2. The Benefits

The benefits to working Out of Office are varied. Many of the benefits are, in fact, real, but many are only imagined by those who have not yet tried the Out of Office work style or have and only fondly remember the parts that worked for them after they have returned to the more traditional in-office work style.

So is it a paradise of sweatpants, favorite coffee shops, working from the patio while watching your dog chase squirrels in the yard?

Actually, yes, or at least for some it is exactly that. I know many individuals who work from home or other locations who seem to spend their days in sweatpants (my personal preference is sleep pants) and who are often found on social networks sharing pictures of themselves (or at least pictures of their feet) in a lounger by the pool—which they lovingly refer to as “the view from their office.” Wes Rogers shared this story with me:

There are times when the most productive thing I can do is step away from the computer. Taking the dog for a walk doesn’t work so well in an office, but for me it is a great break for both of us—and I take my iPhone so I’m still available if needed. I’ve done meetings while walking through the woods or floating in an inner tube in a pool. Unfortunately, the first pool meeting made me a legend because my cell phone and I both fell into the water.

Is it any wonder that those tied to a cubicle look at these pictures or hear these stories and either wish for themselves the same lifestyle or write off the person doing the sharing as someone without a “real” job. After all, who could possibly make a living doing something that can be done from anywhere: To make money, you need a real organization and real teams, departments, budgets, and perhaps most important of all, meetings, lots and lots of meetings. Now that is a real job! Lazing by the pool or working from a coffee shop is only for people who can’t get a real job or can only do freelancing work, surely.

Of course, this attitude is borne from jealousy as well as other emotions. The reality is that for many individuals, both those who work for themselves and those who work for larger organizations, the benefits of working Out of Office increase their productivity and make them extremely successful.

However, for every one of those individuals who seem to enjoy a life of leisure, only occasionally seeming to actually be anywhere near anything that resembles “work,” I can point you to a dozen others who spend their days running across airport terminals, sitting in endless traffic, or sleeping in anonymous hotel rooms trying to remember what day of the week it is and which city they are in. They are not necessarily living a life of ease; they are hard-working individuals who occasionally get to enjoy some of the benefits of their work style choice. Somewhere in the middle of these two extremes is the majority—those for whom working Out of Office is both a paradise and a necessary evil, both a method of not feeling confined by the traditional in-office work style but also a burden that requires them to work harder to ensure they remain relevant and current to their colleagues.

Remember that much of the paradise is created by the personality of the individual as well as the corporate culture they are operating within. For a solopreneur, the corporate culture is of their making. If they want to work from a formal office setting, they can; equally, if they want to work from a laptop in bed, they are just as free to make that choice. If they decide that they want formal office hours, they can impose them; equally, if they want to work a more flexible schedule, they have the freedom to work in that manner as well.

For those who are tied to a broader, larger corporate culture, the luxuries of sweatpants and a poolside office may seem more like a fantasy than any reality they have encountered. That is not to say there are not benefits for the corporate employees who find themselves working Out of Office; it is just more likely that they will be less of the luxurious type and more of the practical type.

The Out of Office worker based from home has the highest degree of control over their environment. Want the temperature adjusted? No call to maintenance needed—simply adjust the thermostat. Want to listen to music? Just turn it on—no need to consult with co-workers, or have to listen to their music. Want to have a healthy lunch? Simply take it from the fridge—no need to label it with your name and run the risk of someone deciding that it is “share your lunch day” today. The very nature of this work style, which seems isolating and like a stretch in solitary confinement to some, provides freedom and the ability to relax to others.

One person’s prison can be another’s resort location, which is why personality is such a major part of the decision making attached to working Out of Office. Just as teaching styles have adapted to the needs of different learning styles, so too are work styles adapting to the different work-style needs of employees. Just because an individual is not suited to working in an office environment does not mean that they are not able to make a valuable and considerable contribution to an organization. It does, however, require the organization to be willing to release control of the working environment and place that control in the hands of the employee—something that is intrinsically difficult for most organizations, especially the more established, traditional organizations that have decades of employing a particular work style.

