I wonder sometimes about all the empty cubicles in the city. It seems that over half the people I spent quality time with on sidewalk patios, over happy hour cocktails laced with bus exhaust now work from home.
Companies are cutting expenses; downtown office space is a frill these days. Employees are sent home with a laptop and a cell phone. Clearly, there is some advantage to working out of ones home. No longer tethered to a desk with a manager watching to see if you are the first person in every morning, no dress code. (Yes, I know a dress code in Minnesota is an oxymoron, I still hate nylons, and enjoy an open toe shoe in the summer.) If you work from home you are able to attend that mid-afternoon 4th grade soccer match. As long as you meet deadlines do you need to meet your coworkers?
In her book “How We Lead Matters” esteemed local business leader, Marilyn Carlson Nelson touts the secret ingredient for a successful team is that the team members care about each other’s success as much as they do about their own success. Do you have the same capacity to care about the tinny voices streaming from your headset as you do about your fellow cubicle dwellers? There is certain camaraderie formed over office coffee, cigarette breaks, the one-note street corner musician and impromptu sidewalk patio happy hours.
Sure there is beauty in no commute and conference calls wearing a bathrobe and fuzzy bunny slippers, but I wonder if the isolated worker is as productive or engaged. It seems that for the same reasons families are encouraged to eat dinner together, there is also some value in face-to-face interaction at work.
