Working from home: say bye to 4 myths thanks to ING

In this article, ING talks about the rise of homeworking. As you probably already know, today almost all companies allow you to do work from home from time to time. Unfortanetely, there are still many people who don’t believe that you actually work when you are at home. Therefore, ING ollected the four most frequently occurring myths about working from home and expertly disprove them in this article! 

Myth 1: Working from home is less productive

 Netflix, that kitchen cupboard you've been meaning to clear out for ages, YouTube videos of cute cats... there are 101 distractions when you're home alone and there's no manager looking over your shoulder. And yet, employees are more productive when they work from home. There's a simple reason for this: the single greatest source of distraction is your colleagues and they're not around when you work from home. Fewer interruptions means more and better work being done.

Myth 2: People working from home can't be reached (when you need them)

'Home office' quickly becomes the equivalent of 'can't be reached'. But that isn't true either. Pretty much every company has the technology to communicate in real time with employees on site. Take Skype, for example, or Slack, Webex, Hangouts and eh... email? What you do however often see happening is that employees consciously go offline because they want to focus on tasks which require concentration. So, you can just change your status to 'hocus pocus focus', right?

Myth 3: Meetings with employees working from home are inefficient

Okay, this one is true, in principle. So yes, we're going against our own rules with this one. But the question we should really be asking is: is that due to working from home? Or does it have much more to do with meeting skills? It doesn't matter whether meetings are offline or online. Many companies are just really bad at meetings.

Myth 4: Working from home is lonely

You are often alone, working from home. But that's a conscious decision you make, for example in order to be able to focus fully on a complex data analysis which you have to get finished. Let's say you want to work from home, and feel the need for social contact; you could opt for a co-working space or one of the satellite offices your employer makes available. And of course, there's always Skype if you just have to see your colleague's silly smile. So no, working from home is not lonely. 

Bekijk ook onze lijst van startersjobs!

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Now that you know that many existing myths about homeworking are not correct, you might be wondering how working from home works at ING. This is their answer:

"Want to leave earlier to have drinks with friends or want a long lie in after a few hard days at work? Just want a day working from home because you feel the need? All this is possible, and you get to decide. Here at ING, we consider flexible working hours and teleworking self-evident. It's just the way we are. You can fulfil your role equally well through an Internet connection. Your personal balance between work and life and your well-being are a priority. We have every confidence that you will find the best formula."

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Are you looking for a first job in which you get a lot of flexibility, including work from home? Then we recommend you to check out the open vacancies at ING Belgium below!