Those working Out of Office but not from home still have a considerable degree of control over their environment and how that impacts their productivity. Those who travel a lot get to know their favorite hotels, airport lounges, coffee shops, and other locations that provide them with the perfect mix of noise level, temperature, vista, and other features that encourage productive working while at the same time offer a blend of distractions that provide relief from work. Armed with this knowledge, they are able to navigate their work days with a much greater sense of control than someone who perhaps only travels occasionally. In previous decades, these employees were referred to as “road warriors,” mainly because they typically spent their time driving from place to place (and some still do). Work styles have shifted and new methods of selling, such as e-commerce, have replaced the need for many organizations to have field sales teams covering small territories. It is much more likely for a field salesperson to cover several states as a territory now, and they are more likely to do so with a combination of air travel and virtual meetings.

The more time spent working Out of Office, the greater the knowledge of when and where to work grows. These nomads, like their desert-based namesakes, learn to find the best wadis. They learn where the outlets are in the airport lounge, which gates have the best coffee shops within two minutes walking distance, which hotel chains have the best Wi-Fi service, and which cities offer the best in public transport. All of these factors are not simply accumulated knowledge; these are the ways in which they get to control their environment.

In the movie Up in the Air, George Clooney’s character Ryan Bingham shares some of his environmental control knowledge with his protégé:

Never get behind old people. Their bodies are littered with hidden metal and they never seem to appreciate just how little time they have left. Bingo, Asians. They pack light, travel efficiently, and they have a thing for slip-on shoes. Gotta love ’em.

Although part of a fictional exchange in a movie, this type of information is exactly what constitutes the frequent traveler’s knowledge of how to control their environment. It is knowledge that has been acquired through experience and allows them to feel a degree of control in an environment that is otherwise rigidly controlled by others. Some might claim that the control is imaginary and based only on an individual’s perception. Although that might be true, it doesn’t really matter: Perception is reality for most people, and if the Out of Office worker perceives that they have some degree of control over their environment, then for them it is true.

Corporate entities long ago discovered that giving workers the perception that they had a degree of control over their environment benefitted the organization. The Hawthorne experiments of the 1920s and 1930s are often cited as examples of this, and although there is much debate among psychologists over the interpretation of the results and whether the actual change in the environment (that of increasing and decreasing the amount of illumination) had an impact or whether the change of environment to allow for the experiments to take place was the element that caused the change, there is no doubt that a change took place. Therefore, it is important to recognize that for any worker, whether in or out of office, a degree of control of their environment goes a long way to providing them with a feeling of overall control. So perhaps that paradise of sweatpants is less of an illusion than might be thought. It is perhaps more of a statement of control and an expression of the ability to be both productive and comfortable. The Out of Office worker, whether working from home or from other locations, has less of a need to compete with co-workers in terms of personal presentation. With no physical proximity to co-workers, they are less likely to take part in the one-upmanship often seen in a more traditional office setting. They have no cube to dress up and no need to be seen wearing the latest trends or toting the latest gadget.

That is not to say they don’t share those interests or even feel driven to be competitive; it is just that by being away from the group, they are less likely to be involved in the “games” of the group.

Beyond comfort, the growing trend for organizations to adopt a “bring your own device” (BYOD) approach to technology is changing the workplace environment by allowing workers to utilize their personal phones, tablets, and laptops and connect them to the corporate information technology infrastructure. I discuss technology and the issues and opportunities it presents in detail in Chapter 6, “Getting Organized.” However, this change in attitude allows even those who are in-office workers to control a part of their work environment that was previously completely outside their control. It is also an indication of the increasingly blurring lines between work and personal life. Those who carry a mobile device with them everywhere, regardless of whether it is provided by the organization they are employed by, are now always “on,” reachable via email, text message, social network, or voice. What was once a status symbol, and an indication of moving up in an organization, has now become a necessity. Allowing an element of freedom in terms of the choice of device used simply increases the buy-in by the employee to be placed in this role of a 24/7 employee. Technology is, in fact, driving down the hourly wage for the salaried staff member.

As these lines blur, we will see the definition of “workplace” become harder to pin down. Whether or not a person officially works from home, there is no doubt that the expectation that they check email outside of “office hours” is now ingrained in the workforce.

