Should you work from home or at the office Science has the answer

Should you work from home or at the office Science has the answerShould you work from home or at the office Science has the answerAdam Grantis a world-renowned organizational psychologist, the top-rated professor at Wharton, and a curator of theNext Big Idea Club.Daniel Coyleis theNew York Timesbestselling author ofThe Talent Code,The Secret Race, andThe Culture Code The Secrets of Highly Successful Groups. WhenThe Culture Code became an official selection for the first season of the Next Big Idea Club,Adam and Daniel sat down to discuss productivity, creativity, and the surprising truth about where high-quality work happens.Follow Ladders on FlipboardFollow Ladders magazines on Flipboard covering Happiness, Productivity, Job Satisfaction, Neuroscience, and moreAdamI think belongingness is something we all look for at work. We crave it- we want to be part of a community. But were losing that sense of community in our workplaces. When Ive looked at the data, especially in the US, peop le are much less likely to have friendships at work than they were a few decades ago. It seems like the social fabric that were looking for at work is disintegrating. What have you found is most critical to reestablishing that and giving people a sense that they truly belong?DanielBeing in the same space together for vast chunks of time- physical, face-to-face proximity- thats the killer app. Its the way were wired. Youre actually 34 times more likely to respond favorably to a request face-to-face versus email. If youre just talking about productivity, you can succeed alone, but if youre talking about creative groups, proximity ends up being really important.AdamWhere does that take you on flexible working and teleworking? Theres a meta-analysis showing that as long as you work in the office at least two and a half days a week, theres no cost to productivity- and people are more satisfied when they get to work from home a little bit. Theres a recent Nick Bloom experiment showing tha t if you let call center workers work from home, theyre 13% more productive. Its not just because they save commute time- its also that theyve been given real autonomy. They have flexibility around where they work, when they work, and how they work, and they dont feel like theyre being micromanaged. How do you reconcile that with the fact that you want people to have real proximity?DanielYou have to divide your work into two domains the ones where you need proficiency, and the ones where you need creativity. If it is just pure productivity, then remote work actually works pretty well. But creative work is a different animal. Ben Waber did an interesting study where he had teams of engineers deal with problems remotely, and teams of engineers deal with problems face-to-face. The face-to-face ones brought up the problem and talked about it four times more often.AdamI have a problem with that though, because I almost exclusively work from home. Are you telling me that I would be four t imes more creative if I went into an office?DanielIt depends. A lot of your work is just about productivity, like if youre writing a book. I know how that feels, where it feels like digging a ditch, or maybe building a house. A lot of times when youre hammering nails and putting up boards, its efficient to be by yourself. But if youre deciding on the layout or designing how the ceiling should look, you should be with a group.To watch the rest of Adam and Daniels conversation, join the Next Big Idea Club todayThis article first appeared on Heleo.You might also enjoyNew neuroscience reveals 4 rituals that will make you happyStrangers know your social class in the first seven words you say, study finds10 lessons from Benjamin Franklins daily schedule that will double your productivityThe worst mistakes you can make in an interview, according to 12 CEOs10 habits of mentally strong people