Episode Transcript
I work within a large IT organization and the people in my department have been given the opportunity to work from home. If I do, does it reduce my opportunities for promotion or increase my chances of getting laid off?
In short, the answer to your question regarding the effect of working virtually on promotions and layoffs is that it depends on the following:
• Your company’s culture and norms regarding working virtually
• The percentage of people at your company that work remotely
• How visible you can be on a day-to-day basis to your boss and others
• How effectively you can perform your job remotely
Now let’s discuss these items one at a time.
Your company’s culture
Companies, like people, have specific values, strengths, weaknesses, prejudices, and, dare I say, personalities. That said, consider the following questions when deciding if you want to work virtually:
• Is the company technically equipped with conference room speakers, remote computer access, and tools needed to facilitate efficient work from outside the office?
• Does your company conceptually support working virtually or does it simply tolerate it?
• Can you remotely participate in important department discussions?
• Is there an out-of-site-out-of-mind mentality for those working out of the office?
• Is your boss supportive of working virtually or begrudgingly providing the option because it’s company policy?
• Are virtual teams at your company managed well or managed poorly?
Percent of people working remotely
The reason I ask this question is that if a high percentage of people work from home or business groups are generally spread over multiple physical locations, then needed work-related processes are (or should be) in place to accommodate remote workers. If, however, you will be the only team member working remotely, you will most likely often be forgotten, not with any animosity, just due to people forgetting to call you. As previously said, you will be out-of-sight-out-of-mind.
How visible can you be from home?
The reason for this question is that some jobs, by their nature, are more connected to the people you work with than others. For example, if you are a software tester and are continually communicating with programmers, users, and other testers by email, via formal bug reports, and by Zoom or Teams to discuss issues, you can be very internally visible. If, however, you write documentation or provide phone-based customer support, by the nature of your job, you will be less interactive with your boss and teammates. With this second scenario, it will be much harder for you to have high office visibility from home.
How effective can you be remotely?
Certain job types are better than others regarding working remotely. For example, generally speaking, it is easier for a programmer to work from home than for a business analyst if the business analyst needs to interview users as part of the writing a functional specification for a new software application.
There is one additional potential option for you. Instead of working from home all the time, if your physical distance to your office allows, consider being hybrid, rather than 100% virtual. Many companies have either requirements or ‘suggested opportunities” to physically be in the office two-or-three days a week. This hybrid option could potentially give you the best of both worlds, some time working at home and some visibility at the office.
In closing, working virtually can work out wonderfully for both you and your company if, and only if, the company and your job are structured in a way that facilitates its success.