Of course, controlling the environment goes far beyond just the physical elements. One of the biggest features of any large office is the politics—knowing who is in favor, who is not in favor, which person is likely to support your ideas, and who will shoot them down. This is all part of navigating the minefield of the corporate environment. As Pavel Mikoloski puts it:

The best thing about working in coffee shops and at home is that you are completely divorced from office politics, and everyone knows they can be brutal.

He is right: Office politics can be brutal. They are a friction point in many organizations, reducing the effectiveness of teams and increasing project timelines.

Although I might not agree completely with Pavel that the Out of Office worker is “completely” divorced from office politics, I do agree that they benefit from being away from them on a daily basis. Without the need to focus on them as much, the Out of Office worker is allowed to be more productive and more focused on the job at hand.

One of the biggest stressors before the in-office worker even arrives at the office is the commute. Whether via public transport or personal vehicle, dealing with commuting increases most workers stress levels at some point in their working week. Whether it is cancellations or delays in service, traffic congestion, or the weather impacting travel, those who travel on a daily basis over any distance to and from work will feel the stress.

Arriving at the office in a stressed state doesn’t bode well for a stress-free day or a particularly productive one.

The Out of Office worker, depending on where they happen to be working, is less likely to feel this pressure. Certainly those who work most of the time (or even some of the time) from home enjoy a commute that is like none other. My personal commute most days is two minutes and constitutes me shuffling down the hallway from the kitchen to my office. The only traffic I encounter is one of my cats coming the other way—hardly gridlock!

Co-worker tension is another source of stress for most people working in a corporate environment. Even the most laid back of people can’t get along with absolutely everyone. At some point, we all meet that one person that no matter the situation, rubs us the wrong way. This is also true for the Out of Office worker; however, they have the opportunity to deal with it in a different way. It would be most definitely frowned upon if an in-office worker were to scream and shout at a colleague. But an Out of Office worker can take the time to do just that—after the fact. After all, if they are alone at home, then screaming at a wall or even their computer screen affects no one except them.

Even if the in-office worker has the benefit of a private office, screaming in it still doesn’t go over well with co-workers. Sometimes things don’t require a scream but rather just a change of scenery. As we’ve already seen from some of the accounts in this chapter, the ability to walk away, to go to the park or a coffee shop, as the mood takes them, is something that Out of Office workers relish.

Simply walking out of the office without an explanation to take a walk in the park would definitely not be seen as professional in an in-office setting, unless you had the most understanding of co-workers and bosses. Of course, the Out of Office worker doesn’t have carte blanche to come and go when they like—there are conference calls, video conferences, and other virtual connections to be maintained. However, they do have the freedom to manage their stress in ways that aren’t always available to their in-office colleagues.

When a person reduces stress in their life, they are also likely to see an improvement in their overall health. Combine that with the fact that an Out of Office worker isn’t based inside a “sick building,” and the impact on health increases even more. Now, of course, those who are working from public spaces are still open to all the same and some very different illnesses as their in-office counterparts, but given their lower stress levels they are also likely to be able to combat them better.

Improving the health of employees has numerous benefits for both the employee and the employer: reduced health insurance costs for both, reduced out-of-pocket expenses for the employee (which also reduces stress), and reduced amount of lost productivity due to illness, which in turn reduces stress on co-workers as they are not required to take up the slack of someone who is out sick.

Being connected to their community makes people feel more grounded and provides them with a sense of stability—stable employees are less likely to look for alternative employment. A stable workforce is a huge benefit to any organization.

In a previous role, where I worked some of my time from an office and some of my time from home, I was able to be a part of the local volunteer fire department. It gave me the opportunity to join in my community, provide a valuable service, and learn skills that were applicable to my job. Leading a team of volunteers into a burning building definitely teaches you how to get the best out of co-workers under stress!

Of course, community involvement doesn’t have to be at that level; it can be anything that makes an employee feel more connected to the place where they live. The point is that in allowing the Out of Office employee the ability to set their own schedule, the employer facilitates the opportunity for their employees to do things that are of interest to them. As I mentioned, those activities may well have benefits beyond simply the feel-good factor for the employee: They may well lead to an increase in their skill set that they bring back to the organization, thus benefitting both the organization and their co-workers.

