On Marissa Mayer, Yahoo, and How We Work

Op-Ed by Allen Bacon, The Daily Bosco

I was a bit perplexed recently about the discussion and flack over Yahoo's CEO Marissa Mayer's decision ordering all her telecommuters back to work.

I thought we were beyond that conversation.

In the age of technological devices that allow us to work anywhere and anytime, each leader of a company has a decision to make and the decision is:  Does telecommuting work for my company and my employees?

I would argue in the case of Yahoo and companies like Google, Facebook or Twitter, due to the fact that there is so much collaboration involved, that their creative teams need to be able to get together for face time at a moments notice.

Sometimes the video-conferencing program Go To Meeting just doesn't do the trick.

And you will notice that within the aforementioned companies work environments that they have created space for independent and creative work.  The office layouts are legendary, providing a stimulating environment and experience.

My personal and current work experience happens to be a hybrid model.

Because of my industry's (I'm in the Printing Business) nature, it just makes more sense to be at the shop most of the time.  This is because we are having press checks with clients or because of the creative side of the business we need to be able to collaborate on site in a central location.

So we have created an environment conducive to that.

But there are certainly parts of my job that allow me to work away from the Central Work Space.

I, and others I know, commute to work and we have been known to have meetings with clients while we are traveling or there are certainly functions of my job I can do while I am "on the road" or at my home office like estimates or billing, etc.  I know several people in sales that their office is their car or their home or they have a home office.

Certainly, when I wear my hat as a Writer and Editor, I can do that anywhere.  In fact I find that changing sceneries stimulates my brain and imagination.  My best writing occurs in what I call my rolling office, the train.

But that's just me.

The point is, What is the way you work best and are the most productive and that makes you happy?

Each of us individually need to make that decision. And, company leaders need also to find out what is best for their situation.

And if you don't like the work environment, maybe it's time to either change it, have a discussion with your Manager or move on.