Do you think working remotely kills creativity? I spoke to a CEO who called everyone to return to in person work becuase working remotely lacked the out-of-the-box results he was looking for.
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Jeff Bezos of the Amazon corporation gets paid $270 million every day; while millions of people are being deprived of vital resources. Why are we allowing this to happen? Why do we not just take all the resources that this corporation has; and then give them directly to people who actually need it? The economic system has no rules anymore.
If you work for a company that offers remote work and is generally not terrible to work for, please share the name of the company. Now that fidelity will require full RTO, I am looking for somewhere that won't require me to commute in just so I can sit in zoom meetings from the office where literally none of my team is colocated.
No, it doesn't kill creativity. CEOs who say stuff like this never have any data to actually back up what they're saying.
If you want people to think outside of the box, you have to let them work outside of the box.
Brilliantly sums it up. In-office work now feels like a prison to me.
No, I don't. The CEO in question is either blaming the employees for their failures or trying to justify their real estate costs.
Or trying to get tax breaks.
That CEO is full of it. I work for a company that has been remote for over 15 years. Yes, LONG before the Pandemic. Our Founder/CEO is constantly in the media and inspires everyone working for him. It’s wild because I think this is the most creative company I have ever worked for, and I’ve never seen my team in person. I’ll add, the company staff is dispersed all over the US. Any CEO who feels remote work kills creativity is a CEO incapable of inspiring others and refuses to accept that they aren’t as skilled as they THINK they are. I mean look at celebrities, self-help gurus, and all these social media influencers. They LITERALLY inspire creativity for MILLIONS of people through screens, and make a TON of money doing it… That CEO you spoke to is the definition of “take advice from people who are DOING what you want to do.” Also, side note: These anti-remote work CEOs are the type to never really speak to their teams outside of the executive members of the organization.
I think working remotely inspires individually as long as there is accountability, but I do think group creativity and effort are stifled when there is a lack of communication or involved management.
I feel like my best creativity happens when my boss is gone and I can just collab with my coworkers- how can a boss be both invovled and also allow space for free thinking?
It really depends on the company and position. I worked remotely for 5 years, then 5 months ago I voluntarily returned to office 5 days a week. I am seeing groups of people gathering around white boards and solving problems. That spontaneous creativity is harder when one or more person is remote. A team can definitely brainstorm using remote tools. My direct experience is that the team spontaneous creativity is much more difficult working remotely. The creativity can be done remotely, It requires more work, thought and planning when teammates must remember to pull in remote employees. Also the tools of video conferencing and electronic whiteboards are just not the same as a group gathering around a whiteboard. I think your question cuts both ways and really depends on the culture of the company.
@Director 1, What do you mean useless commute? I work while moving, which is accepted as time worked as there are results. ChatGPT doesn't replace specific great collaborators. At best, it's another collaborator is all.
I think purely remote work does hurt results but I also think that it gives CEOs a better excuse than expensive real estate not being used.
It seems like "We need tax breaks" inspires a lot of policy that isn't data driven.
It depends on the gifts of the employees. Some need to bounce energy, enthusiasm, and excitement off of each other. I called this to transfer of energy going from one person to the next. In that sense, yes it could hurt creativity but if a person already has an incredibly creative mind then no however others may benefit from that 1 employee’s ability to inspire others to be more creative. Quoted By Clint Gray Overland Park Ks
Whole thing of Return to work is a matter of CEO isn't there in office all the time, guarantee you that. These huge companies who have done Huge Layoffs , after the Outsourced our Job oversees! I know for a fact as I watched those workers oversees , doing pretty much nothing compared to what we produced and managed to settle in my position. I worked in Auto finance for over 10 years last job. It's actually a tax write off even if these employees don't do well overseas . They also are now utilizing AI in a way that will come back to bite them. It's the people who are on top that make huge amounts of money and don't care , Why would they even attempt to say people can't be creative at home. That is a lie . Most people know there job, or learn it and do care. Proper management and not micromanaging, being helpful and open minded will help drive results. Occasionally of course you may get that one off person who doesn't care . I found that rare in the department and team I worked in . We made that huge company loads of profit . Now the consumers in the United States get to talk to people that they have difficulty understanding. Whatever.
The disadvantages of remote work usually outweigh the benefits. Remote work offers significant advantages for both employees and employers, most notably a better work-life balance, massive cost savings, and increased productivity. For companies, it broadens the talent pool and lowers overhead. For workers, it eliminates daily commutes and gives greater control over schedules and environments. It can be a disadvantage if you live in an area that experiences hurricanes since you could lose power for a while which could result in reduced productivity for an extended time.
