How well does remote work work? Let’s find out! 

Remote work has been a hot topic and potential option for years, but the COVID-19 pandemic pushed many U.S. companies towards remote work whether they were ready or not. Having such an unprecedented and unplanned transition into remote work has left many employees and employers with an overarching question: what comes next? In this blog, we will discuss options for remote work and how both businesses and employees can benefit and make the most from this memorable shift in work life.

From Wake Up and Roll Into Work, to Wake Up and Roll Out of Bed

Let’s get into what exactly remote work, work from home, and work from anywhere means. Remote work is simply work that can be done outside of the workplace office or location. Work from home (WFH) is an option for employees to either partially or fully work from their home rather than the office, usually allowing for more schedule flexibility and a comfortable space. According to a Harvard Business School paper discussing workplace flexibility, the main difference between work from home and work from anywhere (WFA) is that WFA also allows for geographic flexibility in addition to temporal flexibility since there is no solid tie to a workplace space. 

The COVID-19 pandemic gave many companies, especially in the tech and business sectors, no option but to switch to WFH models for their employees. An MIT research experiment found that since the start of the pandemic, the amount of employed Americans working remotely increased from 15% pre-COVID-19, to roughly half of working Americans. Due to this sudden change in work as we know it, many adjustments in communication and workplace culture were necessary to make this WFH model flow as smoothly as possible for employees and employers alike. Some examples of these adjustments include increased use of video communication platforms such as Zoom and Google Hangouts, and other communication, brainstorming and project management platforms such as Slack, Airtable, and Miro. 

With uncertainties surrounding the end to the pandemic and return to some sort of “normalcy”, the future of office work and work culture is still unknown and could potentially be changed forever. In fact, according to a Wall Street Journal article, Twitter has already announced a permanent work from home option for employees, while a few other tech giants such as Google and Facebook have permitted employees to work from home at least for the remainder of 2020. So, it’s time to consider and weigh the impacts of remote work options!

Company Perspective

As previously mentioned, many tech and business related companies were thrown into large scale remote work with very little notice or experience. Tech companies all over the U.S. had invested in their workspaces and offices significantly over the past few years, according to the previously referenced WSJ article. Now that enclosed work offices are currently a no-no when it comes to COVID-19 preventative measures such as social distancing, the potential financial benefits of remote work for companies are being highlighted.

The most obvious and impactful financial gain for companies from remote work is the declining need for work offices. If companies will no longer be able to operate in their work offices at full capacity and a portion of employees choose remote work, the companies will ultimately save money on real estate and office space expenses. An NPR article explains how this aspect of remote work could be a win-win-win for companies like Nationwide, for example, who save money from remote workers, and can then apply those savings in the form of discounted prices for their services, thus also reeling in more consumers.

Some lesser known benefits of remote work for companies include an increase in productivity, performance, engagement, retention and profitability, according to a Forbes magazine article. Specifically regarding productivity, many employers expect for their employees’ productivity to decrease when not in an official work space; however a New York Times article pointed out that the opposite actually happened for many companies. Productivity increased due to employees working without interruptions and in a comfortable environment. 

As with any new and unprecedented change, there are also company concerns about remote work. Since productivity and performance unexpectedly appears to increase with remote options, the main concern of major tech and business companies is the cohesiveness of their employee teams. With employees either having to or opting to WFH or WFA, their interactions with coworkers will be limited and potentially strained. Improved workplace culture through open communication and remote positive episodes of engagement will help to boost team morale and collaboration.

Work(ers) From Anywhere

Yes, zoom fatigue is a real thing. Aside from this and a few other potential setbacks such as overworking and lacking communication, WFH and WFA options have a plethora of benefits for workers. Buffer, a social network managing application, conducted a survey that gathered remote work insights concluding that employees are most content when they do approximately 76% of their work remotely.  An Entrepreneur.com article lists the following remote employee benefits as main gains from WFH and WFA:

• Lower commute-related stress levels

• Improved productivity 

• Higher levels of job satisfaction

All of these benefits of remote work go hand-in-hand - remote work eliminates the need for a daily commute, which saves time and money, which improves productivity both in and out of work, and can ultimately improve the overall employee job satisfaction and health. As far as remote work setbacks including overworking, communication issues and distractions, this article advises that these issues can be managed through creating a designated work space and time frames to structure a work day from home (or anywhere). 

To most employees, the term “remote work” equates to WFH. While WFH is the most common form of remote work, WFA is definitely turning heads as a viable future remote work option. The concept of WFA essentially enables remote employees to work from any geographic location, usually within a specific country. This model of remote work can vary from working in public spaces and coworking spaces near one’s home (pandemic-permitting), to even working while travelling to different cities and states - like a digital nomad! WFA is a great option for entrepreneurs who are self-employed and while WFA is currently the least common form of remote work, it may be increasing in popularity and here to stay as remote work becomes a necessity for employees beyond the pandemic.

Closing Remarks

Remote work is here now and it will likely be here to stay long after the COVID-19 pandemic ends. It is important to understand the options for remote work and what the pros and cons of those options may be, for both employers and employees. WFH and WFA are only slightly different options of remote work, but can make a world of difference to employees searching for the most ideal option. It appears that right now, the best option to combat issues like loneliness, overworking and poor remote collaboration would be a relative balance of in-office and WFH days. 

When considering remote work, you can ask yourself a few questions to get yourself thinking about what your workplace needs are:

• What is the biggest challenge with your current work situation? How can you overcome this challenge?

• What does your ideal work week look like?

• What does your ideal work setting look, sound, or feel like?

• When, where, and with whom do you do your most productive work?

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