The benefits of distance

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What’s the optimal distance to sit from your boss? Did you even know there was an optimal distance to sit from your boss? If you’re a boss did you know that it makes business sense for your employees not to sit too closely to you? Just as well that with all this newfangled technology people don’t even need to sit in the same office anymore. They don’t even need to sit in the same building anymore, or town, county, country even. Hooray for IT and mobility.

According to a report in the Telegraph, researchers in the Netherlands have found that it is better for everybody if employees don’t sit too close to their managers.

The research found that if employees were physically closer to their boss, they also felt psychologically closer to them. The further away they were, the less closer they felt psychologically

The research found that the closer employees were to their manager, the more likely they were to emulate their misconduct and treat subordinates unfairly. The research found that if employees were physically closer to their boss, they also felt psychologically closer to them. The further away they were, the less closer they felt psychologically.

Gijs van Houwelingen, a researcher at the Rotterdam School of Management in the Netherlands, told the Telegraph that “distance is a very useful tool that can be used to stop negative behaviours from spreading through an organisation. It creates the freedom to make up your own mind”.

Of course, bosses and managers anxious not to lose control (and sight) of their employees might argue that the research unfairly presupposes that their management exhibits negative or unfair traits.

On the other hand, employees could legitimately argue that the further away they are, the more effective they will be.

I think this could be a win-win for IT resellers and vendors. Armed with the paper (which can be found here) they can sell managers technology for management, monitoring, collaboration and communication (desktop or mobile). In turn, managers can feel confident of offering mobility to their employees.

And distance.

Read More: mobility offices People Productivity research