Which is better for productivity? People working in an office or remotely? A lot of arguments for both sides, but I recently found actual metrics for the difference. In the book, The HBR List – Breakthrough Ideas for 2009, there is an article by Alex Pentland titled How Social Networks Network Best.
His article is about how organizations should manage discovery and then integration and decision making. His point is that organizations that alternate between a centralized structure and a richly connected network can optimize these processes.
His article really does not address the differences between working in an office versus remotely but there is an interesting metric. To quote:
A recent MIT study found that in one organization the employees with the most extensive personal digital networks were 7% more productive than their colleagues…In the same organization, however; employees with the most cohesive face-to-face networks were 30% more productive.
What does this mean? I will address that more in my next article but there is definite concerns when an organization is geographically broken up and how that organization can address challenges, overcome obstacles and then executive quickly
As for startups, they are very prone to wanting to work remotely because of the cost of office space and the need to find the right workers. Compromising on the need to physically be together could impare the startups effectiveness.
