6 Benefits of Being a Fully Remote Team
With the Covid-19 crisis causing many workplaces to close, teams across the nation have had to find new ways to work together and achieve progress despite constant uncertainty. Every cloud has a silver lining, however, and benefits that might otherwise have remained undiscovered are now coming to light; remote working is here to stay, and that’s a good thing for both businesses and employees. Here are six reasons why:
Happy Employees
The most immediate benefits of working remotely lie firmly with employees. Being able to work from home means greater control of work-life balance, with more family time and less time wasted commuting back and forth. Personalized home offices mean the physical health and mental wellbeing of employees are already on the rise. Twitter, having allowed all employees to work from home, are now paying a stipend to help their workers to craft a healthy and productive work environment. Overall, less money is being spent on office equipment, and employees end up better off, with a workspace and a schedule that suits their needs.
Expanded Talent
Every good business is built on strong foundations of a talented team of employees. By focussing on remote working, businesses can tap into a whole well of talented people who might otherwise have been unable to join them due to geographical or health-related constraints, whilst also appealing to applicants who favor working from home. Workplaces are seeing an opportunity to go from local, to national, to international spaces, with a wide variety of voices and perspectives bringing new ideas to the table, all whilst increasing overall productivity.
Cutting Costs
Without the need to outfit offices for masses of employees or retrofit them to be Covid-secure, businesses can focus on specific individual needs for home offices and reducing expensive square footage. Removing the commute also removes the need to reimburse employee travel expenses, and with a large majority of employees owning their own computers or laptops, businesses can also save a great deal of money on funding and replacing shared equipment that would otherwise suffer from repeated use.
Save Cash, Save The Planet
It’s not just business owners who will save money by avoiding the use of office space; those working from home will be saving on the expense of commuting along with the costs of eating out around the office and shopping for workplace attire. Not only this, but the lack of a commute will reduce each employee’s carbon footprint dramatically, contributing to a more sustainable environment for all, whilst also helping cities to move away from automotive transport and towards pedestrianization.
Work Smart
Working from home means workplace communication is bound to change, and the result of this so far has been very positive, with increased proactive communication between employees. Platforms such as Shopify are encouraging their workers to engage with a variety of online apps such as Google Jamboards, Slack, and Discord to create both virtual workplaces and virtual social spaces. This allows employees to focus on their priorities and streamline their workflows, whilst also providing them with the much-needed social downtime they would otherwise miss out on.
Be Ready
Last but not least, working remotely means both businesses and employees will be prepared for the future, both in terms of competition with other productive home-office teams, and, more importantly, with regards to future crises. Complications from crises such as Covid-19 are often impossible to predict, and their impact on businesses can be wide-ranging. But by successfully transferring teams to remote-working, businesses can ensure that they are well-prepared for any future bumps in the road.