Advantages and disadvantages of remote work
After the coronavirus crisis, many IT companies have moved to either total remote work or hybrid work. Home office is a work model in which the work processes do not take place on-site at the company, but in their own four walls. In this article I want to give a closer look at the advantages and disadvantages of working from home.
I also want to share some tips for working remotely, as well as ways to counteract the possible disadvantages of working from home and create the best possible conditions for productive work in the home office.
Advantages and disadvantages of working from home
Due to the coronavirus crisis, many IT companies have switched to total remote or hybrid work. Home office is a model of work in which work does not take place on site in the company, but within your own four walls. In this article, I want to present you to the advantages and disadvantages of working from home.
Current remote work legal status in Poland
The regulation of remote work in Polish law results from the Labor Code, all information on this subject can be found on the website of the Ministry. Personally, I will not elaborate on this topic further, because this is not the purpose of my article. I will focus mainly on presenting the advantages and disadvantages of home office.
Advantages of working from home for the Employer
Working from home makes the company more attractive and increases the potential pool of candidates.
Home Office attracts more potential candidates due to the fact that there are no geographical boundaries and the company shows itself as a flexible and forward-looking employer who responds to the needs of employees and shows them recognition and trust. The great advantage of home working is therefore the increase of employer attractiveness. This benefit shows the company as a modern one in a highly competitive labor market and allows you to get the desired specialists!
Environment protection
One of Monogo's values is ecology and acting for the planet. Nowadays more and more people want to live sustainably and actively contribute to the protection of the environment. Working from home fits perfectly into an eco-friendly lifestyle. Those who work from home do not have to commute to work by car, among other things, and thus reduce CO2 emissions.
Fixed costs savings
If the workplace is moved to a home office, you can reduce office space and save on rental costs. In addition, the following fixed costs may be reduced:
● electricity costs
● heating costs
It should be remembered however, that the employer is responsible for ensuring that employees working from home are equipped with the necessary equipment for work.
Advantages of remote work for the employee
Travel time and costs savings
The time saved and travel costs saved are important advantages of working from home. For drivers, this means no more time spent on waiting in traffic jams on the way to work or looking for a parking space. In the case of people using public transport, saving time and costs incurred to buy tickets.
Less distraction at home
Working from home may enable you to find time for focused work and avoid distractions. Colleagues on the phone and buzzing printers are hard to ignore in everyday office life. When working from home, employees can set specific focus times.
Employee satisfaction, combination of private and professional life
The home office offers employees flexibility and a better work-life balance, which can result in greater employee engagement and job satisfaction.
Disadvantages of home office
Lack of social contacts and isolation
It’s not a secret that working in the office is a great opportunity for social contact. In the office we meet, build mutual relations, participate in "face to face" meetings. Working from home can cause feelings of isolation, which can, in the long run, negatively affect well-being and motivation to work. The climate of working together in the office affects team integrity and work culture. It's hard to feel like you're in the same boat when you've never met.
Communication issues
Remote work creates further challenges: the exchange of opinions and views with employees, requires the use of other work tools and requires from managers additional effort while communicating with employees. Communication through available communicators does not always turn out to be sufficient and effective.
Blurred line between work and personal life
Some people working from home emphasize that the border between work and personal life is blurring. Many people can't say to themselves, "I'm not working from this point on" and just turn off the computer. The fact of not keeping this border, may affect negatively the employee's worklife balance.
How to be a remote worker? Here are the 6 golden rules that I recommend
Take care of the workplace
While working from home, it’s very important where and how you work. Take care of an ergonomic workplace: a clean desk, a suitable chair will be OK, while working from the sofa in the living room may negatively impact your concentration and will adversely affect your health. A fixed work structure is crucial for concentration. That's why an important part of the rules of the home office is to stick to the morning routine. Get up on time, take a shower and have breakfast.
Stick to set working hours
Stick to set working hours. Thanks to this, you will stay in touch with colleagues and superiors and thus maintain your work life balance. Set a framework when you focus on work, reply to emails to avoid stretching tasks for the whole day.
If you have the opportunity to adjust hours for conceptual work and meetings with your team or client, do so taking into account when you are the most productive.
Track to-do lists
Turning on the computer, replying to emails, calls, replying on chat… lots of small tasks that you need to remember. But when, for example, the doorbell rings, the thing that you wanted to do is quickly forgotten. That's why a to-do list is a good idea, even if you're working from home. Completed tasks are marked, which in turn, helps you monitor the amount of work you've done.
Avoid distractions
Often there is a will to follow the rules of the home office, but then small distractions appear, which take a long time and interfere with concentration. Therefore your household members should be aware that remote work does not mean constant availability, and homework is done after working hours.
Take breaks
Those who work productively and follow the rules of home office can lose themselves in this atmosphere and let the hours pass. Therefore breaks are very important for keeping the efficiency. Breaks will enable to look at work from a different perspective. They also create new energy for future tasks.
Reward yourself
After a few days or weeks of working from home it's hard to keep motivation high. A completed to-do list provides satisfaction, but rewards trigger even more motivation. A cup of fresh coffee for a particularly well-done task or a longer break after a difficult problem solution are small rewards spread throughout the day that show how valuable your work is and increase your ambitions.
Summary
Both working from office and working from home have their advantages and disadvantages that every employee should be aware of. For well-established teams with clearly defined tasks, working from home is not a problem. Hybrid work is a great option, for example, three days in the office and two days at home. These are the rules we have implemented in Monogo.
Thanks to this approach, employee motivation and productivity are at a high level, projects are delivered on time and with the highest quality, and people in teams take care of each other.