Collaborative post – may contain affiliate links
It seems to be one of the key aspects of growing a business now, especially because it’s viewed as a very cheap way of growing your empire, remote working is proving extremely popular from both perspectives, from the employer, as well as the employee. We’ve all thought at some point how we would like to work from home, neither because there are certain strains in our life that we could do without, such as the dreaded daily commute, but does the remote work model actually benefit anybody? Let’s have a look at it from both sides.
The Employer
The main issue that employers have with remote working staff, once you take into account the reduction in cost, is the communication aspect can be very trying. Depending on your business, such as if you’ve got people working for you all over the world, this can add another layer of frustration to the issue. Time zones, not replying to emails as soon as possible, as well as trying to liaise even once a month with an employee, can be a bit like pulling teeth. Another frustration to add on top of this is all dependent on if you are working with very specific programs. Lots of companies communicate with their workers via commonly used tools, such as Hangouts, or use Google Docs for sharing documents and so forth. But if your company is niche, and requires the use of a specific program, or you need to develop software, it is vital that you have the adequate protection in place. There are business resources, such as Network Solutions, that you can utilize, to protect your servers, or to implement a sophisticated server that you would use for remote workers, but also you need to think about the impact of the amount of devices that are being used for this work. One small virus on a smartphone that uses the software, and potentially your data will be stolen, and your business will crumble soon after. Remote working has a lot of benefits, but communication, as well as computer usage, are the two problems that need addressing at the outset.
The Employee
There have been various debates on the work from home setup from the perspective of an employee. And while it is down to the person themselves to set up a productive working pattern, every person who works from home, regardless of their stance within a company, whether they are at the bottom of the pecking order, or they are running the company, can benefit from some strict measures to ensure they work productively. Anybody working from home needs to set a specific working pattern, and although the draw of sitting at home in their pajamas on the couch does sound very appealing at the outset, it soon loses its charm. From the perspective of an employer, you should instigate a two-way system of communication, one where they are able to check in on you first thing in the morning, or they are contactable throughout the day. This is one issue that will not only help the employer keep tabs, but it helps the employee to remain productive.
The idea of remote working is very popular, and it can work, but you do need to think hard about if it’s a structure that, firstly, lends itself well to your style of business, but also if it lends itself well to you as the employer. Would you rather people work in this disparate fashion or do you want a team of people that gel and work together?
Growing Forward 