Pros and cons of working from home for children’s social workers

There are positives and negatives to working from home but there is something for each of us to take away from the experience whether that is becoming more autonomous, learning new skills, maximising our time, being able to take the children to school, effective time management, having a better work/life balance or avoiding the commute. 

Pros

Commuting

There are many pros under this one heading alone.

When you are commuting/travelling to the office it can be quite a stressful way to start the day. You are constantly aware that you need to leave by a certain time to avoid the traffic/catch a train/get the children to school. However prepared and organised you may be the night before, things do crop up in the mornings. 

Taking away the stress of the commute can significantly improve the way your day starts.

Removing the commute is also better for the environment and reduces your carbon footprint.

You are also quids in if you are not spending money on the daily train fare or petrol.

From an employer’s perspective it also maximises your time at work. For example, after I have dropped the children at school, I have a 10 minute walk home and, after I make a quick coffee, I am at my desk working. Naturally I wouldn’t be able to do that if I had a half an hour car journey to work or a train to catch.

Fewer distractions

A key part of my job is writing and so being at home in a quiet house is a far better environment for me workwise than a noisy office. Independent Social Workers, psychologists, psychiatrists, family support workers, solicitors all have to carry out some written work or need time to think about work situations and having a quiet and calming environment can be extremely helpful.

Flexible working hours

Self-employed professionals have the opportunity to decide when they are most productive. Some people like to get up early and crack straight on with work, whereas others work better in the evenings. As self-employed experts, working from home enables you to work at the most suitable time for you, providing your deadlines are met. 

Professionals who are employed by a local authority or other organisation will probably have core hours that need to be covered but there may be the opportunity for some flexibility over working hours, if discussed and agreed with your employer – particularly if it enables you to work when you are most productive.

Family time/spare time

When you have finished work, if you are working at home, your working day is complete. Again, you miss the commute which means your time is maximised to spend with your family, children or friends or doing more of what you want to do.

Schools

Working from home enables me to take my children to school and collect them which is really important to me. I find teachers are far more likely to discuss any issues/problems/achievements with parents than childminders or friends collecting children. Having that link with school is beneficial for my children, the teachers as they know they have access to me every day if need be and my children and teaching staff knowing that I am supportive of their education. While this is something that is important to me - there may be other things that you need to do which working from home enables you to do.

Avoid office politics

There can be office politics within some organisations which can cause problems for some employees. Self-employed expert social workers and psychologists frequently tell us that it is a contributory factor to becoming independent as they don’t want to be dealing with office politics or red tape/bureaucracy. Sometimes, some members of the team get on better than others which can result in ‘cliques’ forming and some people just don’t need the hassle of getting involved or don’t want to work where there is an atmosphere and this is pretty much eliminated through working from home.

Cons

Talking cases through

WillisPalmer chief executive Mark Willis recalls how the knowledge he accrued by osmosis when he was an assistant social worker by sitting alongside experienced social workers was an essential part of his training. Working in an office and sitting alongside team members can be a really useful way of disseminating cases, coming to decisions and generally talking things through. There is the risk that this is lost when you work from home but that doesn’t have to be the case. With the enhanced technology available to us, there is no reason why a social worker or psychologist can’t schedule a Zoom call, even over lunch, with a colleague to talk things through. This has to be a two-way process of support so that both parties benefit when they need to discuss cases. It may be more ‘planned’ and require more effort than a general chat at the water cooler but it can still be effective and ensure that important dialogue and support mechanism isn’t lost.

You can also set up a Microsoft Teams group where team members can log in and keep each other abreast of important information and things that should be shared.   

Line management

It may feel that managers are more accessible in the office as they are visible but that does not have to be the case. Your line manager should be providing you with regular supervision at least monthly and it is vital that in the new advent of working from home that team managers are freed up to provide their team with much-needed support and regular scheduled ‘catch ups’. If this isn’t integral to working policies and procedures then there is the danger that team members can feel isolated, lonely and it could impact negatively on their mental health.

Eating more and moving less

It was widely reported at the time that many of us put on a few pounds during the lockdowns and there is a risk that when you work from home you may eat more and move less which is not a healthy combination. However, it doesn’t have to be the case and in fact, working from home can be utilised to eat more healthily and get those important steps in.

Social life

In my 20’s a lot of my social life was linked to my work life meaning I would meet friends after work for drinks or dinner as there was nothing that I needed to rush home for. Twenty years later, I am less of a social butterfly and my children and family are my priorities in the evening. I can see that for younger employees working from home can impede a social life, especially in larger towns and cities where the office is the ‘meeting point’ and people live across a larger geographical area. But working from home doesn’t have to be the death of a social life, it may just need more planning and organising than ad hoc dinner after work.

Isolation

Many professionals have struggled with feelings of isolation since working from home, and this is particularly acute among people who live alone or those who have just joined a team. Learning a new job while working from home and without the support of peers physically around you can be challenging and elongate the induction process. Going forwards, managers will need to ensure new recruits feel supported. If you are feeling isolated, utilise technology to keep in touch with your colleagues such as setting up a Microsoft Teams group. Keep lines of communication open with your manager and let them know if you are struggling.

Clare Jerrom is head of PR and marketing at WillisPalmer. This blog is published in full on the WillisPalmer website.