I’ve always believed that people are more productive professionally if they are present in an office and preferably one that is a little too small so that they are almost forced to collaborate and share ideas. But have I been sold a narrative that doesn’t stand up to statistical analysis? An excerpt from Richard Branson pushing back at the anti-telecommuting arguments of Marissa Mayer and Michael Bloomberg:

“The debate about remote working has raged for the past week following Yahoo! CEO Marissa Mayer’s opposition to her staff working from home. Now Michael Bloomberg has said he’s always thought working from home is ‘one of the dumber ideas I’ve ever heard.’

I have enormous respect for Michael Bloomberg and have rarely disagreed with anything he has done or said. However, on this occasion I disagree completely. Many employees who work from home are extremely diligent, get their job done, and get to spend more time with their families. They waste less time commuting and get a better work/life balance. To force everybody to work in offices is old school thinking. …

The key for me is that in today’s world I do not think it is effective or productive to force your employees one way or another. Choice empowers people and makes for a more content workforce.

In 30 years time, as technology moves forward even further, people are going to look back and wonder why offices ever existed. Do you agree that offices will one day be a thing of the past?”