Working From Home: Trust, Technology, and the Truth About Productivity

When I worked in the workplace industry in London, I found myself at the intersection of two fascinating things: technology and human behaviour. It was a space where innovation met psychology, where we weren’t just designing office spaces but redesigning how people worked.

Working from home was encouraged. It wasn’t seen as slacking off, but as part of a flexible ecosystem. People worked from home, in coffee shops, at client sites, or hot desks in different offices. Our tools made it easy: desk booking systems, smart room booking tech, collaboration platforms. We had the infrastructure to support freedom. The focus was on outcomes, not location.

But not every workplace operated like that.

I’ve also worked in environments where working from home was completely frowned upon. Managers saw it as bunking off. One HR manager even told me, quite seriously, that he didn’t believe people were working when they were at home. I told him that maybe he shouldn’t project his own behaviour onto everyone else.

Because here's the thing: working from home does require discipline. It's not for everyone. But that doesn't mean it's ineffective.

A Massey University study reported that 51.3 % of hybrid workers in NZ felt more productive working remotely versus office-only setups.

Too often, poor management gets mistaken for poor productivity. If you can't trust your team unless you can see them, maybe the problem isn't the team. It’s a lack of trust, or worse, a lack of understanding about how people actually work best.

We’ve all seen both sides of it. The manager who sends you a passive-aggressive message if you’re not green on Teams at 9:01. And the leader who empowers you to own your time and deliver great work, wherever you are.

The technology exists. The tools are there. What’s still catching up is mindset.

The CBRE NZ Office Occupier Survey (2024) found 91 % of workplaces used hybrid models. Average in-office attendance rose from 3.2 days/week (2023) to 3.3 days/week (2024). Most organizations saw a positive impact on culture from hybrid work, especially in Auckland, where commuting burdens are heavier.

Working from home isn’t a trend. It’s a cultural shift. And like any shift, it challenges assumptions, exposes gaps, and forces people to reflect on their own ways of working.

And maybe that’s a good thing.