The remote working revolution started back in March when the then novel coronavirus shuttered offices around the world in what many expected to be a flyover virus. Since then, the virus has become a global pandemic.
Despite vaccinations starting to rollout, the coronavirus pandemic has impacted the way we work and will likely mean big changes for years to come. One of those changes will be whether there’s a place for a physical office again, or if working from home (WFH) is here for good.
Judging workers’ temperature on the work-from-home experience, many are in favour of it.
Eighty-one percent of working professionals said they enjoy working remotely, according to a new study conducted by LiveCareer, a website that focuses on jobs and career development.
The study, which polled over 1,000 Americans on their remote work experience, focused on some key elements that were put into focus due to the pandemic and shift to WFH: the physical, social, and emotional costs of working remotely.
As many in the past have argued that a flexible work schedule would create change in their work-life balance, more than half of respondents (65 per cent) said that the change to home offices has positively affected their lives.
With mental health at the forefront for offices during the pandemic, the increased isolation and decreased social interaction posed a challenge. Workers have been limited to digital communication with colleagues, often through Zoom or messaging platforms.
Despite less time spent in-person, 30 per cent of respondents said they strongly disagree that their mental health deteriorated since the pandemic’s beginning. It’s worth noting that a quarter of respondents said they agreed that their mental health took a toll while working remotely, which suggests that working from home isn’t for everyone.
The biggest challenge for workers at home is staying focused. Fifty-nine percent of workers said home distractions was the biggest hurdle in getting their brain in work mode. Such distractions include children learning remotely, balancing home chores, and maybe even general laziness.
Forty-five percent said staying motivated was a struggle (perhaps you should not work from bed) while communication and collaboration has been difficult, for 37 per cent and 36 per cent respectively.
Loneliness has been a problem for more than a third of workers despite efforts by companies to provide support during the pandemic through team-bonding activities like game night, movie night, and virtual happy hours.
With all this is mind, here are some predictions and truths you need to know about working remotely in 2021:
Communication is clearer remotely
While many feared the shift to homes would bring disruption in workflow, communication hasn’t changed as much as it expected to. Forty-six per cent of respondents said their communication with direct managers and colleagues has remained the same, but 31 per cent said it has actually improved since the start of the pandemic.
Furthermore, remote employees have a clearer sense of what’s expected from them at home compared to the office. Forty-six percent of remote workers said they are more aware of exceptions versus when they were in the office.
A downside of remote work comes on the feedback end. Thirty-five percent of remote workers said they don’t get as much feedback compared to when they were on site.
‘I’ll quit!’
It’s become pretty clear that workers envision a future where working from home is at least offered. Sixty-one percent of respondents said they want their employer to let them work remotely indefinitely after the pandemic ends, despite 79 per cent of respondents expecting to return to on-site work eventually.
But perhaps the biggest surprise from the survey is how employees will quit and look elsewhere if they can’t continue working remotely. Twenty-nine per cent of employees said they’d quit their current job if they weren’t allowed to continue to work from home.
Employees said three days in the office would be ideal when returning back to work, while 25 per cent called for two days.
Things you need to do to improve your WFH setup
March will mean a year since the entire workforce shifted to work from home, which means if you haven’t actually invested in pieces for your remote working life, it might be time to do so.
Productivity expert and author Donna McGeorge told Yahoo! Finance that employees need to dedicate an area of their homes for work. That means laying in bed isn’t going to work moving forward.
“A temporary workspace at your kitchen bench won’t cut it,” said McGeorge.
“You need to designate, even if it is in the corner of a small apartment, a dedicated work space.”
Other hacks like setting alarms, balancing work flow, and taking breaks are helpful ways to get the most from your work-from-home life, McGeorge said.
This article was originally published on The Ladders.
