It might come as a surprise to many of those who just assumed, prior to the coronavirus pandemic showing us different, that work was done at the office, or at the very least, out of the house, that there has been a long slow swing towards remote working, at least some of the time. It has long been known that many jobs can be done at least partially from home, and that this way of working can have huge advantages to the business in question. Let us take a look at the pros and cons of home-working and then tackle the question of whether remote working is here to stay or not.
It’s Not for Everyone
Some people are very poor at self-discipline. In fact, some people do not work well without a supervisor or manager holding them to account two or three times a day! Obviously, if Janice is disinclined to settle down to work when she is at the office, she is going to be highly unlikely to be able to get herself set up and working at the right time without managerial oversight! Others need the constant interaction with others to bounce ideas about and gain inspiration for their tasks, especially in more creative arenas, finding themselves bored and struggling to produce high quality work without that unique office-based influence.
It’s Not Always Appropriate
While much remote work can be done from home safely by using office-owned devices connected to a very safe intranet, sometimes this is not appropriate or possible. Policework, even paperwork, should not be done from a location where data can potentially be seen – even in a momentary glimpse – by members of the public; lawyers will shudder at the idea of their huge files and boxes of case notes being taken out of the secure office; and social workers often need to work face-to-face with their clients, even during trying times such as the pandemic, simply because online communication is fairly detached and impersonal, and as such, likely to worsen feelings of isolation and depression.
Attitude Adjustment Needed
Unfortunately, working from home is sometimes treated as a bit of a lark by those who do not do it themselves. There are also casual accusations of skiving – which can be infuriating to, for example, freelancers who tend to work harder for longer hours than salaried employees because if they do not complete the work they do not get paid! – there are often assumptions that because you are at home, it is fine to pop in for a chat or a coffee. And likewise, partners can blithely say things like: ‘Well, if you’re going to be home anyway, why pay that small fortune for childcare? Just bung them a few biscuits, it’ll be fine!’
None of these assumptions are either fair or correct in many cases, and working from home should be treated with exactly the same respect as working from the office: do not call in without checking first, do not assume that just because they are at home they are not working hard, and work time must be kept separate from childcare time. And if you find it challenging to manage both work and childcare simultaneously, consider additional support options.
For example, preschooling can significantly help in addressing these challenges. By enrolling children in preschool, parents can create a structured environment that can support their child’s development while also providing dedicated work time. Moreover, preschool offers educational benefits for your child and also helps you maintain clear boundaries between professional responsibilities and personal life. This separation allows parents to focus fully on their work during business hours, ensuring productivity and maintaining a professional work-from-home environment. As for the child, preschools can provide children with quality education, discipline, and other essential developmental activities at a young age. If you’re a parent considering this option but unsure where to start, you can find preschools near you by searching “Preschool Near me in Mt. Airy, MD” or your local area. This can help you discover a curated list of preschool options to choose from.
It’s Cheaper All Round
Not only do employees save on their commute – a feature that has led up to 80% of current employees to refuse to return to the office full time, asking for at least part time remote operations and threatening to resign if this request is not honoured – but the business does too. Overheads plummet when there is less water, electricity, gas and company fleet usage, and some businesses can actually dispense with physical premises altogether, thereby saving rent, business rates, and a host of overheads. When meetings are held, some of the money saved can be used to hire an office or board-room for the day, or a hotel’s conference room can be put into action. Recruiters now, such as Eagle Headhunters in London are offering remote work as standard, in a refreshing reversal from previous years when requests for remote work were treated as oddities.
True Flexibility
Workers who are at home can tailor their eight-hour shift into sections that suit their family and their other requirements, popping out on the school run, buying groceries, attending medical check-ups, and other events, and doing two or three hours here and three or so hours there. Thanks to companies like Compare Internet (https://www.compareinternet.com/ky/lexington/), individuals can now have the option to choose a flexible internet plan from an array of service providers and work in accordance to the plan that they have opted for. Many women, during the pandemic, with online schooling to deal with in the morning, have found that waking up early and getting three hours’ worth of work done, then continuing for a couple of hours in the afternoon, and then finishing up after the children are in bed, has meant that they literally can now have it all: fulfilled happy children, a full-time job, and plenty of family downtime. Men, who tend to miss the bulk of their children’s lives, similarly found they could engage both with work and with their children, to the mutual benefit of all concerned.
Increased Productivity
And if you still need a reason to be convinced, workers who work from home tend to get more work done per hour than they do in the office – and they work longer hours as they begin to measure progress by how much of the project they have completed, rather than simply ticking down the hours until they can leave the office.
