Remote working is here to stay. According to some reports 50% of the UK workforce will be working at home or outside of the office in the next couple of years.
This is a staggering statistic. It’s easy to comprehend why.

The advantages of flexible or remote working are clear. While the concept isn’t entirely new it is becoming more in place to make it easier and cheaper to do it effectively.

Effective digital leaders understand that software such as Office 365 is revolutionising online efficiency and communication. technologies like 4G/5G and WiFi shared by public networks are giving the ability.

But if you’re thinking of making it possible to work from home, or even putting together a brand new policy for remote working it’s important to know a few things to be aware of.

First of all, is it really an ideal idea?

Benefits of Remote Working

We believe that, with today’s technology – oiled by a supportive culture – the advantages for working at home could be felt by employees, and benefit our business.

On the surface there are benefits for both employees and employers. However, if you’re thinking about the effects of remote working for your team members It’s essential to be aware of a few essential things.

Here are 5 considerations you need to take into consideration prior to creating remote working policies.

1. Working Environment

When I tell people I work from home, a question occurs more frequently than others: how do I get anything done?

It is no doubt that they create mental images of pyjamas and background TV set-ups.

It is obvious that creating the perfect conditions is how productive work can be accomplished. So a comfortable, distraction-free space to work in is top of the list for would-be remote staff.

In the end, a lot of time and money is spent designing work-friendly offices. Lighting and spacing, temperature, swinging chairs. You wouldn’t put your HR manager in a basement that is damp.

Many employees aren’t keen on home visits for their boss. But to get the full benefits of working from home it is essential to provide instruction and guidance to employees for creating an environment that is comfortable and free of distractions and to supervisors on how they can manage and support their remote employees effectively.

2. Zero Commute Health, Cost and Environmental Benefits

The long commute to work every day isn’t good for anyone.

Avoiding the daily commute is among the main benefits of remote working. The financial, financial and environmental advantages alone make working from home a viable alternative.

For example:

Saves employees the cost of their salaries (often hundreds of pounds per month).
Helps to prevent staff tardiness.
Allows employees to begin work earlier.
Improved efficiency in reducing the environmental footprint (both locally as well as globally).
The organisation saves money (can provide flexible working in lieu of more lucrative wages).
Improved equality for those who struggle to travel.
Employees feel better and more relaxed.
Employees are safer (if previously they cycled or walked through bustling areas).
Employers are more healthy (if previously sitting in traffic or using public transportation).

3. Effect on working hours

One of the main issues cited by remote working is the effect it has on hours.

‘A survey of the Japanese Institute of Labour Policy and Training (JILPT in 2015) of workers who work remotely in Japan revealed how “ambiguity of working and [timeoff’ was among the top-ranked disadvantage of remote working for both women (36.4 percent) and men (39.3 percent). Likewise, research by the Japanese Ministry of Health and Welfare (MHLW, 2014) with employees from 30 Japanese businesses, revealed that 43.5 percent of those surveyed said it difficult to distinguish between work and family life’. **

Many remote workers struggle to tell when work begins and ends. Being constantly connected to the workplace, especially via smartphones, requires an effort to “clock out”. Rather than being able to simply leave the office at the end of the day.

Numerous studies have been conducted to determine the effects of remote working on hours. Certain results differ, particularly for different demographic groups. However, there is a consensus that those who are employed remotely or from home do more hours than office workers.

It’s not difficult to figure out why this happens. Contacts or emails after working hours. Contact on weekends or annual leave. “20 minutes” of sending emails on a Saturday could easily be a half hour or even two. The social and family impacts it can have is worthy of discussion.

“Right to Disconnect” law

In response, a growing number of organizations are embracing the ‘right to disconnect’ law.

The laws are designed to reduce the negative impact of continuous connectivity to the workplace by safeguarding employees’ off-work time. Often termed ‘work without end as it is known, this issue has been the focus of increasing studies and national policy.

If this constant connection occurs regularly, weekly hours build up without even realising. And while this might be good for productivity in the short run but the long-term stress on workers can be unhealthy or impossible to sustain.

Visit this website when searching for remote jobs.

4. Sickness

Policy surrounding sickness is fairly easy for office workers to follow If you’re healthy enough to be able to work, then come in; if you’re too unwell to work, leave for the day.

However, for those working from home the lines blur.

In many cases, the number of sick days that employees take when working at home diminishes. With the exertion of travelling to work snuffed out and the stress of having to travel, it’s possible to be at home, feeling tired or bunged-up but still churn out some work. Without worrying about dirty looks from desks across the street, or fearful of being caught with what you’ve brought to work.

This is great for sickness figures. However, it’s not the best for employers as well as their employees.

Working while unwell means they’re less likely of getting the rest they require to heal quickly. I’ve had times when I’ve fallen ill throughout the night, and woken the next morning suffering from a bad ache, but then began working at home. But then I’d rather fall back asleep just an hour or so later.

As for employers, although your sick-working staff might be in the office, there’s no real guarantee of the caliber of work they’re capable of doing.

For an organisation setting remote or working from home policy It’s a real balance act between looking after employees’ wellbeing, managing the quality of work produced and being able to adapt to illnesses that aren’t incapacitating.

5. Isolation and team Spirit

The isolation of your team and from the general buzz of your office is another challenge of regularly working at your home.

For many, having a quiet spot to work can be a great benefit to relax and accomplishing a lot.

In my case, I’m writing this from my personal home office; the only sound is a distant tractor , and a sliding breeze – freshly taken from the wood just outside of the window.

Compare this to our work space on Old Street, and you can see why I’m thankful to be at home.

After a while in silence, with just you thinking and occasionally a phone call or two to keep you awake It’s easy to overlook the excitement of what’s going on’. According to the Eurofound report, one of the biggest issues faced by employees who work from mobile devices is lack of communication at work. i.e. general chat. ***

Today’s technology allows sharing important information is easy. However, humans have a natural reluctance to ask your colleague if they watched anything interesting on TV last night’ through an email.

Events like daily meetings / team calls help to give this opportunity. The ability to freely speak and not be confined to daily chores and responsibilities. Not only will it help break the silence, but also keep you connected with your teammembers, to form bonds and keep a feeling of belonging.

It’s the New World of Remote Working

With the advances in technology and workers’ preferences, it’s clear that remote work is in the future.

To accommodate this huge shift, it’s essential to comprehend the implications of it. To recognize the ‘new realm of work’, which is comprised of new possibilities, new standards in addition to new workplace relationships.

The workplace of the future is basically detached from time and space. It is now all about the performance of employees over time or location.

It requires a new kind of management that is focused on autonomy and self-responsibility for employees. One that is based on accessibility to data, constructive attitude and trust-based relationships.

It has been recognised that this new way of working is dependent on 8 factors to succeed:

Excellent behavior by management.
Autonomy.
Flexibility in terms of time and working location.
Availability of information (less hierarchical organisation and accessibility to information in all times), with frequent communication (both top and bottom down).
Results-based accountability rather than work time.
Sharing your knowledge with colleagues.
Online collaboration with colleagues.
Development possibilities. ***

Remote work is in line with many recent societal changes, that are possible due to advances in technology.

With these new possibilities and more options it is time to look at the way that the working life are changing around our rapidly disappearing wall of office space. To create the ideal workplace for both the employees and employers both in the present and the future.

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