I’m a total advocate of tiny commutes (never had to travel for more than 20 minutes to get to work in the past 20+ years!) and remote working and know that one of the biggest bugbears that many workers have is the daily commute. Standing in a train or bus where you and many others are packed into a carriage or deck like sardines, hoping that your journey ends as soon as possible is a daily ritual, but one that many would like to see consigned to the dustbin of history. I was sent this guest post and have to say it resonates with me!
For business owners, the daily commute can affect them too. Aside from getting stuck in a traffic jam, the risk of employees being late as the result of travel problems is one that they will surely dread. To avoid this scenario and to allow workers to do their job in flexible hours, the idea of remote working is being seen as increasingly viable by many businesses.
Turning point?
While a survey on Mashable conducted fairly recently suggested that many employees and businesses were interested in remote working, not everyone approved. Yahoo are a notable example of a company thinking a lot more about its flaws, failing to see the benefits, choosing to outlaw remote working by any of their employees.
Despite the fact that remote working has yet to be met with universal approval by the business community, an ever-growing majority seem to believe that it makes sense for a number of reasons. As the international communications expert’s powwownow.co.uk commented:
“There will always be situations where a face-to-face meeting is required. However, in most cases, video conferencing is as good as the real thing.
“Being able to see the people you are talking with means that you are better able to read responses through body language. This makes debates easier and, coupled with the ability to share and review data together in real-time, increases productivity”, they said.
“We know that when working from home, the issue of trust comes up a lot. However, this can be sorted by making agreements between the employer and employee.
“We recognise that remote working can be beneficial for workers and employers alike. Employers save money while employees save time, while they don’t feel like they’ve been cut adrift by the office thanks to new technology making communication easier than ever”, they added.
What are the benefits?
Any worker or business owner considering remote working will want to know about its advantages. Here are some of them:
- Being able to avoid commuting to work, saving time and money
- Being able to work during irregular hours, especially if a worker has a family to look after
- Having the ability to communicate with the office using a myriad of tools like video conferencing software, instant messaging and social media sites
- Companies can save money by not spending more on a bigger office space, electricity and computing
- Companies can also recruit better staff from further afield, allowing them to work from home with no fuss whatsoever