The costs of heating, lighting, and furnishing an office are a major capital expense for any business. Having fewer individuals to provide those items for reduces the overall expense of a business. Although some costs will always be retained, such as 401k, medical insurance, recruitment, training, and other human resource expenses, by reducing the space required to operate a business, an organization can offset some of those costs. In effect, the organization asks the employee to cover some of the cost by working from home. The benefit to the employee can also be expressed in financial terms. Because they are no longer commuting to an office, the cost of travel is mitigated. If they were rail travelers, the cost of a season ticket (no small sum) is removed. If they were car commuters, the cost savings can be even higher. First of all, the reduced consumption of gas will be a cost saving. In addition, many insurance companies offer discounts to people who drive less than the average 12,000 miles a year, so a home-based worker would be well advised to ask their insurance company about getting a reduction in their premium. Maintenance costs are lowered as wear and tear on the vehicle is reduced along with the mileage.

Food is another area where the Out of Office worker can find cost savings appearing. When an employee is office based, they are often tempted to eat at the company cafeteria or local eateries. A home-based worker is more likely to eat something from their own pantry or refrigerator, something that they have already purchased. This food is most likely to have cost less than its equivalent purchased from an outside vendor, even a subsidized cafeteria.

Clothing can be another area where the Out of Office worker finds themselves saving money. With no suits or formal wardrobe required to work from a home-based office, the need to replace these items on a regular basis is removed or at least reduced. Sleep pants are considerably cheaper than dress pants!

Another area where some save money is childcare. Not having to pay for playschool, a child sitter, or other form of daily childcare can be a huge savings.

Of course, there are some cost increases involving lighting, heating, and cooling, but these are usually more than offset by the savings that are realized. Also, tax benefits need to be considered. If a person uses a part of their home for work, that square footage can be claimed on their tax return. These benefits are something that any corporate HR department will most likely explain and factor into a package for an Out of Office worker. These should also be investigated thoroughly by small and solo-person businesses to see what cost savings can be made over opening formal offices.

This freedom comes with a cost, because they are also required to have the maturity and a degree of organizational understanding to see clearly which activities are priorities and which are not. This is one element for determining who is suitable for this type of work style in an organization and who is not. Not all employees can work efficiently with minimal direction. That is not necessarily a failing but rather a particular work trait. Of equal importance is the ability to see the larger picture within an organization, to understand what is a priority now and what is likely to become a priority. Because of the distance between the Out of Office worker and their in-office colleagues, which is more than simply physical, the Out of Office worker needs an almost prescience in order to ensure that they are as responsive as possible.

This is certainly not a trait found in everyone; for example, a junior team member, fresh from college, is unlikely to have the organizational knowledge and big-picture sense to be able to manage the priorities necessary, and it would be unfair to place that level of expectation on them. An employee who has the experience, organizational knowledge, and maturity is more likely to be able to meet the challenge of being an Out of Office worker. Those who are able to manage and maintain their own priorities and juggle the demands placed upon them with the distractions of an Out of Office work style are invaluable to any organization.

Deciding when and, in the case of the Out of Office worker, where to tackle projects is indeed a luxury. I certainly like to know that I am free to decide when I write a blog post, an article, or a chapter of a book or work on a client project as I feel the pull. Writing in particular is not something that I am necessarily going to do on a schedule. Although I have daily targets I always strive to meet, I don’t always write at the same time of the day or in the same location. I find that freedom to be very helpful in the creative process. On the other hand, many writers will tell you that there is no such thing as “writers block” and that writing is like any other job; it requires discipline and focus and a desire to produce the product. The author William Faulkner was a major advocate of this approach:

I only write when I am inspired. Fortunately, I am inspired at 9 o’clock every morning.

Client projects tend to take priority for me, if for no other reason than they are paying me to make them a priority. The same is true for those working for a larger organization; provided the work is done and targets and deadlines are met, it is unlikely that anyone is going to check to see what time of day you wrote a report or created a plan for whatever elements you are working on. This can be a double-edged sword, of course. The temptation to work at any and all times, especially when a deadline is looming, can be considerable. For those with other distractions in the household, the ability and freedom to fit work in around the other demands not only provides great flexibility but, on the flip side, provides the opportunity for unhealthy work practices.