I"m still salty about the time at my old job where they made us come into work when there was no power- for a job that was computer and internet based. I asked if I could work from home where I had both power and internet. They said no. I just sat there and goofed off becuase we literally couldn't get anything done.
CEO will make any excuse to keep paying their landlord friends
I think sitting in traffic for hours kills everything good about work.
I believe working hybrid is the perfect sceanario. You have days to produce work uninterrupted, where I feel I am able to come up with productive ideas. Then you have days in the office to collaborate with co workers, working in the office daily definitely slows production and increases distractions.
Why is remote work always on Friday when given a chance, IF the argument is that you work uninterrupted? When companies enforced hybrid, majority came to office Tuesday thru Thursday, nobody came on Monday or Friday. Why was working uninterrupted on Friday so critical? 😃
I get more work done when I work remotely.
I get more admin work done, but admittedly do less collaboration.
came here to say the same about this CEO. Off his or her rocker if they think remote work “kills creativity”. what it kills is micromanaging bs
No. Working feom home as a corporate standpoint is the future. Any company who tries to bring employees back in or do not have remote work are shooting themselves in the foot.
IMHO, creativity is a person's attribute. Similar to, are they driven, engaged, accountable, etc. Everyone has varying amounts of these attributes. So similar to multiplication by 0, Creativity Work from Home = Work from Home(1) (Accountibility(0) x Creativity(10)) = 0. So the only way to drive up accountability and engagement is to make those individuals come to work. However, these people are the ones that typically identify and champion workplace inequalities. Examples would be unfair evaluations, opportunities, lack of mentorship, working overtime for exempt employees, lack of flexible working hours (e.g. they want to come in later and leave earlier to pick up kids, but never answer emails or phones for their "make up hours"), etc. So companies have to get everyone to come to work. This results in regrettable attrition where high performers will find hybrid jobs because their productivity remains high. Also, meeting in person may lead to organic collaboration and innovation that may not have resulted from working in silos.
As a single widow, working from home has been the most productive in my life. It allowed me to get my job done ahead of schedule. My employer ended up closing the physical office, so 90% were let go, including me), and now I'm looking for remote work to allow me to sell my cabin in So. Cal & move to Oregon. Having a fresh perspective on Cali makes me want to be happy elsewhere. The state of the government here doesn't want anyone to succeed but them. With a state tax on gas at $0.71 cents per gallon has our gas between $6.25 & 6.99 a gallon. I have to make a boatload more than jobs are offering. I'm selling because the state has taxed me on everything and nothing is affordable anymore. Sorry, not sorry. Cali has lost this person who has lived there her entire life. Hoping my birthday next month is anywhere else. Sick of rich politicians not considering the working class that's been carrying this state. I'm heading into 6 months without work, but trying every day. Director of Purchasing & Operations in the entertainment industry gets you nowhere when you leave L.A. 3 studios (including the one I worked for based in NY) laid off approx. 17,000 people on the same day. Recovery from that is darn near impossible. Try changing industries & your qualifications don't count. Wrong industry is the usual answer. Pay no never-mind to a person's skill set. So frustrating.
I think with record number of layoffs and huge AI impact on job market, people not finding jobs for months, the argument for remote work is pretty much settled in the real world .
If they stopped outsourcing our Jobs as a whole this Huge companies that really don't care , that is what happened to my last job for over 10 years. And it continues to happen, now many are relying on AI as well and that will come back to bite them .
sorry to say they are totally correct. working with coworkers and across teams is far more organic and better if your in cubicals, informal meetings, both laterally and up the hierahrrcy as well as socal events all improve creativity and forms of problem solving. its ovlzy not be all end all. but the reality is a hybred work env that is NOT open office is the best. the worst for creativty is open office. and yes their is data for all of this.
I hated working open cubicle world in my last job. I excelled working remote as my job wa 100% computer based. How is an hour commute each way productive? I can add 2 hours each workday and reduce expenses, car emissions, help my dad and get my job done. The work world needs to catch up with today's environment. In office isn't it, and to disregard remote workinh people shows a giant lack of vision for potential and opportunities for employers. Shame on them. Companies need to rethink their plans, from logistics to company communication. No one is willing to step up and do that. It's very discouraging for talented job seekers to get anywhere.
No, I do much better work from home. CEO's just don't want anyone to be happy.
"Do you think working remotely kills creativity?" NO. Working in a noisy, distractive office kills creativity. Plus... CEOs who force people into a company paid office when their job doesn't require an office are violating their fiduciary responsibilities.