Businesses both big and small have faced one unique problem during these past months: how to keep working despite COVID-19? The answer to this has become clearer each day; they have to turn into remote working in each department they can. A change not only in name but also in the definition of work as we know it.
For the vast majority, working outside of the office was only a wild fantasy made up by freelancers. However, most office workers had to ditch their morning routine of driving 45 minutes for this new reality early in 2020. Now, they have to jump out of bed, land in the living room desk (with coffee in hand) to go online in work meetings, all of it while still wearing a comfy suit.
How are most office workings taking their shift to remote?
About this change, Tyto made a survey aimed to measure the impact of remote working in medium-sized companies. The first question did show that only 37% of workers trusted their company was capable of adapting to this trend.
However, almost 52% of the surveyed mentioned that this way of working was something they considered interesting and felt prepared for it regardless of the situation. But, only 24% had had the chance to work from home in the past, almost always due to medical reasons.
These results show how most companies were passively resisting to remote work even if their staff was eager to try it. Employees on the other hand felt interested but were discouraged by the common misconceptions related to working outside of the office space.
The full impact of remote working is starting to reflect everywhere
Another poll conducted by Buffer worldwide has spoken loudly about what will be the new normal in the future if employees have any say in the matter. 93% of workers expressed they were interested in keeping part of their working hours’ remote. Also, 70% of them expressed their wish to have a more flexible office policy.
The most quoted reason for these answers is the amount of money saved from commuting; the second most popular was being more time at home with their families. A good part of remote employees also shared their increased interest in keeping healthier routines, being at home gave them the freedom they needed to adjust their meals or take up exercise sessions.
We already know that a happier employee is also more loyal and efficient. These polls show how remote work has turned the life of many for good even despite the pandemic. Lastly, 3/5 senior staff members who were asked felt that working from home might have a bad repercussion in productivity; but had their fears evaporated after a couple of months in.
The new normal will be an improved version of our current normal
These past articles have placed the feelings of workers on the table but, what about the companies? Well, corporate giants such as Microsoft or Google managed to adapt in just a couple of days to distance work because of their already pandemic proof systems. But others faced complex challenges when turning completely remote in less than 24hrs.
Restaurants had to evolve to take-outs, gyms had to switch to virtual lessons, and teachers opened up virtual classrooms. Small and medium-sized companies on the other hand had to learn how to create a whole working ecosystem which was both secure and efficient to keep departments running with everyone located in different places and even time zones.
How will the remote working future look like?
Tools such as Slack, Zoom, or Drive changed from the occasional pick to a must-have in everyone’s computers. These new adjustments worried CEOs at first as they wouldn’t be able to guarantee that everyone had what it was needed to perform their tasks. However, after getting mostly positive responses from their teams, some of them are embracing the possibility of finding a middle ground between remote and regular on-site work.
We at Virtrify have years of experience training ourselves to improve our ways to work remotely. Whether it was constructing new teams or adapting existing ones to operate remotely. You can reach us at our official channels to get a hand switching your gears.
Source: https://lp.buffer.com/state-of-remote-work-2020
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/laurelfarrer/2020/05/12/the-new-normal-isnt-remote-work-its-better/#306d20642405
Source: https://tytopr.com/new-tyto-research-highlights-employer-employee-disconnect-on-https://www.forbes.com/sites/laurelfarrer/2020/05/12/the-new-normal-isnt-remote-home-working-response-to-coronavirus/
Source: https://edition.cnn.com/2020/05/22/tech/work-from-home-companies/index.html
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