It is not uncommon for people to find themselves working in the early hours of the morning to complete projects that are due, and although most people who have been employed in a deadline-sensitive environment will have done this on occasion, the point at which this becomes a habit can have the reverse effect—instead of increasing flexibility and productivity, it can lead to a decline in productivity.

In a previous role where I was an in-office worker, I once found myself creating online content and uploading it to a client website at 3 a.m. I had to be in a client presentation at 9 a.m. the same day to show the progress of the project, and the content was part of that process. I wasn’t part of the delay, but being a team member I was part of the solution. This is an example of when all hands to the pumps and the concept of being part of a team are extremely important to the success of an organization.

It is not unheard of, for example, for even the darlings of the startup/tech world to instigate “lockdowns” and require employees to stay at the office until a project is successfully launched; this sometimes taking up to 72 hours. So the Out of Office employee is far from being alone in finding themselves working irregular hours in the current workplace and economy. Of course, a “lockdown” in your own home or a public place is a little unrealistic, and it would be difficult to imagine an Out of Office worker being able to take part in an all-nighter from the road, unless they are in a hotel. However, the fact that they are used to more flexible working times does mean that they are more likely to be open to working outside of traditional hours to meet project deadlines, and that is definitely an advantage in having Out of Office team members.

I know several Out of Office workers who prefer to start work around 5.30 a.m. and get several hours of work completed before co-workers, clients, and so on, start making their way to the office because they feel they can be more productive. Those same individuals will also feel very comfortable taking the afternoon off, or at least a few hours of it, to run errands, read a book, or catch up on other tasks.

Adam Itkoff outlined the benefits to him of setting his own hours:

Telecommuting has provided an amazing improvement in life quality. All of the hours that would be spent schlepping to and from work, now goes directly into projects. This reallocation of energy lets me work more effectively and fluidly. As opposed to chunking out hours, “seven to six” for prep, transportation, and work itself, my work becomes the core of my day, but something done with convenience and vigor. It’s not just about working in sweatpants (or robes, as preferred) but more so about synthesizing work life and personal life into something enjoyable and creative.

This level of flexibility has to be understood by both the individual and the organization for which they work. It is easy for this to be abused on both sides. I know individuals who work for organizations who know that they wouldn’t be as productive outside the traditional office environment because they would find errands and projects to complete around their home rather than focus on work. That is definitely a potential hazard, especially for the Out of Office worker based primarily from their home.

For the Out of Office worker who is primarily road based, the flexible work hours can be a definite advantage, allowing them time to experience more of the location they are visiting. They can visit clients on a more flexible schedule and feel more independent than their in-office counterparts.

With flexible hours, clock-watching becomes a thing of the past. Why look at the clock unless you have an appointment approaching (and technology can be used to remind you of that)? Time is irrelevant to the Out of Office worker. Certainly I have days in my home office where I wonder why I am feeling ravenously hunger only to find it is 2:30 in the afternoon and I haven’t eaten lunch because I was busy writing or working on a client project.

The rhythm of the office is completely different for the Out of Office worker. In the traditional office setting, the rhythm is set by regular events, co-workers arriving to start the day, coffee breaks, lunch breaks, events triggered by types of work that happen at specific times of the day, such as the end of trading. The rhythm for the Out of Office worker is something that they establish. This rhythm will vary depending on their location. For example, if they are in a hotel, their rhythm will be different than if they are working from home. If they are catching a red-eye flight, it will be different than if they are taking an afternoon flight.

Pam Consear shared how important the control of her own hours is to her and shed a slightly different light on the subject:

I was a school teacher for nearly 20 years before launching my creative services business in 2008. For the first year or so, my favorite part of being self-employed was just being “out in the world” at 10:00 a.m. or at 1:00 p.m. I felt like I’d been a mole underground all those teaching years, practically chained to my classroom from 8 to 4, and it was exhilarating to see what actually went on in the outside world during school hours.

I still get a little thrill from it—it kind of feels like I’m playing hooky every day, since I’ve only not been in school as a teacher or a student for 10 of my 47 years.

