Working from home in their pyjamas... or naked

Is one of your team working from home today? Chances are they're probably lounging around in their pyjamas or taking your calls while they're naked.

Working from home comes with a whole host of benefits, but can you really expect staff at home to behave as they would in the office?

Let's start with the way they dress. A study by Altodigital Networks found that one in three (35%) preferred to work in their dressing gown or pyjamas, while 10% admitted to having worked naked while on phone calls with client or colleagues. Interestingly, men were twice as likely as women to dress in "office wear".

The report points out that the way one dresses may have a subtle effect on the employee's mood and attitude.

"You may enjoy being able to wear your dressing gown all day, but this may sub-consciously put you in the weekend relaxed mood and could slow you down," noted Anjula Mutanda, consultant social scientist, psychology presenter and professional author.

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Another aspect is of productivity. Among the 1,000 workers surveyed, 40% said their productivity more than doubled when they worked from home.

However, that surge in motivation peaks at just four hours a day, before trailing off. Over 40% admitted to regularly shirking work when at home, and 6% said they have skived off an entire working day.

A number of distractions come into play here. "Household chores" top the charts (27%), followed by "playing with children", and "watching TV." One in 20 also confessed to having a relaxing bath and taking a nap while on-the-clock.

Technology can also get in the way, 40% having to deal with slow internet. Another 20% faced server connectivity issues, while 11% said that the inability to connect to a printer slowed them down.

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However, we all know working from home comes with certain benefits for staff, the highest being "helping to support the employee's family commitments". One in five also benefited from workers' improved concentration, and another 15% from savings on travel costs.

"In order for WFH to work successfully, firms must have a clear and concise WFH policy which sets measurable and specific goals for their employees," said Tony Burnett, group sales director at Altodigital.

"This should be supported by an appropriate IT infrastructure that makes it easy for employees to connect to the server, print and access their relevant documents and feedback their progress to the rest of the team quickly and easily."

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