How Remote Business is Reshaping a New Future?

In the wake of Covid-19 outbreak, businesses have to face multiple challenges. According to the World Economic Forum, the virus outbreak caused the blowing negative effects on the US economy. It was predicted that it can only be managed with effective policy changes. The US gross domestic product (GDP) declined at a 32.9% annual rate which is reportedly the deepest fell after 1947.

To survive this period, a lot of small and large businesses have turned instantly to new market routes. Few of them are sending employees back to their homes, and continue office operations remotely.

Business owners are increasingly showing interest in learning remote work trends that are reshaping a new future. Even those businesses that are working fine in this pandemic situation are adopting remote working approach because people have started accepting that work from home isn’t the future – it’s the present.

Ten Remote business facts explaining the new (yes, new) future

The power of internet is so strong that we are no longer confined physically to our homes. The ability to connect globally can surely help businesses grow and succeed. Let’s find out how the business landscape is changing with the rise in remote working.

1.                Remote Business working is gaining popularity

The stats on remote working is enthralling. A number of studies have been carried out over the past years that suggested a significant upward trend in the quantity of Americans working remotely. Between 2005 and 2017, the number of individuals working from home in US has escalated by 159% (according to FlexJobs and Global Workplace Analytics).

Here are some other important statistics telling us the current state of remote working.

• Remote work rise by 7.9% between 2016 and 2017.
• The growth rate for remote work is 44% over the last 5 years.
• Work from home has grown by 91% over the past decade.
• Almost 3.5% of the workforce in US are telecommuters.

An important factor contributing to this upward trend is the growing acceptance among masses for telecommuting because of its immense benefits. More importantly, it enable people to work especially those with some kind of physical disability or personal responsibilities that stops them from working for a traditional employer.

2.                It makes people happy and productive

The debate about whether telecommuters are more productive than in-house employees is still inconclusive.

The survey results by Owl Labs (2019) proposes that 81% of on-site employees will be happy if they will be allowed to work from home. And there is no denying that when employees are happy, they do better. Multiple studies are present that shows people work more efficiently while being at home.

Here’s how:

No unnecessary meetings and gossips

A lot of business professionals believe that meetings and office discussions can be a time suck and utilize precious resources. Even if the agenda is very important to discuss, trying to coordinate with people from other departments and gather them into one venue cause delays.

Zero distractions

More than 70% of employees say that they feel distracted in the office environment while 16% report that they don’t feel focused (Survey by Udemy, 2018).

Workplace interruptions is a major reason that cause annual losses of $600 million for US businesses. Loss of productivity due to distractions and drama makes a workday longer and sometimes people have to sit late to complete their assigned tasks. This cause employee burnout and frustration and can lead to lack of engagement.

With the telecommuting policy in place, employees can pick a personalized workspace in their home which is quiet and peaceful.

Minimal office politics

Organizational politics is still a thing even if you are working from home. However, a study focusing on political processes in cyberspace asserted that the level of politics diminishes as offices moved to a virtual world. In fact, remote working offers an opportunity to readjust relationships.

All of these factors improves the productivity and efficiency of employees by giving them more autonomy and freedom of their work.

3.                   Huge savings for companies

Literally, the reasons to promote remote working are plentiful. But the biggest benefit is that it can save companies a lot of money. According to Global Workplace Analytics, 6 out of 10 employers cite cost savings as the biggest benefit of working remotely.

With empty workstations, no lunchtime gatherings, companies can save their operational costs which eats a major chunk of their revenues every month. Companies don’t need to pay for rent and utilities, food, taxes, and cleaning services.

Apart from this, working in a virtual environment let organizations experience less absenteeism and lower turnover. A Gallup study finds out that telecommuters are 3 times more engaged than on-site employees and this led to employee loyalty and less turnover.

Similarly, another study by CoSo Cloud shows that individuals working remotely are 52% less likely to take an off when they are ill as compared to other employees working in a regular workplace with their teams. You must be wondering why?

The answer is simple and straightforward. Smaller tasks like forwarding important information with the team, attending calls, replying to emails is easily manageable at home. Another reason is that employees don’t want things to pile up and prefer to get things done as soon as possible.

4.                Better physical and mental health

The mental health benefits of telecommuting are still unrecognized. Workplace situations can cause and intensify mental health problems, but a healthy work environment can also support mental and physical health.

Employees working in the traditional office environment are more likely to get sick than people working from home using task management tools. Given the current Covid pandemic, workers are more prone to catching diseases. Contrary to this, when people work remotely, they’ll experience 91% improved work-life balance and 78% less stress (Owl Labs).

And if you get ill while working from home, you’ll recover fast.

This is pretty understandable. When employees work in their own comfortable environment without any worries, work-related stress automatically decreases. You don’t need to listen to the daily gossips of your co-workers or handle your angry boss all the time. Opposing to this, you get more time for your kids and family which positively affects well-being.

