BEN 22 – Telecommuting: Back to the Office

Discussion Questions

1. Is telecommuting common in your country/industry?

2. What advantages/disadvantages do you think telewok has?
3. Do you agree or disagree with Marissa Mayer's decision to stop Yahoo's work at
home program? Why or why not?
4. How do you think technology will change the way we do work/study in the
future?

Transcript

The question of “live to work or work to live” has been around for decades, with
many employees trying to strike that perfect work-life balance. As Forbes notes,
employees around the world benefit from the use of modern technology to do their
work in the comfort of their own homes:

“Working at home, or from coffee shops or parks, seems by many in Silicon Valley
to be a birthright. Facebook, after all, was invented in a college dorm room. The
idea is that you don’t need to sit in a cube to be creative — in fact; innovation
doesn’t come from within an office. It thrives every place but there.

Recently though, Yahoo’s CEO, Marissa Mayer, made some waves with her
decision that all employees must work their 9 to 5s in the office. In a memo to
Yahoo employees, Mayer explained:

“To become the absolute best place to work, communication and collaboration will
be important, so we need to be working side-by-side. That is why it is critical
that we are all present in our offices. Some of the best decisions and insights
come from hallway and cafeteria discussions, and impromptu team meetings.
Speed and quality are often sacrificed when we work from home.”

As with all debates, there are pros and cons to each side, with supporters and
critics claiming that telework is either good or bad for business. As the USA
Today reported:

Proponents of telecommuting point to numerous studies showing that people

who work from home are on average more productive than other workers and that
telecommuting cuts down on traffic during peak hours, reduces companies’ real
estate costs and improves employee morale, leading to less turnover.

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One computer programmer told AllThingsD that working from home made him far
more productive than being in the office. Why?

“I didn't have to put up with numbskull programmers constantly yakking to

each other from the next set of cubicles about non-work-related stuff, and I
wasn't getting distracted every 20 minutes by some bored soul coming over to my
desk to go for coffee or foosball.”

While working together is logical for many professions, others, such as software
design and telephone sales, could be easily performed remotely. But, as CNBC
points out, new ventures need to reflect carefully before they make the choice to
allow telecommuting, or not:

Getting employees together, and pushing people out of their comfort zones is
needed to drive innovation. We always muse about the three guys in a garage
creating the next Apple or Facebook. Did you ever notice it's never three guys in
three separate garages?

For others, the argument is that virtual work can lead to less face-to-face
communication and social interactions, lack of trust among co-workers and
managers, or a loss of team spirit. The NY Times reviewed studies showing that
the drawbacks can be serious for both the employee and the company:

One Stanford study found that the rate at which home-based workers were
promoted dropped by 50 percent, seeming to confirm the cliché “out of sight, out
of mind.” That is bad for workers who are passed over, but it is also bad for
employers because they might be wasting the talents of potentially great
managers.

Whatever side you take, at the end of the day, a job is something that we cannot
take for granted. As TalkPoint CEO Nick Balletta concludes, those who have been
milking the system need to understand that times are changing:

Telecommuting, once a novelty and a very practical solution in some situations,

has now become an entitlement. An entitlement that in many cases has been
misused, or dare I say, abused. People need to remember that it's called "work"
for a reason."

