Are mobile workers more productive?

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Are mobile workers more productive?

afinch15 weeks ago

Looking for research that supports that mobile workers are more productive that non-mobile workers (or not) ...

Topic: Mobile & Wireless

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jimlynch 15 weeks ago

I think it might be fair to say that mobile workers may be more flexible than non-mobile workers. It seems that mobile workers are ready to adapt to different working situations more readily than those who are used to doing things in one place.

If you ask a mobile worker to head off to a different location then they tend to be more receptive to doing that than an office worker. This kind of mentality may also lend itself to floating between projects and doing more than their job description implies.

Now, to be fair, non-mobile workers may also be able to do this. Much will depend on the personality of the worker in question. Some are ready to be flexible and go with the flow, and others simply aren't regardless of mobility.

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zephyr 15 weeks ago

I've seen data points by Forrester saying that mobile employees (not necessarily remote employees) tend to be more productive -- working 20% more than non-mobile employees. I'll hunt around to see if I can find that article again.

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dblacharski 15 weeks ago

There was a study on this topic by Cisco. It was released in 2007, so it is a bit dated at this point. On the topic of productivity, it referenced Danish research (The FAMILIES project) that found workers that alternated between location were very productive, whereas employees that were always remote workers tended to be less productive than those in a traditional office environment. The main reasons cited for this was the isolation remote/mobile workers generally experienced, along with lack of access to the daily information flows within their companies. I read that as vindication for those "water cooler" conversations that are part of the office experience for most of us.

The pdf of the study can be found on Cisco's website:
http://newsroom.cisco.com/dlls/2007/eKits/MobileWorkforce_071807.pdf

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