What makes employees get out of bed in the morning? Why do they stay late, work weekends, and make the effort to be really good at what they do? For some companies, remote workers appear to be less engaged than their office-based peers. But that doesn’t mean that remote work itself is the issue; it might just mean that certain companies should not have gone remote in the first place. In this article, I’ll give you four reasons why you might consider bringing your workforce back together, as well as what steps you should take to make sure that it works for everyone involved. It’s time for employees to be returning to the office.
There are very real disadvantages that remote work, especially long-term telecommuting, brings with it. Remote workers tend to be happier and more productive in less structured environments. However, studies have shown that task focus increases as office density increases. This means employees are better able to keep on task in an environment with more people around than they would be at home alone or working from a coworking space.
Culture has long been used as a reason for bringing teams together in one office. Unfortunately, that’s often used as an excuse for forcing people into unnatural work arrangements. If you have a culture that already supports working from home and employees want to work remotely, there’s no need to force them back into an office setting. However, if your company is trying to bring full-time remote workers back into offices, it’s important to understand what it takes to create a healthy and productive environment. The following tips can help Here are some things to keep in mind: A company may benefit from having at least some employees who don’t work remotely. They might offer insights about productivity or teamwork, for example, that will inform how you set up virtual teams within your organization. A smaller team of all remote workers might be able to accomplish more than a larger team with several members working from home part time; these types of experiments are worth running on a small scale before scaling up.
To start working remotely, you need a home office and reliable Internet access. Start slow by working at home one day a week (or half day). Then transition to working three days or five days in a row before adding more time. You’ll be comfortable with it before you know it! While it’s not necessary, having your own office space will help you focus and feel like an adult again—with no one looking over your shoulder. It also gives you a place to store all of those important documents that make up your business. It’s best if your work area is separate from other family members so that they don’t distract you during work hours. If that isn’t possible, make sure everyone knows when you are at work and when you are available for family activities.
Check out the problem with Unlimited PTO here.
Here’s what CNBC has to say about Returning to the Office