As work-from-home arrangements become more widespread, managers need to stay up-to-date on the trends and technologies shaping remote workplaces. This blog post will highlight emerging remote work trends, challenges, and opportunities.
Lockdowns caused by the pandemic forced many companies to switch over to remote work, leading them to reap many advantages both employees and businesses alike.
Hybrid Work Models
Before the pandemic hit, many progressive companies embraced remote work practices and permitted people to work from anywhere – eliminating commute times, spending more time with family, and finding their own productivity. Unfortunately, some found working from home lonely and restrictive to their creativity.
To promote team member wellbeing and ensure an inclusive workplace, fostering communication between team members and company leadership is of utmost importance. One way of doing so is providing collaborative tools such as video conferencing, chat/messaging solutions and digital whiteboards as ways of supporting this communication process.
Hybrid models combine the benefits of both worlds, requiring some people to come into the office while others work from home. Your organization may implement a fixed hybrid work model which specifies a number of days each employee can either be at home or in the office each week; for example, payroll and HR teams could go into the office Mondays and Wednesdays while working remotely on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
Virtual Offices
Virtual offices allow businesses to work remotely without incurring the expense and hassle of leasing or purchasing an entire building, leasing services such as cleaning and maintenance and paying utilities bills for that time period. They’re significantly less costly than bricks-and-mortar offices; many virtual office providers even provide month-to-month contracts so users have flexibility in changing their business needs as required.
Virtual offices provide solopreneurs a way to present themselves professionally by giving them a legitimate company address, mail handling services and access to meeting rooms and phone answering services – while still enabling them to work from their homes or local coffee shop. Virtual offices also work well as tools for companies who frequently travel, providing a means of staying in contact with clients, customers and partners via location services.
Employees working remotely must remain engaged and productive by engaging in team-building activities, social gatherings after work hours or other forms of face-to-face contact – this helps build credibility within remote teams.
Collaborative Hubs
Companies who successfully manage remote work tend to experience higher employee retention and reduced turnover rates, yet remote workers may feel disconnected from company culture or any sense of belonging due to not interacting with colleagues daily.
Company leaders may find it beneficial to assess how remote work policies could be modified in order to enhance team member communication and collaboration. Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer recently decided to end her company’s telecommuting policy in favor of inviting all employees back into the office for work purposes.
An effective way to increase productivity and teamwork is through remote collaboration tools like ViewBoard interactive flat panels. These tools facilitate meetings by allowing teams to share content, record video conferences and make on-screen annotations from a centralized device – known as network-oriented collaboration which emphasizes building professional relationships both inside and outside your organization while stimulating innovation through accessing diverse knowledge bases.
Outcome-Based Performance
As remote workers have less direct interactions with coworkers, it may be more challenging for them to build team camaraderie. Furthermore, technology issues or insufficient internet connectivity may impede productivity.
Another challenge associated with telecommuting is the blurring of work-life boundaries for remote employees. A study discovered that many teleworkers tend to associate their home with their jobs and experience professional obligations frequently intruding upon personal time (Personnel Psychology, Vol 62 No 2, 2015).
Employers can help mitigate these challenges by creating clear remote work agreements and providing resources that support effective communication, employee well-being and team collaboration. In addition, they should regularly evaluate the efficacy of their teleworking strategies to ensure compliance with employment laws and jurisdictional standards; and be ready to adjust as necessary – ultimately realizing the positive results associated with teleworking while drawing top talent from across the globe.