Up until recently, more and more companies were willingly opting-in on the whole remote working situation. Its popularity was gradually increasing but suddenly —in what felt like an overnight fashion—everyone everywhere was forced to adopt this modality of work, due to our current global situation, a.k.a. COVID-19. It was either that or to close their doors indefinitely. Although, right now, it may feel like there is no other option, working from home can be a highly valuable move for a business.
Running Your Business from the Comfort of Your Home
Over the years, working remotely has slowly but surely transformed the way we work. By the end of the 3rd quarter of 2019, approximately 62% of Americans were working remotely. That meant they were working out of their homes, at a coworking space, coffee shop, or any other type of remote location, rather than on-site. 49% of them are full-time remote workers. That tells us that the idea of working remotely is not the future of work but the present of it.
Although we are currently facing a situation that has forced many businesses to adopt this model abruptly, the truth is these circumstances are just expediting a transition that is bound to happen. Today, we live in a world where the digital component is part of everything we do, how we interact, how we learn, and how we do business. Therefore, transitioning into the digital way of doing business is something that will naturally have to happen as the world and technology continue to evolve.
What Does It Really Mean to Work from Home?
As the concept implies, working remotely or working from home means you get to perform the same work activities you would do at your office but from the comfort of your home or any other remote location for that matter.
Not every job will be possible to perform remotely, but many of them can, including call center jobs, computer jobs, customer service jobs, teaching and tutoring jobs, translation jobs, web development, and graphic design jobs. You can even perform sales jobs from a home office. Any type of business that sells products could run their operations remotely if they implement online sales. Of course, some logistics will need sorting before moving from on-site to a remote location.
Technology Makes It All Possible
Thirty years ago, no one would have thought that saying goodbye to your office and performing your job right out of your living room would be a possibility. Even ten years ago, we weren’t there yet. Luckily, technology advanced very quickly, creating more and more tools to make it possible to work remotely, making it easy for both the employer and the employees.
Setting up a workspace is crucial, but once accomplished, most of what makes this methodology a success relies on technology. Today, there are lots of tools meant to help you and your remote teams communicate, stay organized, and be just as productive as you would be on-site —if not more.
Benefits of Working Remotely
There are genuinely many advantages of mobilizing your business operations and working from home, not only for employees but for employers, as well.
For Employers
- Increased Productivity: Although many employers worry about a lack of productivity in home-office environments, this model helps employees become more productive. Teleworkers are about 35-40% —on average— more productive at home than at their on-site offices.
- Improved Performance: Did you know that those working from home can produce results with up to 40% better quality than those produced on-site?
- Savings on Equipment and Other Fixed Expenses: Having a remote team means you don’t need to rent a pricey office space, pay electricity, water, internet, etc. You could use that money to further your business operation.
- Decreased Absenteeism: No commuting means no one will be late. Remote workers are often highly motivated employees that are likely to start their day earlier than usual. Sick leaves will decrease since employees are already at home. Unless they are physically impaired to do their job, remote workers are less likely to call in sick.
- Better Retention: There is no need to worry about losing employees because they move. Not being limited to a physical location makes room for a lot more flexibility, as they can continue to do their job regardless of where they might live. Pregnancy leaves are less likely to mean you will eventually lose an employee, as employees are likely to continue working throughout that stage of their lives when they’re working remotely.
- Possibility of Around-the-Clock Service: Are you interested in providing customer service around the clock? Hiring remote teams in different locations means they could pick up on work while you sleep so that your business is always on the move, taking care of your customer’s needs.
- Competitive Edge: When you offer the possibility of remote work to your employees, they are more likely to want to work with you and less likely to leave later on.
- Access to Larger Talent Pool: If you’re working remotely, you don’t necessarily need to hire local talent, you could also resort to hiring great talent from different parts of the world. That might end up decreasing your costs per resource.
For Employees
- Flexible Work Schedule: Depending on the type of work performed, you may consider switching to working by objectives rather than by a strict schedule. That allows you to own your own time, as long as you meet all tasks and goals.
- Better Work-Life Balance: Having more time at home gives you the privilege to enjoy certain life activities that you would otherwise miss. Like having lunch with your children when they come in from school, or working out, or learning a new language, or pursuing any other hobby or interest you might have.
- Less Time Spent Commuting: Remember those 30, 40, 60 minutes or more you used to spend trying to get to the office and then back home? Well, now you can forget about them. Working remotely allows you to make better use of that precious time.
- Independence and Ownership: The sense of responsibility and ownership flourishes when working remotely. That will help you make sure you are just as productive as you would be in an on-site office environment —or even more.
- Less Stress: More freedom, independence, and better work-life balance can undoubtedly lead to a much more relaxed lifestyle.
Why Is Having a Remote Workforce Valuable Right Now?
In a moment, like the one we’re living today, when forcing businesses to close down their operations and stay home, to protect themselves, their customers, and families, the benefits of telework have become more evident.
The only way businesses can continue to operate is digitally so their customers can have access to their products and services remotely, allowing social distancing to be possible while providing customers with everything they need.
Adjusting to the current times might require businesses to reinvent themselves so that they can remain relevant even throughout the crisis, and mobilizing companies is an essential part of this process. This is a time to rely on e-commerce, video conferencing, social media, remote desktops, etc., to keep businesses afloat. The good news is that once you’ve made this transition, you will wonder why you didn’t do it sooner.
The Impressions Way & How We’ve Successfully Pulled Off Working Remotely for Years
When Impressions started in 2013, we kicked things off with the idea of being a completely mobile company, so we could collaborate with incredible professionals from around the globe to provide our clients with top-quality digital marketing products and services. We are incredibly grateful that our vision came true.
Remote work is truly at the core of our company culture. We have learned how to develop a collaborative work environment where the miles that separate each of our team members don’t matter. We have learned how to make things work smoothly, be driven, productive, and stay focused. We have come to understand which tools work best and which don’t, how to best communicate with each other, and how to keep our team engaged. We have also learned how to leverage the strengths of our team members to serve our customers best, keeping our company moving forward, even though some of us have never physically met.
Over the years, we have experienced the benefits of this work model, not just in our professional lives but in our personal lives, as well. You can imagine why we are strong advocates of remote work. It has certainly worked well for us for many years, and we are sure it can work for you, too. Most of all, we are excited to realize at this point that what we have learned throughout this journey is now something we can share with you to continue to help you take your business to the next level.
Ready to embrace remote work and experience the benefits of it? Join our community and let’s get through this together.
