Read on for the truth about remote working
Many people love the idea of working from home, while others think it would be a productivity nightmare. Read on for the truth about remote working, the advantages and disadvantages of working from home and how this new approach to work could benefit companies as well as employees.
Lack of commute
Working from home has many advantages, such as no long commute, no office politics and a more comfortable working environment. The lack of commute means you can be working as soon as you open your laptop and finished as soon as you log off. For workers in London and other large cities, this can mean many hours saved every day commuting across a busy city in the rush hour.
Working from home means you can wear the clothes you feel most comfortable in and choose your own temperature, while opening or closing your windows and blinds at will. You can also do exactly what you like more easily at lunchtime, whether that be browsing https://onlinebingo.co.uk/new-bingo-sites for the latest bingo sites, or going outside for a run. All these small differences can make your working day more pleasant and enjoyable.
Productivity
Other benefits include being close to your own kitchen, so there is no need to buy an expensive lunch out. Many small tasks can easily be done in your lunch break, such as seeing to deliveries or putting on a wash load. However, this mix of domestic and business can become a nuisance with the ability to distract you from work. So, whether you are productive from home or not can be partly a matter of personality type.
Many home workers actually find it easier to focus when working from home as there are fewer distractions, such as irrelevant gossip and other background noise. You can also avoid the pressures and irritations of office politics, along with the daily meetings! Without these small day to day irrelevancies, your productivity rate could soar. The flip side of this is that you could miss networking opportunities and the chance to brainstorm ideas with colleagues around the water cooler.
Career progression
Disadvantages of home working could include the lack of networking potential and the possibility that you could get overlooked for promotions in favour of colleagues who are physically at the office. Some people from less progressive companies could still see those who work from home as somehow being less committed to their careers. This attitude could damage a remote worker’s chances of progression within that company.
Modern technology
With modern technology, video conferencing and instant messaging, there seems little need to be in the office at all for many workers, especially those whose jobs are entirely digital-based. Instant messaging also means you can chat whenever you like at the touch of a button, so the social side of office life can also be easier to maintain.
Using the internet, laptops, tablets, Smartphones and all their mobile facilities also makes it easy to transfer out of the home and into a café, park or co-working office space. Working from home need not mean literally in your own home. As long as you can get your work done, you could take your work wherever you like.
Many homeworkers are taking advantage of the many co-working spaces springing up across many cities. These are spaces that give a social atmosphere and offer all those office facilities that can come in handy but without the presence of your own colleagues – in short, all the benefits of working in an office without the negatives of working in the same place as your boss.
Benefits to businesses
There are many benefits to businesses when they allow workers to work from home. This flexible way of working means a boost to the morale of workers as they feel more in control and happier in their work. There are far fewer sickness days taken when remote working is allowed, as workers often feel well enough to work from home, just not well enough to commute to the office.
Companies that offer flexible working opportunities are also more attractive to job seekers. Younger people moving into the job market are looking for companies that embrace modern technology and modern ways of working. People with children are also keen to find ways to combine work with family commitments without hindering their careers. Home working is on the increase and if businesses are to thrive in the future, all signals point towards the need to be open to new modes of working.
Do you work from home or would you like to?
What do you think are the biggest advantages and disadvantages of home working?
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