With respect to the current Covid situation, telecommuting gives employees the peace of mind that they are safe and can prevent the life-threatening disease.

5.                Support by big names

The support and agreeableness for remote working by big companies like Facebook, Gartner, Google, Microsoft, and Amazon is a crucial factor that has compelled many small and medium-sized businesses to do the same.

It is a common knowledge that big companies set best standards which are followed by other industry players. The work-from-home revolution is promoted by big names because it allows them to save money and refuse lay-offs in the current pandemic situation.

6.                Remote business has higher work flexibility

Working in a virtual business environment means you have the flexibility to choose when and where you work. That’s quite appealing right?

While working flexibility is a huge factor directly associated with work-life balance, it also gives employees the opportunity to pursue other important things in life. Whether it is your child’s annual school event or you wanting to enroll in a short marketing course, telecommuting allows you to do things you want without taking a whole day off.

Flexibility encompasses the following things:

• Flexibility to start and end your work.
• Ability to choose the location of work.
• Schedule work in shifts.
• Taking career breaks.
• Paid time off etc.

What evidence tells about this?

Flexible work arrangements is also a contributing factor for higher employee morale and job satisfaction. It nurtures self-determination among employees and make them accountable for their work.

7.                No need to commute benefit for employee

With high cost of fuel, public transportation fares, traffic, and environmental pollution it is totally inefficient and expensive for people to travel just to hold meetings.

As per the findings of Adecco Group, every office going person can save 52 minutes on average by not commuting to work. In US alone, excluding daily commuting can save up to 89 million hours of workers in a single week.

Besides cost, you also save time and you get your ‘Real salary. Consider placing a value on the time you spent in travelling. This time is part of your total workday which is not compensated by companies. But if a person just omit commute, they’ll save time and their hourly wage would also rise.

On the other hand, businesses also benefit from this time saved. The time saved can be utilized in other valuable activities which can produce profitable outcomes.

8.                Managing remote employees is easy today

When businesses allow its employees to work remotely, the biggest hurdle they face is related to communication and collaboration (State of Remote Work 2020). However, in the current technological world, these communication challenges can be easily navigated.

Today businesses have the ability to control and monitor their remote team which is an added factor for appreciating a remote business environment.

With the availability of better and secure VPM remote tools for messaging and project management like Trello, Slack, Microsoft Teams, Dropbox, ProofHub etc., remote work arrangement becomes easier.

These apps comes with a lot of great features. From initiating text-based conversations to making video call and from tracking individual work progress to checking the status of ongoing projects, these apps have made things easier for managers.

9.                The fun factor

Just because you and your team members are working independently doesn’t mean that you cannot do fun together. For most of the people, work from home is a prescription for stress relieve.

With video conferences on Zoom and Google Hangouts, there’s always an opportunity waiting for you to make things more fun. By simply sharing photos of kids or pet, team members can develop friendships which also enables them to provide support related to work.

Engaging virtual activities like coffee breaks while chatting and conducting a live yoga session can reduce the loneliness caused by isolation. For instance, managers can arrange ‘Virtual Lunch Fridays’ where everyone can evaluate who is having the most tempting meal and share the recipe.

Additionally, the switch from work clothes to pajamas, children’s voices in the background, pets trampling home offices, and makeup-free faces have allowed professionals to humanize their work environments and learn new social engagements. Many people believe that remote-working allows people to share the genuine side of them that makes other colleagues feel comfortable.

10.           Working remotely saves the planet

Remote working policy is actually an environmental friendly policy. When people are at home they act more responsibly. For example, I’ll be more hesitant to switch on the lights. In case if I get perfect lighting by just opening my room window.

In their Open Work Program, Sun Microsystems reports that, the 24000 US employee participants avoided generating 32000 metric tons of carbon dioxide approximately. The study also found out that commuting is responsible for more than 98% of the total carbon footprint of each employee. However, powering office facility and equipment produce less than 1.7% of greenhouse gas emissions.

It’s a great feeling for both employees and employers. By just working remotely they are actually doing something great for the mother earth.

Take home message!

Remote-working has seen a dramatic rise in the past few years. This trend will continue to grow in the upcoming years. There are various organizations that are hesitant to embrace this change. But many offices have announced that they will carry out their operations remotely until a vaccine is introduced in the market.

Therefore, it is a good idea for organizations to start implementing remote-working systems. It will mitigate the issues, and formulate strategies that would benefit their company. In fact, a remote business environment is a win-win situation for the employer, employee, and the environment.

Author Bio

Elaine Vanessa is currently working as an Assistant Editor at crowdwriter. She is also a technology freak who loves to contribute her innovative ideas and shares new invention and business practices on various online platforms like assignmentassistance.