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Remote work, home office and managing digital teams
As a result of the corona pandemic and social distancing, more and more companies have started to let their employees work from home. Whether at a desk, on the couch, in a café around the corner or maybe even from the beach. The modern working world usually no longer consists of five days nine to five in an office. Creative professions and IT in particular were pioneers in the remote working movement. Developers, designers and graphic artists often work flexibly and independently from anywhere. All you need is a laptop and a stable Internet connection. But traditional companies and many marketing departments have also learned to deal with home offices and flexible working models in the last year and find new digital ways to unite their employees. Anyone who is currently looking at application portals will find more and more remote work offers. It is now clear that these location-independent forms of work will become increasingly important, especially in the future.
More quality of life and work
Some studies have already shown the positive effects on the well-being of employees and employees if they can choose their workplace flexibly and adapt it to their private lives. By working from home, travel times and excruciating traffic jams in rush hour traffic are eliminated and they can start their leisure activities right after work. This leaves more of the day and the time gained can be filled with family or hobbies. This usually strengthens the well-being and motivation that employees bring with them. Productivity can also be increased due to a lack of distractions (for example from an open-plan office).
Diverse teams and fewer location disadvantages
Employees are not the only ones who benefit from these flexible working methods. Remote working also offers clear advantages for companies. In recent years, medium-sized and smaller companies in particular have often found it difficult to assert themselves in recruiting against major local competitors and have suffered from an ever increasing shortage of skilled workers. With the option to work remotely, employees from different cities and even countries can be hired. This reduces potential location disadvantages, allows the number of applicants to be significantly increased and also offers the opportunity to set up diverse international teams. In addition, there can also be a financial advantage by requiring fewer spaces in office space and thus saving money on rent and equipment.
New ways of working, new challenges
Of course, working remotely and collaborating in decentralized teams not only brings benefits, but also new challenges. Employees need particularly good personal and time management in order to get into working mode and work productively even without the work environment and colleagues on site. Here, the spectrum ranges from people who are unable to motivate themselves at home to employees who do not stop working and no longer keep break times. There is also possible isolation as there is a lack of personal contact with colleagues. This can be counteracted with regular virtual meetings, coffee breaks via Skype or digital team events. However, personal contact will never be completely replaced. As a result of these lack of points of contact, belonging and a sense of responsibility towards the company can also suffer. For managers in particular, this means that they must adapt their management style to digital forms of work and value that every employee is integrated and informed.
Digital work, the working world of the future?
Even though more and more people are currently working from home and companies are slowly opening up to this work concept, there are still many conservative companies that are anchored in their old structures. Here, employees are usually not trusted enough to work from home. In the long term, however, the working world will develop towards flexible working models as a result of progressive digitization in many areas. Here, it is usually no longer the time at work that counts, but the tasks completed and the end result. However, companies need some technical requirements to implement it, such as a uniform messaging system and/or a collaboration tool that allows employees to access content and information. With the right conditions and the necessary trust, you too can offer your employees an ideal working model.