To Zoom or not to Zoom?

By Monica Grainger, MSW, RSW Recently, a NY Times writer David Streitfeld published an article, “The Long, Unhappy History of Working From Home,” claiming people are more productive working at the office than working from home. Streitfeld cited research dating back to the early 1980’s to 2009 where prodigious companies, such as Google and IBM, declared there was greater productivity, team innovation, creativity, and availability if employees worked in the office compared to working from home. Research dating back 40 years investigating the plausibility of working from home versus in-office work is outdated and tangential with the advent of online video conferencing. Applications, such as Zoom, Face-time, and other online Hiipa compliant video conference technology, are more sophisticated in our present time and available to a larger population. Hence, team innovation and creativity, accountability, and availability are now made possible for many work groups to meet through video conferencing.  […]