BranchOut

BranchOut works as an app in Facebook but its aim is slightly different from the regular FB applications. What we usually have in mind when thinking about Facebook apps are those designed to help us deal with our free time, are entertainment oriented and in general, become amusing applications to kill the time with.

But this one is different. BranchOut is the Facebook answer to Linkedin or Xing, and its aim seems to connect people for professional purposes, starting with your own Facebook friends network. Very much the same as the other two mentioned platforms. Oh, and you can even import your profile from Linkedin.

Home Office

Credit: Carlos Porto

As a result of a conversation, this issue lead to a list of pros and cons which may be helpful to detail.

Due to the inner nature of this kind of job, it would be suitable for those jobs related to an IT environment in which most of the times the only devices needed to perform it are reduced to a laptop and a phone. Visits to the office are really not so mandatory and there are no large files and plenty of paper around . 

Many more pros and cons can be deeper analyzed than the ones listed below. And as said before, home office practice cannot be applied to many jobs, only those with limited equipment, office oriented and usually, linked to the new technologies field.

Pros:

- the company decreases its investment on facilities. Less room, less lease. Plus other minor expenses.

- reduction in atmospheric pollution. A worker who does not have to commute means one less car in the highway.

- autonomy in the workplace (home). This worker can manage its time in an efficient fashion. As we will see later on, that this can be a tricky issue.

- a big step in terms of family and work life balance. 

Now,  the cons:

- lack of interpersonal relationship with co-workers, since there is no or not enough time spent in the office.
- absence of motivation coming from the worker himself. He can be at risk of getting bored, or in a low mood to excel at work.


- no supervision by management. Many of them prefer to track what they workers do in close supervision. This can only be possible by reuniting in a same place both workers and managers (office).