Why You Should Consider Working Remotely

A few years ago, the idea of remote working would have been described with many derogatory words like absurd, unreasonable and impossible. But since the invention of the internet and the fast pace of technological growth, the methodology of doing business has been revolutionized.

The description of a remote worker varies for individual companies. Some subscribe to the general idea of a remote worker as someone who works from home or from the environment they feel most comfortable in.

A company may consider all of its employees working in a different geographical location different from the main office as remote. That may sound a bit confusing. A few more explanations should clarify it. Such companies have these workers working in a different location from the main office possibly via a virtual office. They refer them sometimes as “distributed team”.

A comprehensive description of remote working is the term “digital workplace” invented by Paul Miller in 2009. This includes the management of workers around the globe via digital technologies such as email, chat applications, video conferencing and team software.

Irrespective of your personal or organizational description of remote working, working remotely made easy ever than before and it is sure to be improved as technological innovation continues to escalate.

Why Working Remote Is Better

The remote working concept is beneficial to employees and employers alike. If you are still contemplating on taking this leap, here are some of the benefits of the working strategy;

1. Cost Effective

Remote working reduces the money spent by employees in commuting themselves to work. This way, they can save more, buy things they really need and want without looking forward to the board increasing their salary. Researches have shown that people with reduced financial problem tend to perform better at work. Those with financial problems are more likely to waste their work time and more frequently absent from work.

For employers, the idea of working remotely saves them of lots of operational costs. Hubstaff, for instance, estimated working remotely saves them about $100,000 per year.

Forbes also reported that Aetna was able to save up to $78 million when they decided to encourage remote working. American Express reported an annual operational cost reduction of about $10-15 million via remote working culture.

Between 2012-2013, analysis revealed that Federal employees in Washington who worked remotely during four incidences of heavy snow saved the government about $32 million.

2. Improved Productivity

How is it possible people could be more productive when not supervised? Well, you can ask yourself a simple question too, “do you prefer having time to yourself to work on a task or have a boss consecutively shouting at you to get it done quickly?” The answer is undebatable. Remote workers are more productive than in-office workers. Here are few research reports to back that up.

• A Stanford Business School researchpublication reported that home working led to a 13% performance increase.
• Reduction in workplace distraction which can be easily achieved by working remotely was observed by CoSo Cloudto improve productivity by 77%.
• California State Polytechnic University study also shows that remote working improves productivity by at least 10 percent.

3. Enhance TeamWork

A lot of efforts have been made by companies to promote interrelationship. Tech startups for instance now have games like pool in the office setting to encourage relationship among workers. This is only effective to some extent but working remotely requires constant communication between team members. And the key factor in achieving interrelationship is communication.

We all know the role effective teamwork plays in good deliverability is in no small part.

4. Reduced Absence Time

There have been instances workers might need to call in sick. Most of these times, they do not feel the need to go to the hospital because the illness is mild. If it had been in the case of remote working, they can manage to get the day task done. Working remote made easy to combine their state of health with daily tasks. They will have to think less about the stress of getting to work in conjunction with how they are feeling.

9 percent of the 13 percent increase in productivity reported by the Stanford Business School research publication was due to more working hours and lesser sick days break.

5. Build Trust and Boost Morale

The fact that people can work remotely gives them flexibility on how to tackle their tasks. It also proves that employers trust them to be able to entrust them with being responsible even outside the office.

All of these boosts people moral and reduced turnover. A groupof Harvard and Princeton researchersreported that workers are willing to take 8 percent or more reduction of pay for the opportunity of working remotely.

Why would they do such? A survey conducted by Leadership IQdiscovered that 45 percent of remote workers love their jobs compared to 24 percent of desk workers. 71 percent of these remote workers strive to deliver their best on any given task compared to 65 percent of in-office workers.

Tips for Working Remotely

So, you have been contemplating on working remotely but confused about how to go about it. It is not as tedious as you think.

• Get A Workplace

If you can get extra space in your room which you can convert into a workspace. Great! Now you can work from home. But if there is no way you can work from your room especially if you are staying with your parent or have lots of things that may get you distracted, consider renting a virtual workspace very close to you. This will eliminate the stress of driving to work, plus, you can work in anytime to resume work for the day. Such locations will have everything you may need for carrying out your daily tasks.

• Communicate

You should be doing more of communication as a remote worker than when you were an in-office employee. In the office, you can easily work into your boss’ office to make an inquiry about a task. But as a remote worker, you will need to call or text them to get an update on a project or request for the details of a task.

Some companies may need you to make a time-to-time report of your progress on the project. If it is a team work, all of you will need to communicate to know how far each person has gone.

• Invest in Required Technology

The most important technology you will need as a remote worker is an internet. Make sure you have a strong and fast connecting WiFi to ease your task. Some virtual office might provide that in their plan. Check to confirm.

There are also some applications you may need to help monitor and improve your productivity. You may also consider the use of noise-canceling headphones to block off any surrounding noise and give your rapt attention to the task at hand.

• Always Make A Schedule

With no boss around to give you some push to beat the deadline and no need of waking up early to resume work early, there is a probability of being complacent. To effectively manage your time and remain productive, determine how long you wish to work daily and allocate your time accordingly. If it is 8 hours, dedicate it to seeing all tasks completed then you can focus on other things like your social life afterward.

• Take Some Time Off

You are your self-boss in the remote work environment. When you feel like experiencing some mental block, take some time off whether to eat or do something else. It will amaze you when you return, there will be fresh ideas flowing. If your company mandate the use of a time tracking software if possible discuss with the person in charge why your time may lag by specific duration and the reason you usually take the time off.

Why You Need to Start Thinking About Working Remotely

Looking through the numerous benefits and how the highlighted tips can improve work experience, you may still be doubting if it is really worth considering working remotely.

Many companies are embracing the concept having noticed what they stand to gain. According to an American Community Survey statistic, working remotely increased by 79 percent between 2005 and 2012 alone and at that time accounts for about 2.6 percent of the American workforce. In 2018, the number has increased to 4.3 million employees (3.2 percent).

Today, the number of U.S. employers offering flexible workplace option has increased by 40 percent compared to 5 years ago according to GlobalWorkplaceAnalytics.com. Most of these companies tend to be larger companies.

80-90 percent of employees said they prefer working remotely at least part-time and the Fortune 1000 companies around the world are re-strategizing their workplace to accommodate this new development. Why? Because working remotely is easy and convenient for workers. If workers are happy then invariably, they will deliver a quality result for the company.

It is important to consider working remotely as an employee or employer because the benefit is mutual for both parties.

The idea of working remotely can save you a considerable amount in renting workspace. When there is a necessity for everybody or a team to converge, you can easily get a virtual office for such an occasion.