Is Remote Working Here To Stay? 

With the onset of the Covid 19 pandemic, millions of employees had to adjust to transforming their home into their office. What was initially thought of as a temporary measure has now become routine as so many of us are entering into what is almost a year of working from home. This new way of remote working has become part of the ‘new normal’ so much so that 74% of professionals expect to continue working from home as lockdown restrictions ease. 

We have relied heavily on the advanced technology at our fingertips to enable us to work from home effectively. With the likes of Zoom, Microsoft teams and other online communication platforms, we’ve discovered that businesses can still operate effectively without employees needing to be physically present in the same workspace-  Yes the office might be shut, but for most companies it’s still business as usual. 

Love it or hate it, remote working has given business owners a lot to think about moving forward. On the one hand, remote working has proven to have many benefits. These include:

• Less office-space overheads: Paying for office space is a huge expenditure for business owners. No longer needing to pay to set up, run and maintain office space, companies have the potential to make huge savings by implementing a permanent remote working policy.
• Increased productivity: Many employees have claimed they are more productive working from home as there is less noise and distractions. However, other people have found themselves less productive at home, and we’ll go over this in just a second.
• Tailored working environment: When your office is your home and vice versa you can set up your workspace however you find most productive. You can surround yourself with indoor plants, candles, music and even work from your sofa- basically you can surround yourself with all the things that help you concentrate.
• Increased flexibility: Without the commute to make everyday, employees can pretty much choose to live wherever they like. As a result of this increased flexibility we’re seeing a number of people moving from major cities to the countryside.  For those who need a reliable and private mailing address, PO Box services offer a practical solution, allowing them to stay connected without being tied to a specific location.

There are some really great benefits of working from home, as this list demonstrates, however this doesn’t necessarily make it a better option than getting back in the office. If you’ve found remote working to be a real challenge, you certainly aren’t alone. Working from home certainly has its drawbacks, and here’s just a few of the reasons why:

• Lack of work/ home life separation: Although working remotely can free up more free time as you skip out the commute, when your office is your home it can be hard to switch off when the working day is done. There can be a tendency to overwork and many people are finding it harder to reduce work related stress.
• More distractions: Going back to our earlier point, some employees find their home space quieter and less distracting to work in, however others find it the complete opposite. For many people, their home environment simply isn’t compatible with a productive work space.
• Stilted communication: Those three letter words “you’re on mute” will haunt us for a long time post-pandemic, and they really do sum up one of the major downfalls of remote working. Technology cannot always be relied upon and virtual meetings can be stilted and less conducive to collaboration and brainstorming than in-person communications. 
• Isolation: The social aspect of work is a very important part of people’s lives and at the moment is something which many of us are missing. Working from home can make people feel disconnected from their co-workers and this is particularly prevalent in industries which are based upon collaborative work.

So, what’s the verdict?

Clearly, there are both pros and cons of working from home. Really, it’s down to personal preference as to whether or not you find remote working to be more effective than working in an office. 

With this in mind, perhaps a happy medium is the best solution moving forward. Increasingly, we’re seeing suggestions of a ‘hybrid workplace’ come into play, a culture which combines remote working with office work, ultimately giving employees more autonomy over how they choose to work. With remote working being such a divisive issue, a hybrid approach certainly seems like a viable option for a post-pandemic future which takes into account the needs of employees as individuals.