Communication Technology and
Inclusion Will Shape the Future of Remote Work
In the past, remote employees have had a bad
reputation. Many employers believed their workforce would be too easily
distracted at home, where their managers couldn't keep an eye on their direct
reports.
Remote work was very rare a decade ago.
Working from home was usually only available as a special arrangement to
accommodate families in specific cases. However, teleconferencing and telework
technology have advanced to the point where some businesses thrive with
completely remote teams. In fact, it's not uncommon for businesses to allow
their employees to work from home once or twice a week.
Remote work can also help prevent the spread of illness, helping
companies avoid lost productivity and protecting public health. For
example, the outbreak of COVID-19 prompted many employers to shift to a remote work model
for all employees possible in a bid to limit the spread of the coronavirus.
To determine the effectiveness of
communication technology and working remotely, we'll examine the history of
working remotely, the current state of the workforce, and predictions for the
future of remote employment.
Is remote working effective?
A decade ago, most employers would have balked
at the idea of employees regularly working from home. One major concern most
employers had for working remotely was a loss of productivity. How productive
and efficient can an employee be when they're not under constant supervision by
co-workers and supervisors?
To better understand the effectiveness of remote work, Airtasker surveyed 1,004 full-time employees – 505
of whom were remote employees – throughout the U.S. about their work habits and
productivity. The results indicate that remote workers are actually more
productive than their
office-based counterparts. The study found the following:
·
Remote employees work an additional 1.4 more days per month than
in-office employees, which is nearly 17 additional workdays a year.
·
Remote employees take longer breaks on average than office
employees (22 minutes versus 18 minutes, respectively), but they work an
additional 10 minutes a day.
·
Office workers are unproductive for an average 37 minutes a day,
not including lunch or breaks, whereas remote employees are unproductive for
only 27 minutes.
·
15% of remote workers said their boss distracted them from work,
which is less than the 22% of office-based employees who said the same
thing.
While these statistics may encourage both employees and
employers to implement a work-from-home program, remote employees also reported
higher levels of stress and more difficulty finding work-life balance than
office-based workers. However, according to the American Psychological
Association, remote work can increase employee satisfaction when implemented correctly.
Ultimately, working remotely is effective, but
it has to be put into practice correctly, and it may not be the best situation
for every employee or every business.
How
remote work has evolved
There
was a time when remote work as we know it wasn't even a possibility, because
the technology didn’t exist. If your colleagues and business partners wanted to
get in touch with you when you were out of the office, they couldn't email,
text or direct-message you. You would've needed to provide an alternative phone
number, a pager or even a fax number to have a work-related conversation. Even
full-time "remote" positions were different from what they are today.
"Ten years ago,
remote employment basically meant a telemarketing or customer service position
at below minimum wage," said Samantha Lambert, director of human resources
at website design company Blue Fountain Media.
"It rarely was connected with a full-time career. Now, technology affords
us the ability to get the same job done, no matter where in the world we are. It
has enabled us to be in contact with co-workers or clients at any time."
One of the most helpful technologies
for seamless remote work is video conferencing. Live
video feeds help out-of-office workers see and speak to one another in real
time, anywhere with an internet connection, which is the next best thing to a
face-to-face meeting. But this capability wouldn't be possible without the
widespread broadband internet adoption of the past 10 to 15 years.
This technology has
advanced so quickly that many companies have even done away with traditional
offices and instead run their businesses out of coworking
spaces to accommodate their largely remote workforce.
"Shared
office spaces, where remote employees can gather to work, have been created and
are more widely available in different cities," Lambert said. "This
in itself represents the growing amount of remote workers in recent
years."
Remote work also presents
unique opportunities in the face of crisis, such as a natural disaster or an
epidemic. For instance, as COVID-19, commonly known as the coronavirus, rapidly
spreads worldwide, the ability for many workers to perform
their job duties entirely from home can help protect
both the public health and the continued success of the business.
The
current state of remote work
Because
of these advances in communication technology and internet access, teleworking
has become an accepted practice in many offices, both in the U.S. and globally.
This type of work isn't done entirely from home: Remote workers turn to coffee
shops or co-working spaces, and some even travel the world while maintaining
their career goals.
"The modern
workforce is increasingly mobile, collaborative [and] dynamic, and comprises
multi-generations, all with differing communication preferences," said
Stacey Epstein, CEO of Zinc. "These workers
span multiple industries … all who represent unique challenges when it comes to
staying connected while on the job."
However,
many companies have resisted this work trend for various reasons. Some business
owners may fear a lack of productivity in their employees, while others haven't
invested in teleconferencing and telework tech to support remote workers.
Still, many other businesses have dipped their toes in the remote workforce by
creating a work-from-home policy for one or two days a week, or as an exception
for a few employees.
According to a survey
by Buffer on remote work, 75% of remote workers said their companies
don't cover internet costs, and 71% said their employers don't pay for co-working
spaces for their employees. These stats are marginally better than the previous
year, in which 78% of companies didn't cover internet costs and 76% didn't pay
for co-working spaces. While the desire and expectation of working remotely
increases significantly every year among the workforce, companies are only
slowly adopting remote-friendly policies.
On the
other hand, adopting a remote working policy can save companies money by
removing the need for expensive office space (or satellite offices) while
allowing workers the freedom to create their own schedules and work from
wherever they please. It can be a win-win situation.
What the
future holds
Fast Company predicts
that remote work software, like mobile work tools and virtual reality
conferencing, will become the preferred form of communication – even over
face-to-face meetings. AI will also likely play a major role in managing remote
staff.
These
advancements might put companies more at ease. The transition to managing a
remote workforce might be daunting, but with the right tech and hardworking
employees, it can be a seamless process.
In the long run, fighting
the change may do more harm than good. Many employees now expect remote work
opportunities. According to Buffer, 99% of current remote workers would like to
work remotely, at least some of the time, for the rest of their careers. That's
nine points higher than the figure from the same
survey in the previous year.
Furthermore, according to
Global Workplace Analytics, 37% of remote employees would
take a 10% pay cut to continue working from home. Because of this
increasingly popular trend, some refuse to accept an onsite position, knowing
they can find a more convenient and flexible gig elsewhere.
Instead of resisting the
change, organizations should improve their remote
work policies and capabilities. If your company is concerned about
productivity and performance issues due to a companywide ability to work from
home, Lambert recommends creating standard key performance indicators (KPIs)
for both management and employees. This way, she said, remote team members are
aware of expectations, and their performance can be monitored.