I love that Pam felt that she not only had control over her hours now but that she also felt she was rediscovering the world outside her previous environment.

This is certainly a benefit to the Out of Office worker, seeing the world at different times and from different perspectives than their office-based colleagues. There is only so much you can see through the windshield of a car in commuter traffic.

This lack of routine can be a cause of stress for some individuals; even those who are well suited to the Out of Office work style can feel the stress of not knowing exactly how their day will progress and having much of their day’s progression dependent on others. The Out of Office worker traveling to meet a client in another city for an important meeting who finds their flight cancelled with no alternative flights faces more stress than their in-office counterpart who simply has a meeting shifted by a day or to another meeting room. The type of personality required to cope with this type of fluid schedule is very different from one that relishes in the uniformity of their day. Both are equally valid in terms of being able to contribute to the organization, but neither will probably feel comfortable in the other’s shoes.

Those whose job requires some form of creativity are often well suited to the lack of rigor and having the ability to set their own hours that can come with Out of Office working. Having an idea at 2 a.m. and being able to flesh it out from home and then deciding to take a nap to catch up on missed sleep does not tend to go down too well in a traditional office environment (unless, of course, the idea makes the company huge amounts of money). However, for the Out of Office worker, this flexibility can be almost heavenly, freeing them from the strictures of having to be effective between the hours of 9 and 5. As anyone who works with, for, or is a creative type, they will understand that imposing those bounds hardly ever works out well.

I am not, of course, trying to imply that all creative types work better Out of Office—far from it. Having a team around to brainstorm and develop ideas with is a huge bonus for the in-office worker. The difference for the Out of Office worker not being constrained by regular office hours works well for those who feel it to be a constraint; many don’t and are more than happy with regular hours. As I mentioned earlier in the chapter, the downside of setting your own hours can be that the line between work and home becomes completely blurred.

Jamie Pritchser emphasizes the freedom of choosing her own hours and how that helps with productivity:

Like a lot of creative people, I find it extremely difficult to create and be inspired while sitting at a desk between the hours of 9 and 5. Heck, those aren’t even the hours I’m most productive. Over the years, I’ve worked at home, on planes, in cars, on trains, at airports, on beaches, at friends’ houses, at restaurants, at bars, in cafes, at parks, and just about anywhere anyone can think of. A change in scenery inspires me both in the moment and then again later, when I can recall what all five of my senses were experiencing at that festival, in that museum, or along that river walk.

Without a formal office to go to, the Out of Office worker can be tempted to continue working past normal hours, or start earlier, work at weekends, and so on. This can have a detrimental effect on both them and their families or partners.

When is work time and when is home time? How is balance or integration achieved? We are going to look in more detail at work/life integration in Chapter 9, “Time to Go Back to the Office.” However, suffice it to say, I do not believe in a work/life balance. In fact, I think striving to achieve this, especially for the Out of Office worker, is far too stressful. Instead, I believe in work/life integration.

Whether they worked from home, traveled for work, or did both, Out of Office workers with children all agreed that one of the biggest benefits was being able to spend an increased amount of time with their children over the amount they would have had if they were working in a more traditional in-office setting.

Interestingly enough, this theme was raised by both men and women, both feeling that the Out of Office work style gave them increased opportunities for bonding with their children. Whether it was taking the children to school, picking them up from school, or in fact integrating homeschooling into their work life, the opportunities for bonding seemed to be a point of consensus. Although many large organizations offer on-site daycare for their office-based employees, this is not something that smaller businesses can usually afford to offer as an employee benefit. Therefore, the attraction of actually being able to provide your own daycare, which in turn reduces financial outgoings for the Out of Office worker, is a definite benefit, both emotionally and financially.

As Kirsten Westberg pointed out when she shared her experience:

When I unexpectedly found out I was pregnant with baby number three, the stress of “How will we pay for daycare for a third child?” did not exist. I just knew that I would adjust my working hours around the schedule of a newborn, and we would not have the burden of extra childcare expenses, and I was free to enjoy the surprise instead of feel the weight of what could be seen as a burden to a family on an already tight budget.

