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We are excited to announce that we will be taking a short vacation break. For the next two weeks, we will be disconnecting from the digital world and enjoying some much needed rest and relaxation. Oh, and these hypothetical figures account for increased utility bills and food at home, in case you were about to bust out a “well, actually” in response. Yes, reducing the commute also means having more money in the bank. Many like to make the conversation about remote work black or white— either everyone is in the office, or everyone is remote. Rebecca Knight is currently a senior correspondent at Insider covering careers and the workplace.
He would also make himself available for special meetings at headquarters, even on short notice. “I realized that it’s a sacrifice for the company, so I have to be flexible,” he says. GettyIf you are a manager, managing remote workers requires that you throw out just about everything you ever learned about managing people in the first place. It is becoming increasingly likely that you may never physically meet the people that you are managing. For those in publishing, this is par for the course, and indeed the advent of video conferencing is letting many editors and writers actually meet one another face to face, even if through a screen. Video conferencing serves a very real purpose, in that it gives managers in particular a chance to “read” their workers’ faces, which is a surprisingly valuable tool.
Becoming a GREAT remote meeting moderator AMPS up your online meetings
For many people, working a 9 to 5 job in an office works best for them. And those options should remain available to those who prefer the routine. But for me, a quieter work environment, better control over my calendar, no commute, and easy access to care for my children’s needs would have given me a greater chance at managing my obligations at home while still advancing my career. After a year where many of us worked from home to find that productivity has improved, businesses should continue to offer remote work arrangements to best support their employees. Most offices have open floorplans where employees work close together with little to no barriers or walls between them. They do have some benefits, like the ease of collaboration among employees as well as access to more daylight.
At a moment’s notice I can talk to any team members, or any other team for that matter… in any state we work in. I now talk to more people face to face than I ever did at our actual office space. A UK survey showed people who are home working saved five hours a week on average commuting and saved £50 (€56) a week as a result. As well as the advantages, employers have concerns about collaboration, office culture and “onboarding” new recruits and some employees reported feelings of isolation.
Types of Companies to Look For
But what happens when an employee working from home gets injured? Companies may overlook implementing workplace safety protocols in remote environments until it’s too late and claims start stacking up. Normally, if an injury occurs in the workplace, liability falls to the employer and Workers’ Compensation covers the case. Regardless of your job or where you live, a commute to the office can take up large portions of the day. The average American commute in 2019 was 27 minutes each way, which adds up to approximately 200 hours per year for a full-time employee.
When considering these two factors, a half-time remote worker increases their productivity by the equivalent of 16 workdays a year. More remote work doesn't just bring in more time and money, it also benefits the health of employees. After about six months at the company, this “wasted productivity” was getting to him. In a previous job he’d worked from home four days a week, and he knew he needed to ask his current boss if he could do something similar in the new role.
Zoom Fatigue: A New Type of Physical Discomfort
Sometimes it can help for certain tasks to be performed before or after the traditional “working day.” Think about some ideas around this if you’re seeking more flexibility around when you work, as well as where. In a recent case, a work-from-home employee began to experience the signs of a developing MSD. The employer hadn’t provided home-office equipment, and after several months, the employee paid for her own equipment.
When I was dependent upon locked down devices, it might take a month or more. At a typical consultant’s hourly rate, that down time meant that such consultants were being paid around $18,000 a month per person to wait for someone in IT to provide network access, or roughly twenty equivalent laptops. One of the biggest changes is that remote work tends to shift work relationships from numbers of hours worked to specific goals being met.
Building Positive Remote Team Culture One Step at a Time
And, in the case input is required from several peers, a group meeting can promptly be set up. When Splashtop first launched the WFH initiative in Asia, we were lucky to have access to remote software. Working from home with Splashtop software is better than taking my computer home because many resources reside on the office network, and some are limited to access from the office network. It is also safer than taking my work computer home and directly connecting via my home network. No one could imagine that a few weeks later, Splashtop and many other businesses in Asia would close their offices due to the coronavirus outbreak.
Anything is possible if you exude confidence in your ability to do the job with a non-traditional schedule. If your company is adamant that you return to the office, try negotiating the terms. This might mean asking for an extension or trial period to address any concerns, or compromising on a hybrid of in-person and remote work, with plans to revisit your arrangement later. The transition from collaborating, managing, and maintaining relationships in a physical office to replicating those interactions in a virtual environment wasn’t easy for everyone, Gass says. It’s one common reason why companies want to bring back employees. “It’s really important that everyone feels comfortable with how they are accounting for that physical presence that they don’t have virtually,” she says.
And by now, you’re probably used to using Zoom or Microsoft Teams to connect with others. If you don’t have such a system yet, encourage your employer to give one a trial run so you can maintain communication and they can check in to see your progress on your projects. Wade would continue to live and work in San Antonio, both at the company’s office and at home, but he would spend three days in Houston every other week.
If you find that there is no pre-determined guidelines, you may need to forge your own path. Creating a plan for communicating can give your manager an extra level of comfort. Plenty of case studies have shown that the option to work remotely can reduce absenteeism anywhere from 26 percent to 88 percent. That’s actually kind of a hilarious window between two figures, but even the bottom number of 26 percent is a vast improvement. Remote workers said they gained an average of 35 working minutes a day due to fewer interruptions at their home . If making a case to continue to work at home, your boss needs to know that you’ll be pulling your weight and producing quality work.
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There is less small talk and more direct communication in Zoom meetings, making it easier to get to the point and accomplish set goals. Team members who take time to help others rather than relying on their personality to succeed may do better with virtual work. With decreased anxiety, more people can step up and share ideas, which is a win for both the employee and the company. As long as core working hours are met so meetings and other collaboration can take place, flexible hours accommodate everyone, especially as companies become more global. Some people are the most energized when they first wake up.
In many cases, you'll probably be able to find a business case that supports a personal preference to work from home. For example, while you may personally enjoy no longer having to commute, it actually gives you more free time to handle personal matters, which can enable you to be more focused and productive during work hours. Long considered a perk reserved for company all-stars and senior leaders, the ability to work from home has been introduced to millions of office workers, across all levels, in an effort to slow the spread of the coronavirus. Now, as professionals across the U.S. have adjusted to a new way of working, major companies including Twitter and Facebook announced plans to allow employees to continue working from home forever, if they so choose. Another perk of the office is real life interactions – those conversations that happen by chance in the lounge or at lunch time. However, I would argue the video call can be even more effective and efficient if used well.
Global Workplace Analytics researchers add that 95 percent of employers report that telework positively impacts employee retention. The Standford survey corroborates with research showing that employers providing remote work options cut their attrition rates by 50 percent. There are many reasons why employers would prefer to have all of their employees on-site.
