Remote working has become a part of everybody’s life. Even though you have not experienced it yourself, there is a great chance of you knowing someone who works remotely, or at least, you are familiar with the concept. Due to recent events with the COVID-19 pandemic, remote working has become even more popular than usual. In fact, many businesses seem to like how things are going in the remote working environment. So, it is likely to stick around for a while longer, or perhaps, ever.
Of course, there are those who have the option to choose. Perhaps your company left the decision to you, or you are the boss, and you need to decide whether remote working is a better option than the traditional in-office working. Or, maybe you are planning to quit your job and apply for a remote position. There are tons of reasons to wonder whether remote working is the right option.
Luckily, we are here to talk about the main advantages and disadvantages of remote working. After you read this article, you will have detailed information about what are the benefits and downsides of being a remote worker.
Without further ado, let’s dive into the topic!
Remote Working: The Pros and Cons for Employers
When we are talking about remote working, we are talking about a considerable change in the environment, working style, and basically all the key aspects of the professional life. Of course, this kind of a change will bring some advantages, and also takes away some benefits of the traditional way of working. Now let’s briefly see what changes in a remote work environment and how it can be a pro or con for remote workers.
The first difference between remote work and traditional ways of working is the environment you are working in. If you have worked in an office for quite a while or have never been a remote worker, it might be challenging to understand how you can optimize your workspace. This may lead to lack of productivity and motivation if not appropriately handled – but keep in mind that there are absolutely many different ways of optimizing your environment while working remotely!
Another thing you can experience while working remotely that can be considered a disadvantage is decreased social support. In traditional ways of working, generally, you are working with many other people in your team and seeing people all the time even when you’re not talking to them. That’s a huge plus of working in a traditional environment, and once again, if you do not know how to handle it, it might be an issue for you and your employees.
Of course, there will be different benefits of working remotely, and statistics show us how beneficial remote working can be, especially for those who are struggling with productivity and maintaining a work-life balance. There is a tendency for productivity to increase and work-life balance getting better for those who are working remotely. Those things can have a huge impact on your employees’ life, so don’t overlook them!
An obvious benefit of remote working is the fact that you will be spending less money while you are at home. The costs of transportation, gas, food and even clothing decrease. And, it’s better to work from home for the sake of environmental issues, especially for decreasing carbon footprint!
Now that we made a general introduction to the pros and cons, let’s see them in detail.
Pros of Working from Home
It’s for sure that working from home brings some benefits to employees’ lives. Let’s see what those benefits are.
Productivity
We mentioned how productivity can be both a struggle and a benefit for a remote working environment. But it seems like it is more of a benefit since the statistics show us remote workers claim they are more productive while working remotely. In this case, the lack of other people and lack of office distractions might be playing a role in increased productivity.
Work-Life Balance
Working in an office takes more of your time in comparison to remote working, especially when we are talking about a working style when you do not need to “go” to work. Everything can be handled on your computer. This small but efficient difference creates wonders for remote workers in terms of maintaining a balance between life and work.
Flexibility
Another important benefit of remote working is flexibility. In some sense, employees are becoming their own boss on a daily basis while they are working. This will allow them to manage their time and focus whenever they are more efficient. Moreover, flexibility also plays a role in productivity and work-life balance.
Cons of Working Remotely
Of course, it is possible to discuss the cons of working remotely. The following are the possible disadvantages that might be caused by a remote working environment.
Distractions
We mentioned how the absence of office distractions can play a role while increasing productivity. But, how about the distractions at home? Moreover, the lack of supervision in the remote work environment can lead to getting more distracted, especially if you are working from home and near your bed.
Lack of Collaboration
As you may remember, we’ve discussed the lack of social interaction as a disadvantage of working remotely. Taking that one step further, working remotely can also harm the collaboration and team spirit within a workplace. Especially if you are a part of a team and usually work in a collaborative manner, physical absence of your colleagues can harm your efficiency and motivation. Moreover, being around people you work with tends to give some sort of responsibility, which is another explanation for why your efficiency might decrease.
Management
Another downside of remote working is management in general. If you are an employer, you will relate to this more. As we mentioned earlier, in an environment where you can physically supervise your employers, it would be easier to do that. It might not always be possible to know what they are doing at a given moment, and they might not always tell the truth.
How is remote work changing the workforce?
Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, remote working was not as ordinary as it is today. However, today, anyone can see the popularity of remote working. Both companies and employees seem to make remote work a part of their life.
We discussed the pros and cons of the remote working environment. However, in practice, it seems like pros are overrunning the cons. Statistics in 2021 show us that 30% of organizations will continue with a semi-remote working model with most of their employees. It is expected that 25% to 30% of all workforce in the USA will be remote, which is a great number of people.
The feedback from employers, employees, and statistics demonstrate that remote work will change the workforce drastically, and not for a short period. The influence will continue for extended periods and most likely become a regular part of our lives.
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Originally posted on November 24, 2021 @ 10:12 pm
