The Productivity Implications of Working from Home Across 150,000 Employees
Tomasz TunguzVenture Capitalist at Redpoint If you were forwarded this newsletter, and you'd like to receive it in the future, subscribe here. The Productivity Implications of Working from Home Across 150,000 Employees
Are we more productive at the office or at home? Researchers from the University of Chicago published data on the productivity trends across 150,000 employees of a large IT services company to answer that question. It’s the first time I’ve seen analysis on the same business through the period. The business had deployed software to monitor employee behavior before COVID and used it throughout. Quoting from the paper: WFH reduced total commuting time among US workers by more than 60 million hours. So, did we accomplish more by commuting to our kitchen counter instead of the office park?
Workers accomplished the same amount but spent 2 hours more per day (7h vs 5h) at the office. So despite a reduction in commute hours, this company’s productivity declined (defining productivity as output per hour.)
Let’s get more granular. When working from home, employees spend 5h per week more working, more after hours, with fewer focus hours, more meetings with managers, and more time on email. But that’s not the final word. Here’s the tricky part: the standard deviations on these figures are substantial. For example, focus hours have standard deviations of 9.2 and 9.9. What does that mean? In short, the data isn’t strong enough to make a case that WFO is superior to WFH (working-from-home) or vice-versa. The research delves into other topics including the impact of children on men’s and women’s productivity working from home, differences for managers and individual contributors' productivity, and fluctuations in internal and external meeting volumes that are worth exploring. This is the first report of undoubtedly many on the subject. The tradeoffs between different environments will be debated often in the next few years by executives and people leaders globally. The data isn’t clear; there’s just too much variance to draw broad conclusions on whether the office or home are more productive from this analysis. Rather than asking broadly which venue is better, we might ask which is better when and for whom? In short, the optimal answer is nuanced, and likely team-specific rather than a blanket policy. Both systems can work. But they might require different management techniques and styles. |
Older messages
The Figures that Will Move the Venture Capital Market in the Next 5 Years
Monday, June 7, 2021
Tomasz Tunguz Venture Capitalist at Redpoint If you were forwarded this newsletter, and you'd like to receive it in the future, subscribe here. The Figures that Will Move the Venture Capital
Executive Recruiting as Competitive Advantage - The 3 Knock-On Effects of Failed Executive Hires
Tuesday, June 1, 2021
Tomasz Tunguz Venture Capitalist at Redpoint If you were forwarded this newsletter, and you'd like to receive it in the future, subscribe here. Executive Recruiting as Competitive Advantage - The
The Inflationary Forces in Startupland
Tuesday, May 25, 2021
Tomasz Tunguz Venture Capitalist at Redpoint If you were forwarded this newsletter, and you'd like to receive it in the future, subscribe here. The Inflationary Forces in Startupland Over the
The One Force that Will Govern How We Return to Work
Monday, May 3, 2021
Tomasz Tunguz Venture Capitalist at Redpoint If you were forwarded this newsletter, and you'd like to receive it in the future, subscribe here. The One Force that Will Govern How We Return to
Never Raising, Always Raising
Friday, April 23, 2021
Tomasz Tunguz Venture Capitalist at Redpoint If you were forwarded this newsletter, and you'd like to receive it in the future, subscribe here. Never Raising, Always Raising Startups used to
You Might Also Like
Peppered Kitty and The Penal Guard 💂♂️
Tuesday, November 12, 2024
The breed of the non-human͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏
🗞 What's New: HARO/Connectively is shutting down
Tuesday, November 12, 2024
Also: Use AI to beef up your security ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏
the wizard of oz.
Tuesday, November 12, 2024
Read time: 53 sec. Today I want to tell you about Cristiano. He was part of our last Starter Story Academy sprint. And during his first two weeks, he was busy designing and tweaking his landing page.
💃 Beyoncé loves her products...here’s how she did it
Tuesday, November 12, 2024
The exact steps to build your beauty brand empire Hey Friend , We just launched our newest course, How to Build a Million Dollar Beauty Brand. In it, for the first time, Alicia Scott—founder of Range
[CEI] Chrome Extension Ideas #166
Tuesday, November 12, 2024
ideas for Amazon, Twitter, Developers, and Students ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏
Navattic's PLG funnel with Natalie Marcotullio
Tuesday, November 12, 2024
In conversation with Navattic's Head of Growth about their product-led growth (PLG) funnel. ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏
You have one shot to sell your business 🤞
Tuesday, November 12, 2024
Just One Week to Go Until Exit Strategy Launches!
Product manager is an unfair role. So work unfairly.
Tuesday, November 12, 2024
How to thrive in “the great flattening” by redefining work norms ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏
Growth Newsletter #223
Tuesday, November 12, 2024
It's not "what" but "where" ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏
All stock, 6-figure deal
Tuesday, November 12, 2024
Plus, overcome a big barrier to exit planning: owner dependency ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