Last week, Tesla CEO Elon Musk made it clear in internal emails that his employees must spend 40 hours per week at work or he will resign.
There are companies that don’t need this, but when is the last time they launched a new product? Musk said it was been a while in one of his emails. These emails were first reported by Electrek (an electric vehicle news website).
This approach is in direct contrast to Twitter’s April acquisition policy. Musk has threatened to rescind the deal. Parag Agrawal, CEO of Twitter, stated in March that employees had the option to work from home for “ever” or return to the office if they feel most creative and productive.
Research has not provided a clear answer to the question of whether in-person or remote work is more conducive for creativity. The pandemic has prompted a new wave scientific inquiry into this question.
A study published in Nature in April found that engineers from five countries had fewer creative ideas when they used video conferencing than engineers who met face-to-face. However, the study found that video conferencing is as effective as meeting in person to decide which ideas to pursue.
A working paper published last summer showed that employees who work remotely at an IT service company in Asia were 19% less productive between March and August 2020. However, their productivity rose 18% outside of normal business hours. This may not surprise given the stress and distractions that were experienced during the pandemic. But, 40% of the more than 30,000 U.S. workers who were surveyed between May 2020 and March 2021 said that they were still more productive at work than at home.
Jeff DeGraff is a University of Michigan clinical professor of management.
DeGraff stated that when you come up with more radical ideas, you have to focus your efforts more effectively. He said that remote collaboration may prove just as effective as in-person collaboration when it comes time to bring an idea to life.
Musk stated in an email that the office must be located where your actual colleagues are, and not some remote pseudo-office.” He also wrote about his new policy.
In Nature 2021, more than 60,000. Microsoft employees were surveyed and the results showed that remote work made it difficult for them to collaborate.
A recent study that examined video meetings found that people are more productive in collaboration. A second portion of the research involved college students working together to find new uses for bubble wrap or Frisbee. Researchers found that virtual partners made less eye contact with each other and picked up fewer visual cues which may have affected their ability to generate creative ideas.
DeGraff stated that “your brain processes a lot more than what you think” during an in-person meeting. “You are processing the mood. “You’re processing the energy.”
Jonathan Johnson, Overstock’s CEO, says it is easy to become distracted during a video conference.
Johnson stated that Johnson believes we have lost focus in meetings. “If everyone is honest, they will admit they answer emails while in Zoom meetings.”
He said that hybrid meetings with remote and in-person employees isn’t ideal.
Johnson stated that while we were productive when we were all at our homes, there was an awkwardness and lack of productivity when we were at work and at home. Johnson stated that people in the conference room felt disenfranchised, while those at home felt disadvantageous.
Adam Clairmont is a sound designer at Overit, an Albany production facility. He said that the pandemic opened up new creative avenues.
Clairmont stated that he believed his job was done in person before the pandemic began. However, his team began transmitting audio via Zoom in 2020 and even provided sound engineering services for “Nightmare Alley”. Clairmont stated that this project was more collaborative than other projects before the pandemic. This was because everyone could participate.
“A person who is editing may be in Toronto. The producer might be New York. But the talent could be located in California. They would never have been able to be in those sessions together. Clairmont stated that the pros outweigh all the cons.
Deloitte conducted a survey and found that 48 percent of workers in different industries were more creative than they were a year ago. This was when remote work was just starting.
Many employees realized that they didn’t have to work in an office during the pandemic, according to Steve Hatfield, Deloitte’s global leader for the future of work.
He said, “We used to meet up in physical meetings to do all kinds of things that don’t require us being there in person.” “We are beginning to see with greater clarity when it makes sense to be together most.
Johnson stated that Johnson sometimes feels more creative when he is not in an office setting.
He said, “When it’s nice, i go sit outside, i read or i think, and that spurs creativity.”
Overstock allows senior vice presidents to decide how often their teams visit the office. He said that some people may come in twice a week, or even once a month. However, most employees only come in for two days semi-annually.
