Steven: Welcome to “Yay or Nay?” - your weekly dose of in‑depth analysis and discussion about problems both big and small. As I promised last week, today our focus is on remote working. I’m your host, Steven Calvin, and my guest, Ann Oakley, a psychologist at the Trent Institute for Social Studies, is going to hopefully help us decide if working from home, a coffee shop, or a beach is the way to go. So, Ann, is working remotely yay or nay?

Ann: Hello and thank you for having me, Steven. Well, there is no clear‑cut answer to your question. That would be too simple, wouldn’t it? As with most phenomena in society and culture, there are obvious advantages and equally obvious drawbacks to working remotely or telecommuting. So, before we make any sort of decision, we need to talk about those first.

Steven: Right, I guess the most obvious benefit would be the opportunity to work from any place that offers reliable, stable internet access.

Ann: True. It is one of the first pluses that come to mind immediately. You are no longer restricted by your geographical location or the clock.The traditional 9 to 5 workday no longer applies. You can stay at home or go, as you’ve said, to your favourite cafe and do your work from there. It also helps that you avoid the daily trek to your office, and we all know how tedious this can be with heavy traffic, angry drivers, and late trains or buses. So, a lack of daily commute lets you start your day much calmer.

Steven: Yeah, that’s helpful, especially the promise of a constant supply of delicious coffee… But what about the schedule?

Ann: This is also a huge benefit - you can be totally flexible. You are in charge of your working hours, as remote working normally involves completing tasks by pre‑established deadlines, rather than simply 8 hours spent by your desk. If you can concentrate better in the morning, you may choose to do your tasks then. If you are a night owl, then you might be doing the bulk of your assignments late into the small hours of the morning. If you have to take your kids to school or do the laundry, you also have the freedom to do that, provided that you get your job done as well.

Steven: That sounds great actually. I’m sure our audience would love to be able to attend school or sports events with their kids and not worry about their work assignments.

Ann: Yes, exactly. Additionally, you can save money on transport or eating out for lunch, or even your work clothes, as telecommuting means working in informal outfits, unless your job involves teleconferencing, of course.

Steven: Working in my pajamas? Sign me up! (oboje się śmieją) Ok, it’s all well and good, but then if it’s so great, why are more companies not doing it?

Ann: There are quite a few reasons for that, starting with the fact that not every job, not even an office one, can be done remotely. Another one is that this kind of work means total dependence on technology. Workers need to rely on their devices - laptops and phones, and they need good internet connectivity - to stay in touch with their office and, possibly, clients. If anything happens to those, you’re in trouble.

Steven: I hear you. Sometimes even a whole bag of rice cannot save your phone…

Ann: Speaking from experience?

Steven: Unfortunately. What about less apparent arguments against it? 

Ann: You won’t be surprised to hear that most of those are connected to how we relate to other people, and to how we want to be perceived by our employers. Work in an actual office offers human contact - we banter with our co‑workers, we often share our joys and woes with them, or the latest cute pics of our cat. If we stop going to the office, after a while we might feel isolated and emotionally detached.

Steven: No inside jokes, or juicy gossip - got it. Anything else?

Ann: There is also the fact that if we are not visible, if we don’t campaign for a promotion - we are more likely to be overlooked.

Steven: Oh, I never thought about that, but you’re absolutely right. You have to be seen doing a good job.

Ann: Precisely. Now, last but not least - working remotely requires high levels of self‑discipline, as the lines get blurred sometimes. Some people experience problems meeting deadlines, while some others lose that healthy work/life balance. If there is no clear separation between home space and workplace, they just blend together. We might find it difficult to switch off. 

Steven: That sounds rather disturbing… Now I’m not really sure if I like the idea of telecommuting quite so much...