Work From Home (WFH) or Work From Office? What’s all the fuss about?
If you’re an average office-goer, the odds are you are not really a fan of having to get up before the break of dawn almost every day and then get suited up to commute to your office. Office life can get a little repetitive, and to add to it, there’s the tediousness of office cubicles and the never-ending round-table meetings that could easily have been an email. A monotonous lifestyle can quickly turn into a lot of frustration, lack of drive and motivation, and diminishing positive energy, which in turn is unquestionably deleterious to any and all kinds of businesses. But is eliminating office culture completely the right solution? Is replacing it with Work From Home (WFH) the answer that we’re looking for?
Work From Home to you might sound like a buzzword that only came into existence last year, but as a matter of fact, it has been around for quite a while now, bubbling under the surface, ready to explode. Work From Home vs In-office Work debates has existed since technology made it possible for employees to work from Home. Both sides have been witnessed to provide compelling arguments to support their ideas.
Work From Home allows flexibility and freedom that can never come with Work From Office. Still, In-Office Work provides a productive and congenial environment that promotes consistent efforts and team collaboration that WFH can not. However, the coronavirus pandemic that caught the world off guard in 2020 abruptly eradicated the need for cerebrations on the issue and left the world with few choices. As maintaining social distancing measures to curb the spread of the virus became mandatory, companies had no choice but to shut down offices and implement Work From Home indefinitely.
Here’s What the Stats Say
It was already estimated that Work From Home will become the new norm by 2025 (https://www.blueface.com/blog/infographic-2018-bct-report-key-takeaways/). Still, the covid-19 pandemic accelerated things to an unimaginable rate, and today Work From Home is already the new norm. At first, many organizations struggled to transition, but today most seem comfortable with the latest remote work arrangement.
Implementing the Work From Home method has made things a lot clearer, that’s for sure. Today, we have a fact-based picture to discuss whether work from Home is the right choice or not. In addition, technology has today made it entirely possible for employees to work just as effectively from home as they can from the office.
According to a CoCo Cloud Survey, 39% of employees work remotely at least occasionally, 77% reported that they feel that they can be more productive at home. 30% said that they can accomplish more in less time. 23% are okay to even work longer hours than they would in the office. More than half reported that they are less likely to take time off while working from home, even when they are sick. 42% said they feel just as connected to their peers talking about teamwork and collaboration as they did previously working on-premise. In addition, 10% said they feel even more connected than before.
Financially, 30% of the respondents said working remotely can save a whopping amount of $5,240 per year, accounting for expenses related to office work. Half of the respondents also said being able to work remotely even if only occasionally makes it less likely for them to want to leave the company they’re working with. Personal satisfaction and improved life quality are other significant factors for people to be leaning towards WFH. 45% of remote works reported that they can squeeze in more sleep, 35% said they can get some physical exercise, and 42% said they can adopt healthy eating habits. In addition, 51% feel they get to spend more time with their significant others, and 53% said their mental stress has reduced significantly. Overall, 44% attribute their renewed positive attitude to remote working.
Given the above stats, it doesn’t surprise that 77 per cent of the workers say that even after the pandemic is over, they would still like to continue working from their homes, even if only occasionally. (https://www.forbes.com/sites/jackkelly/2020/05/24/the-work-from-home-revolution-is-quickly-gaining-momentum/?sh=6852c9e21848 ). Additionally, if it was up to 99% of the employees feel they would want to work remotely for the rest of their careers. (https://kissflow.com/digital-workplace/remote-work/statistics-and-future-trends-for-remote-work/ ). It might seem like employees can concentrate better on their professional duties in an office, but the stats say 75% of the employees feel less distracted at Home. (https://www.flexjobs.com/blog/post/flexjobs-gwa-report-remote-growth/ ). Moreover, 76 per cent feel they prefer to avoid work from the office altogether when they are required to focus on an important project. (https://www.flexjobs.com/blog/post/survey-76-avoid-the-office-important-tasks/)
Stats say employees are not the only ones that benefit from remote work. It makes 81% of employees willing to recommend their company to others. (https://www.owllabs.com/state-of-remote-work/2019 ). Furthermore, 54% of the employees would readily switch companies and join one that offers remote work. (https://www.gallup.com/workplace/283985/working-remotely-effective-gallup-research-says-yes.aspx ). The very crux of it all is that we all prefer convenience, and that’s exactly what remote work offers; thus, it’s no surprise that people prefer it over on-premise work.