It’s not just the ability to spend more time with children, but also the quality of that time. The connection becomes more than just childcare. Involving children in what it is you do for a living and making them a part of it is a great way to achieve a bond that those who work solely from an office would find hard to replicate, mostly because when they get home from a day at the office they simply want to put that work behind them and focus their time and attention on family matters.

Of course, having children at home during the work day can be a distraction, but the majority agreed that the benefit far outweighed the cost of having to reorganize their time around the needs of their children. A great example of integrating work with childcare came from Steph Calvert:

The biggest benefit to working at home for me is being here 24-7 for my son, Phil. He doesn’t have to go to daycare. He stays in the office with me and gets to see what I do for work first hand! While I’m working on graphic design projects on the computer, I set him up with crayons and paper on the light table so he can “help” me with what I’m doing. Sometimes when I’m inking a t-shirt illustration, he’ll ask me to Xerox a copy of the line work for him so he can color it in, coloring book style.

Brigham Young University conducted a study among IBM employees in 2010 and found that one of the benefits for Out of Office workers was what has been dubbed the Mac-and-Cheese effect. Quite simply the opportunity to sit down to a family dinner with the children recharged the adults and benefitted them as much as it did the children. That hour or so not spent commuting but instead spent eating dinner as a family unit allowed the Out of Office worker to relax and separate home from work, even if they went back to their home office after the meal.

Of course, tools such as Microsoft Word have assisted in this area with features such as “Track Changes,” but that is still reliant on the right document being sent.

Tools such as Google Docs and others allow multiple users to work on the same document at the same time and view changes in real time. This makes the process of managing changes much simpler and increases the ability for the Out of Office worker to be a part of and even manage the process, thus leveling the field.

The advent of the “cloud” environments (offsite storage as a service) provided by companies such as Dropbox are also changing the way organizations, even traditional ones, are working. Instead of important documents being stored on individual employees’ computers or even shared servers, documents are stored in the cloud, accessible by all those who need them, including those who are working Out of Office. This is incredibly important for those working as part of a team. The ability to collaborate, update, and improve upon documents, plans, and designs is essential. The organization also benefits because of the centralization of work. Rather than pieces of a project being distributed among the teams various devices, the project is centralized. If a device fails or goes missing, the project is still safe and those working on it can continue without interruption.

Those who work for themselves are more usually familiar with managing processes often because they are the only person involved in the process. Even when this is not the case and others are involved, managing a process from home or another remote location is often something Out of Office workers are adept at doing simply because of the nature of their work style. They are flexible, constantly faced with challenges that their in-office co-workers don’t face with the same regularity, and they are problem solvers. Those who don’t possess these attributes don’t usually make for good Out of Office workers and usually find themselves returning to the more traditional office setting.

I am, of course, painting broad strokes in describing the Out of Office worker, and just as each in-office worker possesses strengths and weaknesses, so does the Out of Office counterpart. However, certain traits are common to the successful Out of Office worker that transcend industry and job type and make this type of worker stronger in some areas than their in-office colleagues. Although in-office workers should know how to manage time, work well with others, and oversee processes and workflows, the Out of Office worker must master these.

Being managed and managing others remotely can also bring benefits, to both the Out of Office worker and their colleagues in the traditional office. Wes Rogers makes a very good point about those “overheard” moments in the traditional office:

I don’t overhear managers freaking out like I do when I’m in my cube in the office. This is usually a good thing and helps me be one of the most stable members of my team. In fact, I’ve even managed small teams remotely. And they didn’t have to hear me freaking out.

The amount of separation between managers and teams offered by Out of Office working can provide a buffer that allows both to benefit by giving time for situations to cool off before being presented. Even when managers have the benefit of being able to close a door to their office and discuss things with an employee, the very fact that the door is closed sends a message to the rest of the office that something is wrong. The fact that a manager can’t call an Out of Office employee into their office immediately puts a pause into the process that can often lend time to gaining perspective or allow additional information into the situation that would have otherwise not been included in the thinking.

The same is true when it is the manager who is the Out of Office worker. I have managed remote teams from my home office, and having to take the extra time to aggregate all the information before making a conference call has helped me make better decisions on more than one occasion. This benefit, of having a buffer before reacting, is something that is often overlooked when considering incorporating Out of Office work styles into a corporate environment.