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Vocabulary

Telecommuting/Work at Home/Virtual Work: A process by which employees can

perform job responsibilities at a site other than their primary business location,
often in the home environment. Through the use of technology, employees can
perform work remotely, instead of physically commuting.
Live to work or work to live: A popular saying that poses the questions: Is your
career the most important aspect of your life. If you “live to work,” it implies your
career is more important; if you “work to live,” then in general you view your job as
just a means to make money.
To strike: To find, negotiate, or make an agreement; “By striking a deal with the
marketing agency, Jaka was able to save our company thousands of dollars.”
Work-life balance: The amount of time you spend doing your job compared with the
amount of time you spend with your family and doing things you enjoy.
Birthright: A right, possession, or privilege that is given to someone at birth;
“Universal healthcare is a birthright of all Canadian citizens.”
Dorm/Dormitory: A communal residence usually found on a college/university
campus; “Omen spent his university years living in the dormitory on campus.”
Cube/Cubicle: A small area for work or study; “Dexter came by my cubicle a number of
times today to ask me to help him with something; I got hardly any work done!”
To thrive: To succeed, do well, or prosper; “Social media advertising is a sector that
has really thrived in the last 5 years, and will likely do so in the near future.”
To make waves: To change an existing situation in a way which causes problems or upsets
people; “Some workers felt it was not the time to make waves by organizing a union.”
9 to 5: A standard 8-hour working day (including a break); “For many people,
working 9 to 5 is a very difficult way to make a living.”
Collaboration: Teamwork, alliance, or cooperation; “Moe and Tammy’s collaboration
in this project helped them defeat all of their competition.”
Critical: Very important, crucial, or serious; “It’s critical that these packages be
shipped tonight, otherwise the clients will not receive their products, and we will
lose a lot of money.”
Insight: Understanding, awareness, or comprehension; “Could you please share
your insights on what it was like living in China?”
Hallway: Corridor; “The new paintings on the walls along the hallway were done by a
local artist.”
Cafeteria: A communal meal area in a school, office, restaurant, or hospital; “Most
cafeterias are known for serving food that doesn’t taste good, but the one at my
company is fantastic!”
Impromptu: Unplanned, spontaneous, or improvised; “The CEO asked Marcello to give an
impromptu speech to the staff regarding the new financial policy changes at the bank.”
To sacrifice: A loss or something you give up, usually for the sake of a better
cause; “Parents sacrifice time and sleep to take care of their children.”
Pros and cons: Positive and negative side/aspect.

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Critic: A person who usually makes negative judgments or comments about a
person, thing, or idea; “He may be a critic of his company’s new mobile phone
policy, but I don’t think anyone will change their position.”
Proponents: One who argues in support of something; “Natalia is a proponent of animal
rights, and works with local non-profit groups to help them whenever she can.”
On average: Generally speaking, typically; “On average, she teaches about 30hrs a
week, but with the transportation strike, she’s only able to teach six this week.”
To cut down on: To reduce or limit; “With the high gas prices, companies have tried
to cut down on the amount that staff travel around the province.”
Real estate: Land plus anything permanently attached to it, and can be residential,
commercial or industrial; “Abad started his career in real estate, but then moved in
to the hospitality and tourism industry when the crisis began.”
Morale: The degree or amount of mental confidence/happiness of a person or
group; “Staff morale improved when Mason become head manager.”
Turnover: The rate at which staff/employees in a company start and quit their job.
To put up with: To accept or have to deal with; “I’m getting very tired of putting up
with unhappy customers all day long. I need to find a new job.”
Numbskull: Stupid or unintelligent person; nitwit.
To yak: To speak a lot; “Every time I go to the copy machine, I see John in the
break room yakking away on his phone to his girlfriend.”
(Non) work-related: Having to do with, or be related to work.
Soul: Person or emotion; “Catherine is one of the kindest souls I have ever had the
pleasure of meeting.”
Foosball: A table game resembling soccer in which the ball is moved by moving
rods to which small figures of players are attached – also table soccer.
Logical: A reasonable or obvious choice or decision; “While Shaune seemed like a
logical choice for that position, the company decided to hire someone else.”
Remotely: In a remote or distant way; “Drone airplanes are controlled in the United
States to attack targets in the Middle East.”
To push: Force to move in a certain direction; “Ken always pushed me to be a
better manager and I owe a lot of my success to his leadership.”
Comfort zone: A situation, place, or position in which a person feels secure, comfortable,
or in control; “Spending a year traveling can really put a person outside of their comfort
zone, but it will also be an experience they will never forget.”
To muse: To think, consider, or contemplate; “I mused about the offer to move
back to Asia, but logistically it just didn’t make sense for me.”
Face-to-face: In person; “After meeting each other regularly on Skype or telephone, it
was great to finally meet my students face-to-face when I traveled to Germany.”
Team spirit: The spirit of a group that makes the members want the group to
succeed; “Successful companies like Facebook, Google, and Apple put a lot of
emphasis on developing team spirit.”