Benefits of Remote Work
1) On average a person spends at least 2 hours of their day travelling if they work at the office, add traffic jam to that, and you’ll have a significant amount of time of your day wasted doing nothing. The most significant benefit of working from Home is the complete elimination of having to commute. Those two-plus hours that usually go to waste can now be used to do something productive.
2) Working from home, employees get more control over their lives and can feel independent. If they are tired of sitting on a desk, they can lie comfortably on a couch or bean bag instead. Not only can they choose where to to work, but they can also choose when to work as long as they get the work done before the deadline.
3) Stress is the kind of synonymous with work life. But, unfortunately, it is also one of the biggest reasons why employees find it hard to stay productive. Work can bring a lot of stress, and when you’re in an office setting, it’s hard to find ways to de-stress. But when you’re working from home, you can take little breaks in between to do things that make you feel happy and relaxed.
4) Working from Home also saves a lot of money for both the employee and the employer. Working remotely, the workers do not have to spend money on food, travel, or other things they usually spend money on during a regular day in the office. Employers also get to cut back on energy expenditure and other related expenses that would be imperative to sustain an up and running physical working environment.
Benefits of In-Office Work: are there any pitfalls to working remotely?
1) Remote work is okay as long as you’re not an extrovert who need their daily dose of social interaction. Work From Home means 8 hours a day for 5 days being locked up in your house with little to no interaction with the outside world because you have your professional duties to take care of. But in an office, there’s ample opportunity to chit-chat with your co-workers and make new social connections.
2) Although videoconferencing is an effective way to communicate and collaborate, it’s not one without limitations. Depending on the size of your team, you may have to compete for screen time and deal with occasional technological glitches. In-person communication is in this regard more reliable. Work in the office is also structured and based on a schedule that ensures you can meet deadlines.
3) Being in an office setting, you are surrounded by people that may motivate you to grow as a professional. The office is also where you get the opportunities to develop or refine essential interpersonal and social skills that you can’t work from Home.
Tips for Working From Home
We are living in an era where working from Home has become a common practice worldwide. So it’ll do you good to know some tips that can make working from Home better and more effective in such an environment.
1) Choose a lockable room in your house where you can work alone without unnecessary distractions. Also, make sure you have a good and reliable Wifi connection.
2) Set a schedule to ensure you have consistent working hours, don’t get too distracted, and are unable to complete your work on time.
3) Only use quality technology that you can rely on to complete your professional duties.
4) Try turning notifications off for your social media apps to ensure minimal distraction.
5) Don’t forget to take little breaks in between to de-stress and stay productive.
6) Even working from home, you’re not safe from hackers. So, it’s essential to take cybersecurity seriously and avoid activities that could put your company’s sensitive data in danger.
Bottom Line
Working From Home or From the office, which one of the two methods is more efficient and is influenced by many factors including the type of job, availability of the right resources at Home, inherent nature of the employees, among other things. One situation that’s ideal for a person might not suit the other the same way. Change can’t be prevented, and it was only about time that technology took over and further reduced the need for physical contact. At Gemraj Technologies, we believe in the power of digital technology and allow our employees to leverage it to the best of their abilities. We harbour a productive and congenial work environment where the employees have complete freedom to choose how they’d like to work. We believe the freedom allows innovation to flow freely without any restrictions and enables us to provide best-in-class cybersecurity, cloud computing, and Information Technology Solutions (IT Solutions) services.