We all like to think of ourselves as being good managers, or at least competent ones, and believe that we would always take the time to consider all angles before reacting, but often, under the pressures exerted by the corporate environment, we are prone to knee-jerk reactions. I am not saying that working Out of Office means that this doesn’t happen, but the ability to react immediately is reduced and therefore, as Wes has pointed out, it is more likely that the Out of Office worker or manager is going to be viewed by co-workers as more stable.

Organizational continuity is also more achievable with a distributed workforce.

In 2012, the East Coast of America was blasted by Superstorm Sandy. Lower Manhattan was flooded, and many areas of the Northeast coast were without power. The human cost was considerable; the cost to businesses was huge, with many unable to continue operations for a few days at least.

With a workforce distributed across geographical locations, the risk of this type of disruption is amortized. This is of benefit not just to the employees and the organization but also their customers. Although it sounds heartless, the truth is that if you can’t meet your client’s deadlines, even with a viable reason like a hurricane, you can and will lose business.

Having a workforce where at least some of the team is not impacted by the event allows for the company to at least limp along until normal operations are restored. That can often be the difference between retaining and losing a client, especially for a small business.

This type of risk reduction can be a compelling argument for employees looking to get employers onboard with the idea of having a telecommuting workforce. It can also be used by organizations as part of their differentiator when pitching for business to clients, especially if the organization concerned is a provider of time-critical services.

Out of Office work styles also fit with some forms of physical disability better than in-office working. This allows employers to broaden their recruitment reach and include talented individuals in their workforce that they might have previously overlooked because of the logistics involved in modifying existing facilities.

Even offering a blend of Out of Office and in-office working can be a competitive edge when looking at recruiting or retaining talent. Allowing employees the flexibility to work some of the time from home and some of the time from the office, usually on a schedule, allows both parties to benefit from the arrangement without straining the organization if they are not familiar with this type of working arrangement.

It can often be the stepping stone to allowing some employees to be full-time Out of Office team members.

This type of flexibility, especially when viewed through the eyes of employee retention, has additional benefits. As much as corporate organizations have attempted to reduce “tribal knowledge” and introduce knowledge management systems, it remains true that a considerable amount of both strategic and tactical information remains with individual employees.

Retaining these people at points where they might otherwise have moved onto other organizations is obviously a huge benefit to any company. With the right technology, organizational will, and the right people, most organizations can make at least some of their roles location agnostic.

If it doesn’t feel like work, then it is likely to be more enjoyable, and happy people are more productive. The truth is that waking up each day and knowing that your commute is two minutes or less down the hallway, or across the street to a coffee shop, is a lot less daunting than facing a mile-long tailback on the freeway.

The ability to choose to work from your couch, desk, patio chair, or anywhere else feels a lot less constraining than being faced with the grayness of a cubicle wall—even if you have managed to personalize it to a certain degree.

Organizations have to meet legal standards in the workplace, especially when it comes to health and safety. OSHA regulations, for example, stipulate what types of equipment can be used and where they can be used. So that toaster oven in an employee’s cube is very likely going to be removed because it doesn’t meet with the building code. However, for the Out of Office worker, having a toaster oven in the workplace is perfectly acceptable. Heck, they don’t even have to have it in their office; they can leave it in the kitchen.

The DVR is the friend of the in-office worker: Those favorite shows that are on when they are commuting to or from work, the late-night ones that they can’t watch because they need sleep, those fill up the DVR. The problem is, when does the viewer get to watch them? The Out of Office worker can enjoy a casual lunch catching up with shows in their DVR queue without concern—as long as they meet their deadlines, who cares if they watch a show during lunch?

How many in-office workers get a text message from their partner every day asking them to stop off on the way home to pick up something from the store? I’m sure tens of thousands of texts like that are sent every day. The Out of Office worker has the luxury of going to the store at times when it is less busy; they are not fighting with all the others who are dropping in on their way home. No, for them the grocery store is a peaceful, uncrowded place to select produce.

All of these benefits contribute to the sensation for the Out of Office worker that what they do feels a lot less like work and a lot more enjoyable than the work style their in-office colleagues endure.