Over the last decade, remote working has become more popular and is gradually becoming the new norm. That's not surprising given that there are many benefits to remote work that range from lower business operation costs (like office space & utilities) to more productivity among employees. However, despite its popularity with both companies and workers, remote work is sometimes associated with misconceptions and myths and can be a tough sell to those who have not experienced it first-hand.
Lower Productivity
It's common to jump to this conclusion right away. After all, it is easy to imagine remote workers staying in bed all day and ignoring their work altogether. That is an image one tends to develop when a business measures productivity in terms of physical presence in the office as opposed to measured work output. The reality is on-site workers are not more productive than remote workers. In fact, remote workers are at an advantage because they suffer from fewer distractions that come from disruptive office chat and gossip, and frequent time-consuming meetings.
Remote workers can usually stay focused for longer because they can choose their optimal work environment that maximises their output. Most of all, it's up to the business to measure productivity in terms of actual output instead of physical presence; consequences of intentional work negligence should be the same for on-site and remote workers alike. Likewise, a business should aptly reward productive workers regardless of their location, which brings us to the next myth.
Remote Workers are Overworked
Ironically, another criticism argues that, because of remote workers' effectiveness and productivity which can only be measured in terms of output rather than presence, they are overworked. There certainly are some expectations from management sometimes that they do produce more output than their on-site colleagues.
This criticism has some reasonable elements. In some organisations without a formal or fair evaluation process, an unhealthy dynamic can develop where remote workers are overworked usually because of the workers' strong work ethic and commitment. However, this problem is not specific only to remote workers, since the same businesses that overwork hardworking remote workers are likely to overwork hard working office workers. Overworking workers, regardless of their location, is sure to lead to quick burnout and a decline in the quality of work.
Remote-friendly companies acknowledge this issue and tend to have reasonable methods to evaluate their remote workers, using rewards and incentives to encourage higher productivity as opposed to the strict unrealistic expectation that can lead to remote workers overworking.
Remote workers have poor work/life balance
Another related misconception is that remote workers are connected 24/7 and thus their work/life balance suffers a lot. In reality, remote workers tend to have a great work/life balance because they get to enjoy more free time since they don't waste time on the daily commute to work offices. That is time they could spend working out, enjoying hobbies, or just relaxing. Even when they are working during work hours, remote workers can still balance and arrange their time to be an active member of their families. For example, working mums and dads can still look after their kids or drive them to/from school.
Communications Suffer Remotely
It's easy to think that a remote working environment does not fair as well as an office environment in the communications department. The misconception is that because remote workers don't see or talk to their colleagues face-to-face they communicate less remotely. The truth is communication actually improves in remote working teams. This is because remote teams prioritise their work tools, habits, and attitudes to favour quick and effective communications. Unlike office workers, remote workers don't have to rely on seeing if a person they need to talk to is busy or present in their vicinity to discuss work matters, and they don't have to send emails hoping the other person sees and acknowledges them. Instead, remote teams usually rely on instant online communication tools such as Slack, that helps to get work done faster and without hesitations or lengthy chitchats.
Company Culture Suffers
This myth stems from the belief that company culture can only be cultivated inside the office and meeting rooms. This may have been the case in the last century when workers could easily disconnect and be isolated from their company once they left the office space. However, in today's digital age, a remote team that has good communication skills and tools can easily develop a great company culture and maintain it on a daily basis. In fact, it's such a successful aspect of remote work that there is an entire industry that caters to cultivating company cultures online for remote teams offering online solutions like knowyourteam, wevue, and glint.
However, company culture is just another aspect of running a business that needs to be managed and promoted by company management, and it should emphasise communication, diversity, and creativity when it comes to remotely working teams.
Remote work is only for technical roles
While it is true that technical jobs are usually easier to do remotely and there are plenty of them, just about any other job type can be done remotely as well. Thanks to the advance of mobile workspaces and telecommunication technology remote employment can be found in job categories such as:
- Customer support
- Marketing
- Design
- Logistics
- Finance
- Copywriting
- Teaching
- Business/Executive management
- And so much more!
Embrace the future
Overall, it's easy to criticise remote work and dismiss it as inferior to on-site work. Yet the facts and statistics all point to its increasing popularity in the global workforce and its numerous benefits, both to the remote employee and the employer. However, remote work requires self-discipline and a good work ethic on part of the remote worker. And just as important, the company needs to be active and fair in managing their remote workers to keep them productive but not overworked and cultivate & maintain a good company culture to keep the workers engaged and improve communications & collaboration.
