Since the coronavirus came into being, ravaging the world and forcing professionals around the world to stay locked down in their homes in an attempt to stop the spread of the pandemic. For many, this has been a dream come true and while some companies are beginning to see positive effects of remote working, the vast majority still have plans to reopen their office space as soon as possible. This article hopes to clear up any confusion and help to show the benefits of working from home and why it is becoming so popular.
Less travel
If you are one of the lucky individuals who have been working from home for the past few months, chances are you have been appreciating the lack of an annoying commute to work. Commuting is often among the worst parts of working in an office in the city and can be an infuriating start to the day, so most people are glad to be done with them. It is not only daily commutes that disappear however, the overall stress and anxiety caused by things like traffic, accidents, and general delays also go, leading to a healthier mental state.
Another form of travel that is affected is when workers are sent to different locations, whether to see clients or visit different offices, with the technology available today, most of these trips can be canceled and business instead conducted from home, making for far less stress than usually comes with long-distance travel.
Time-saving
Not only is a lack of commuting to work good for overall mental health, but it also saves a staggering amount of time. Let’s say, for example, that an average worker commutes for thirty minutes each way to and from work, in just an ordinary five day work week this equates to five hours and if you live farther from work or in a busy city, this number can easily be far greater. This is a huge waste of time and actually affects employee’s performance since they will likely have to be getting up earlier than they would like in order to make it to work on time and they will be getting home later. This leaves them with very little time to relax, exercise, and leads to less sleep, all of these factors seriously affect productivity and happiness.
Having a strong work routine is essential when working from home, but providing you can help your employees to come up with one, you will undoubtedly notice a huge jump in both their productivity and the quality of their work.
Cost-effective
While employee travel expenses are one of the more obvious things that come to mind when we think of how remote working is cost-effective, there is something else that can help to save businesses themselves a huge amount of money. With most employees working from home, those large, sprawling office spaces will be obsolete. This means you can get rid of them to massively cut down on your rent, power bill, and general maintenance costs, instead choosing to only keep a small office space that can be used when needed.
Better for the environment
All of the previous points we have covered here work together to create less of an impact on the environment. Fewer people commuting to work means fewer cars on the roads and fewer emissions from those cars. More free time for employees means that they have more free time to do things like exercise, cook, and pursue hobbies, which can potentially help the environment since they will likely be buying fewer packaged food. And finally, less office space and utility usage by large companies will make a big difference as the amount of pollution an average office building creates is far larger than you may think. These environmental benefits have already been noticed during the pandemic, and we should strive to make them permanent changes rather than simply a temporary positive product of an otherwise awful event in history.
Privacy tips
When working from home, privacy is essential. This is not only to keep company data secure but also for employees themselves to keep their private life just that, private. In order to maintain a level of privacy when attending the countless video conference calls you are likely already used to, try using a professional zoom background to hide your personal space and keep prying eyes away from any sensitive data you may have on show. These backgrounds are also great for preventing distractions like housemates or pets from being seen walking around behind you.
