I’ve been brewing an essay for a while now on that outmoded custom known as commuting and the related commercial pastime known as meetings.
Before I go any further, some definitions are perhaps in order.
com’mu-ting: the activity of travelling from one’s place of residence to a different place in order to do one’s job, and then doing it in reverse in the evening, often when millions of other people are tring to do the same thing.
mee-ting: a gathering of work colleagues called to discuss matters of common interest, the gathering tending towards a metastable, self-organized-critical state such that, if temporary, it will become permanent, and may metastasize into subcommittees, until the gatherings take up almost all the time allotted for work, such that a great deal of work is planned but little is, in fact, achieved.
Yes, I had planned to discuss these twin curses of modern office life. I had intended to discuss
* why, if most jobs involve people sitting in front of a computer, that it is felt necessary to move physically from one computer to another, perhaps many miles away, to do more or less the same task;
* the fact that whereas commuting and physical meatspace meetings were once absolutely necessary, because there were no other options, broadband internet and video-conferencing is making them unnecessary for many purposes;
* how workers who are trusted to work flexibly might be in fact more productive, happier and more loyal than those that feel they have to commute to an office where they can be micromanaged;
* how it is that – whether through habit, inertia, or failure to ‘think outside the box’ – companies and their representative bodies (such as the Confederation of British Industry) have as yet failed to grasp the many benefits of remote and more flexible working, including improved worker loyalty and productivity, as well as reduced overheads on office space in expensive metropolitan locations;
* how it is that – whether through habit, inertia, or failure to ‘think outside the box’ – central governments haven’t quite grasped that the flexible and remote working of a significant part of the workforce, for much of the time, might lead to significantly reduced strain on an already overburdened public transport network, as well as a marked reduction in road traffic and its associated environmental costs;
* how it is that – whether through habit, inertia, or failure to ‘think outside the box’ – local governments haven’t quite grasped how the flexible and remote working of a significant part of the workforce, for much of the time, might lead to a redistribution of wealth from major cities, notably London, to the regions, refuelling often desperate local economies, creating jobs, energizing communities and producing far greater prosperity for all.
Yes, I had meant to talk about all these things, as well as the fact that my company allows me to work from home, at least some of the time, for which I am grateful.
But I won’t. Why not? Because pictures are so much more evocative. Here is a picture of my workspace early this morning, when, kids at school, I set up shop on the patio with my laptop;
And here is the view of my lunch-hour walk.
See what I mean?
And what a lovely shot of Goldie, err, sorry, Heidi on the sun blessed patio of Maison des Girrafes. Cromer + sun = nice even though it was also fab when it was SO Bracing.
Please, don’t rub it in. Done for speeding on my way home this evening. Police woman asked if there was a reason why I’d been speeding. I’d have thought “I’m on my way HOME” should have been a good enough excuse.”
I’ve just received an invitation to two meetings tomorrow, both on the same subject, and with most of the same people, because they couldn’t find a single time that suited everyone. So they decided that discussing the same things twice would be a better use of time… some people will just come to one, some of us have been asked to come to both.OTOH, I usually enjoy my commute (6 km by bicycle). I realise that the luxury of living this close to work, with a choice of “safe”(ish) bike routes available, is not available to everyone though.
Those whom have been joined together in anti-commuting solidarity let no man put asunder!@Cath, oh how I remember those heady days of a 6km bike ride to work (which at that time in my career I called ‘lab’) *cries sooty tears*
Exactly! When will the rest of the world see?
When? You may well ask. What with Britain up against it financially, you’d have thought that McBroon’s sock puppet would have used today’s budget as an opportunity to encourage flexible and remote working, thus stimulating the regional economy, opening up employment opportunities and reducing carbon emissions in one. But no – it was all about 50% tax bands for those earning above £150k, the effect of which will earn the government less than £1bn when it has already borrowed 170 times that much. How chippy. How typically fucking socialist.
Over at the Sciencewomen blog, they’ve been discussing Earth Day resolutions, and ways to make universities greener. Encouraging and rewarding remote working (is that an official term, or did you coin it, cromercrox?) seems an obvious green initiative for universities, especially in most of the US, where everything is so spread out, and public transportation sucks. Just promoting “work at home one day each week” would be a step in the right direction.However, it you’re at home, university administration can’t spy on you as easily, right? Not that I’m paranoid or anything*.* Officially I have today off work for Fiesta, but nevertheless I’ll be working on a manuscript at home.
I saw a coyote from ~5m away on my commute yesterday morning. That was pretty cool.
I was sold on the telecommute idea the first time I read Jerry Della Femina’s From Those Wonderful Folks Who Gave You Pearl Harbor — those ad men taking off for the beach to work on campaigns seemed awfully sane to me. For ad men of the ’70s, anyway. Thanks to Mr. Della Femina’s way with a story, plus the fact that offices are mostly practice for death, I was never successfully office-domesticated. Haven’t worked fulltime in one of those places in…um…13 years now. I’m also annoyed by this whole idea of chairs. You go to work, you sit in a chair all day. Well, it’s dumb, and it’s bad for you. I used to unnerve bosses who’d come to my office or cube, start talking before they noticed no one was in the chair, and then see me lounging around on the floor. Working, of course. The beach is still a better idea.
@ Barn Owl – I don’t think I invented the term ‘remote working’. It seems like a good term, though.@ Everyone – the paranoid part of me thinks that managers don’t want their workforce to work remotely, partly because they can’t keep an eye on them, but also because the life of a manager consists so much of dreadful meetings that they can’t see why anyone else should have a good time. In my experience, when a manager works remotely, they tend to be more flexible about their workforce doing the same.