Life hasn’t exactly been easy for business owners the past couple of years, regardless of the size of their organization. As the pandemic came into effect, organizations had to change the way that they did things and one of the largest changes was the development that people had to begin working from home. This was to stop the spread of coronavirus and whilst it was effective in doing this, it also shined a light on the benefits that come with working from home. These are going to be discussed in more detail below and if you are starting a business post-pandemic, you should keep them in mind when deciding whether you would like to implement flexible working into your day-to-day operations.
How to Start Working from Home?
It is an incredibly easy beginning to start allowing yourself and your employees the ability to work from home. Some top tips when implementing a working-from-home strategy include:
- Ensure You Have the Necessary Support
When you are working from home, there is naturally a large reliance on technology, meaning software and hardware. As such, if something goes wrong, then you are left a bit stuck, and work cannot get done until the problem is resolved. You are going to want to ensure that you have access to professionals for any IT help that you require. For instance, when you are holding meetings online and communicating with your team, you are going to be using software such as G-Suite. This can be really effective so long as you know how to use it. This means the team you end up working with should be well and truly clued up on this software, so ensure they have a Google Workspace Consultant on hand who can help you.
- Speak to Your Employees
Working from home is a big change for people and as such you need to ensure that you are keeping your employees involved with the change. Make sure that you are constantly asking your employees for feedback on how they are finding working from home and what they would change/keep the same to make sure things run smoothly.
- Figure Out Communication Channels
There are several benefits that come with working from home (as discussed below) but in contrast, one of the main challenges is communication. No longer are you able to reach out to your employees by simply walking down the corridor and asking them something? Instead, you are going to need to reach out to them online. This is doable, but you need to make sure your communication is up to date so that you aren’t missing out on anything when you begin working flexibly.
The Benefits
So, what are the benefits of working from home? They include but are not limited to the following:
- More Flexibility
When you are working remotely, you have a lot more flexibility in terms of the work that you are doing. This means that if you have a doctor’s appointment or need to do the school run then your working day can fit around these other commitments. It’s great for you as an individual, but it’s also a good way to ensure you keep your staff happy. At the end of the day, to keep good staff on board, one of the best things that you can do is ensure that they are happy with the way their working day pans out.
- Save on the Commute
The daily commute is an added stress factor for lots of different people out there so by cutting it out, you are making work more enjoyable. People no longer have to worry about getting out of bed early and hopping on a busy tube or bus. Instead, it’s easy to get out of bed at your leisure and as such, you start your day off on a much stronger foot. Not to mention, if you are cutting out the commute, you are going to be saving money in the process.
- More Productivity
There are several different distractions that come with the office, and these are cut out when you work from home. Some of these different distractions include:
- Noise and activity make it harder to focus on a task
- Chatty people who struggle to end a conversation
- Impromptu meetings and coffee and tea breaks that last a lot longer than they should