more time means more output (true to a point)
- It improves output through faster collaboration
- They are often bad at assigning clear ownership / goals and hope more time will translate into more output
Workers want more flexibility because:
- They want more time for themselves / things other than work
- They often don’t believe the work they are doing is valuable / it will get them what they really want
How this gets solved (so WFH/WFO doesn’t matter):
Organizations should:
- Solve for motivation — align people with things they really want to do (not easy to do)
- Ownership of outcomes — Measure outcomes more than time spent
- Help people achieve their goals (remove barriers, provide training and support) and reward them with growth
- Convert workplaces into spaces for learning, experimentation and growth
Workers should understand that:
- Flexibility is earned through performance (companies only invest where they see potential for growth)
- Collaboration supercharges outcomes, learnings and transforms careers (you will rarely see great careers being built sitting at home)
- Doing what you really want and doing it well is more important for you than for the company
