Seminar: politely disagreeing

Tom: Honestly, I think the evidence is pretty clear. People are just more productive at home. No commute, fewer distractions.

Tutor: Any other views on that?

You: I see where Tom's coming from, and I agree about the commute. But I'm not sure I'd go as far as saying it's always more productive.

Tom: Why not?

You: Well, I think it depends a lot on the type of work. For focused tasks, like writing code, yeah, home is often better. I worked remotely for two years, so I know that side of it.

You: But for things like training junior staff or brainstorming, I found it much harder. You lose all those quick, informal conversations.

Tom: But you can just jump on a call.

You: True, you can. It's just that, in my experience, people don't. A new colleague won't book a call for a two-minute question, they'll just stay stuck.

Tutor: So you're distinguishing between individual and collaborative productivity?

You: Yeah, exactly. And I think some of the studies in the reading only measured individual output, which might explain the difference.

Tom: Okay, fair point. Maybe 'always' was a bit strong.

You: I mean, I'd probably still choose home most days myself, to be honest!