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Drawback: Disadvantage, downside, or negative; “The only drawback to this plan is
that we can’t find enough well-qualified candidates for all of the positions.”
Home-based worker: Someone who works based out of their home.
Cliché: An overused or predicable expression or idea; “It may sound cliché, but we can
see the light at the end of the tunnel, and we’re starting to come out of the recession.”
Out of sight, out of mind: If you don't see someone or something enough or at all,
they are easy to forget.
To be passed over (for): To not be considered for something; “George was passed
over for this contract, even though he has a lot of skills and experience.”
To waste: To use in a poor or careless way; “The amount of time and money we’ve
wasted on this awful idea is incredible. Our company has lots millions of dollars!”
At the end of the day: In the end, as a result; “At the end of the day, it’s just a
small mistake, and you shouldn’t feel too bad about it.”
To take someone/thing for granted: To underestimate or undervalue; “Caterina
took for granted how difficult her university studies would be, and now she needs to
work harder than ever.”
To milk the system: To take the most possible out of the system using it to your
absolute advantage; “After years of milking the system, the government finally
realized that he was lying about his disability and forced him to repay the money
that they had given him.”
Novelty: The quality of being new, interesting, and unusual; “After using only her
small 10” netbook for two years, working on a full-sized computer was a novelty.”
Entitlement: An object, idea, or situation that someone is entitled to have or
receive; “Entitlement programs in Canada such as Student Loans, Social Security,
and Health Care are what make it such a great place to live.”
To misuse: Improper or incorrect use of something; “Government officials were
suspected of misusing public money (taxes) for their own benefit.”
To abuse: Repeated and deliberate/intentional improper or incorrect use of
something; “The verbal and mental abuse at their company became so bad that the
staff called the labor relations board to come in and investigate.

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Language Review

A. Collocations
Match the words in each column to make a collocation from today’s lesson. (Look
for collocations specific to this lesson, as more than one answer is possible for some
words.)

1. Strike a. Meeting Strike a deal

2. Milk b. Zone Milk the system
3. Impromptu c. Morale Impromptu meeting
4. Staff d. A deal Staff morale
5. Comfort e. Market Comfort zone
6. Real Estate f. The system Real estate market

B. Review Quiz

1. According to the article, why did Marissa Mayer choose to stop the telework
practices at Yahoo?
a. It was costing too much money.
b. Employees were unhappy.
c. To improve productivity and performance.
d. To reduce pollution costs.

2. Which of the following is NOT a reason to work at home?

a. Employees can spend more time with their family.
b. More face-to-face time with coworkers.
c. Less time spent in traffic.
d. More comfortable work environment.

3. “Mr. Kirk’s decision to expand our company during this economic crisis is very
__________.”
a. Unlogical
b. Alogical
c. Logical
d. Illogical

4. The expression, “That’s not even remotely possible” is closest in meaning to:
a. It’s absolutely not possible.
b. It’s maybe possible.
c. It’s probably not a good idea.
d. It’s no problem.

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5. “His stories about working with professional athletes were great at the
beginning, but after a while the __________ wore off.”
a. Musing
b. Novelty
c. Thriving
d. Comfort

6. “Rumors around the __________ are that the CFO will be fired at the end of the
month.”
a. Critics
b. Balance
c. Foosball table
d. Hallway

7. “Vodafone and their work unions have not yet __________ an agreement with
each other; they may be forced to cut some staff.”
a. Strike
b. Striked
c. Struck
d. Strikes

8. “We __________ that he would stay with us for another two years, but his new
job offer was very good.”
a. Put up with
b. Took it for granted
c. Turned it over
d. Made some waves

9. “You’re __________ to your opinion, but I strongly disagree!”

a. Entitled
b. Birthright
c. Cutting down
d. Passing over

10.“I appreciate the __________ effort your time put in on this task. It’s excellent
work.”
a. Collaborating
b. Collaborated
c. Collaborative
d. Collaborately

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Answers

A. Collocations

1. Strike a. Meeting Strike a deal

2. Milk b. Zone Milk the system
3. Impromptu c. Morale Impromptu meeting
4. Staff d. A deal Staff morale
5. Comfort e. Market Comfort zone
6. Real Estate f. The system Real estate market

B. Review Quiz

1/c 2/b 3/d 4/a 5/b 6/d 7/c 8/b 9/a 10/c

Online Practice

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