It’s important for business leaders and employees to strive to improve productivity levels by paying attention to how exactly their working hours are spent.

Today, marketers around the world work under three main organizational models – office, hybrid (flexible), and remote. To understand whether marketers feel more productive (and happy) when working in the office or at home, a survey of 117 professionals in the United States was conducted. Let’s take a look at what each model represents and what to keep in mind when conducting a job search.

All-in-office teams

This concept needs no special introduction. Full-time office teams were the norm before the pandemic, and even now, this approach remains highly common.

• It is a mistake to think that “among people” always means together.

• According to several companies, office workers devote no more than 66% of their time to direct work. The rest is spent on chatting, drinking coffee, and other activities.

• Commuting is a huge part of an in-office job: many workers must look for “a job near me” to avoid spending hours in traffic.

• Only 22% of respondents said that they always work in the office – others prefer hybrid work or even fully remote work.

• During the pandemic, 44% of remote workplaces demonstrated high reliability. This trend helped reduce the number of in-office workplaces.

• Continuous stimulation, known to be present in most office workspaces, might reduce the productivity of neurodivergent workers.

• Cyberloafing, or simply “slacking,” is a common trend in office spaces. While someone may look enveloped in work at their desk, they might in fact be involved in personal tasks. As the cliche goes, in the office you could be working hard or hardly working.

Hybrid (flexible) teams

This model maintains the physical workspace while allowing employees to divide their working hours between home and the office.

• More conservative companies require a minimum amount of time to be spent at the office, such as two or three days a week.

• Other companies and advertising agencies are more flexible about hybrid work, giving their staff an option to choose whether and when to work in person. In these conditions, some might even work remotely from 9am to 5pm every day.

• Another variation, asynchronous work, is when standard working hours are not set, and employees can complete their tasks any time. Of course, if the total working hours amount to the required number.

• Today, about 49% of marketers involved in digital marketing services report working in a hybrid model.

Of course, the hybrid model also comes with its downsides:

• Reduced team productivity. With some colleagues are in the office and others online, it’s challenging to maintain high levels of creativity, collaboration, and continuity. This is a significant drawback for integrated marketing companies.

• Disorganization. Online jobs require a significantly higher amount of self-discipline, meaning that workers are more likely you are to miss meetings or lose track of tasks.

• Reduced team cohesion. Spontaneous feedback is a huge part of a productive workspace; without it, productivity and even motivation levels might go down. This is especially true for prolonged marketing campaigns.

Fully Remote Teams

Fully remote teams are technology focused. A successful example is Automattic, the parent company of WordPress.

• 29% of their respondents said they always work remotely. 

• There is never a shortage of productivity jokes in conversations about working from home (“Take regular breaks” and “Go outside at least once a day” are common reminders in the lives of remote workers).

Despite being quite effective, this approach also has immediate productivity issues:

• Time theft. Instead of spending time socializing with co-workers in the office, home workers may spend time during the workday folding laundry or running personal errands. Some might even be looking through job search sites while on the clock.

• Accountability. Without supervision from managers and social pressure from co-workers, employees choose not to go out of their way to show up on time and work hard all day.

• Tool overload. Managing remote teams requires purchasing new software, tools, and even more complex LinkedIn website management to find suitable candidates.

Other interesting data to consider:

• Office spaces tend to have fewer distractions compared to home offices.

• Home can be a more productive environment.

• Employees report higher morale levels while working from home.

• Work flexibility is in high demand.

• 58% of U.S. workers say they were allowed to work remotely at least one day a week since the pandemic.

• Remote workers report higher levels of satisfaction and happiness.

• AI is helping to remove barriers to collaboration.

Not all workers are more productive at home than in the office, but leaders are seeing their teams thrive when they allow employees to choose the most productive environment. Remote work is not a passing trend: “jobs hiring near me” becomes a less popular search every day.