United kingdom Daily news: Home Sweet Home: Why Boris is wrong to bash home workers

Kamis, 05 Juli 2012

Home Sweet Home: Why Boris is wrong to bash home workers

Home Sweet Home: Why Boris is wrong to bash home workers

By Andy Yates

PUBLISHED: 08:54 EST, 5 July 2012 | UPDATED: 11:04 EST, 5 July 2012

Andy Yates is an experienced entrepreneur, adviser and mentor and investor-director at Huddlebuy.co.uk - Europeâ€™s largest daily money saving site for small businesses.

London Mayor Boris Johnson, never known for his tact and diplomacy, is at it again.

This time he claims that home working during the Olympics is a â€˜skiverâ€™s paradiseâ€™, painting a picture of an army of lolling layabouts - more obsessed with raiding the fridge than the meat and drink of work.

Home truth: Millions of us now work from home and will play a vital part in the regeneration of the economy

It is easy to dismiss this as just part of Borisâ€™s seemingly dedicated mission to put his foot in it. But behind the guff lies the enduring stereotype of a typical â€˜work shyâ€™ home worker. This is a dangerous myth that has to be exploded now.

The reality is that millions of us now work from home - at least part of the time - and home working has and will play a vital part in the regeneration of the economy. So, Boris - here some real reasons why home working really works.

A productive debate

First, an admission. Boris suggests home workers are spending their valuable time gobbling cheese - and I am as guilty as anyone else of fridge lingering. But my predilection to dairy is not systematic of my overall productivity.

Time wasting: Office politics and tittle-tattle

When I work from home I find I am far more productive and have far less distractions. I can focus on what matters, rather than putting up with the tittle-tattle of office gossip constantly ringing in my ears.

Another of those distractions are the seemingly endless meetings that are a symptom of office life. I live in dread of listening to yet more posturing and political point-scoring or people desperate to have their say to justify their own existence. Life is just too short.

That is not to say I donâ€™t like people or really value communication, ideas and feedback. In fact, I love getting out and about and meeting people and businesses - and do so frequently. Now, when I do, I find I am far more productive, disciplined and focused than if I was being forced to attend yet another interminable office meeting.

In other words, meeting people face to face is fantastic - but getting caught up in the mindless melee of corporate life (or London city hall meetings) for the sake of it, is not.

As for shirking at home, forget it. Todayâ€™s connected workplace means it is virtually impossible - especially in a uncertain and very cost-conscious economic environment. Nobody can coast if they donâ€™t want their career to be washed up. Results are as measurable at home as they are at work. Remote meeting and conferencing is a relative doddle. Broadband has brought broad benefits.

Flexitime

The flexibility to fit your work around your family life and other commitments can only help your work-life balance. For many parents it is the only way they could work at all. For others, greater flexibility can really improve loyalty, motivation and, therefore, results.

Don't follow the crowd: Daily commute takes more previous time

And home is where the heart is for so many entrepreneurs. I started my first business with a friend of mine in his bedroom. We, just like the countless budding entrepreneurs Boris and friends are trying to court, couldnâ€™t afford office space but we didnâ€™t let that stop us.

Then there is the daily time-wasting commute. If home workers flooded a transport system already full to bursting, how long before it grinds to a halt - Olympics or not?

So home workers of Britain unite. We are not a workshy bunch of shifty charlatans -Â we are a highly dynamic, motivated and flexible workforce. We mean business and we offer a better way of doing business.Â

And Borisâ€¦where do you think I knuckled down to work and wrote this articleâ€¦at home, of course.

Follow Andy on Twitter: @smallbizhelp