by Margaret Hirsch
As traditional offices evolve into virtual workspaces, the impact of working from home on individuals is undeniable. We were forced into this during Covid and suddenly Zoom became a household word and we were able to continue working from home which felt really strange initially - but it was so super to be able to go to the loo without walking across a busy shop and to make a cup of tea when you felt like it and not wait for the “tea lady” to bring it to you at 10am and 3 pm!
The traditional notion of productivity, often tied to hours spent in the office, is also evolving as remote work encourages a results-oriented approach, where the focus is on outcomes rather than time spent working. It gives you time to get the work done but also squeeze in a yoga lesson at 11 am if necessary.
This shift has promoted individuals to assess their effectiveness based on the quality of their work and the achievement of goals, rather than their mere presence in the office workspace. The old saying “you have to be in it to win it” doesn't hold water anymore and sometimes you can get through a days work and read your book or rush to the grocery store at about 3 pm!
One of the most noticeable changes that working from home has brought about, is a shift from work-life balance to work-life/home integration. With the physical boundary between work and personal life becoming more permeable, we find ourselves blending our professional responsibilities with domestic tasks and personal commitments all at once. Suddenly your whole family knows what’s going on at work - it was a good day or a bad day - they know because either you are really happy or you take your frustrations out on them!!
In recent years, this concept of remote work has gained significant traction, reshaping the traditional work landscape and offering employees the flexibility to work from the comfort of their homes. At first the dining room table was the office but in more recent times every nook and cranny that wasn’t previously occupied has someone’s desk in it.
I love that with technology I can make my office anywhere as long as I have internet access. While this arrangement comes with a range of benefits, it is two-fold as it comes with positive and negative effects.
Top of the Pro’s to remote working will definitely be the flexibility and work-life balance. This allows flexibility so that employees can design their workdays to better suit their personal routine which leads to a more improved work-life balance. One of the main pro’s to this is that parents are around their children more often and don’t miss a day of their parental duties, i.e. getting them dressed for school, seeing them off and being there when they arrive home from school.
The other pro to remote work-life is eliminating the commute to and from work. For those of us who worked in Joburg and had a one to two hour commute daily, this was bliss. Working from home eliminates this wasted time, saving employees both time and money. This leads to increased productivity and a more relaxed, early start to a workday.
Then there is increased productivity due to fewer distractions from coworkers, a quieter work environment and the ability to setup an ideal workspace that works best for the day. This definitely leads to a higher quality of work and greater focus on tasks set for the day.
Both employers and employees can definitely experience cost savings from remote work, just look at how many office blocks are still vacant. Employees save on money commuting, work attire and fast food for lunch, while employers can reduce their expenses related to the office space when they have employees working remotely - for example calls made, data, electricity, and in some cases overtime paid.
Then we move onto the Cons of working remotely.
This can impact on mental health and well-being over time but here again being around your personal space with balancing work and home life, it should definitely eliminate the feeling of loneliness. You tend to manage your day quite well being alone without those distractions.
One of the other biggest challenges is the line drawn between work and personal life. It might be challenging to disconnect from work when the workspace is also the living space. This means that there are no cut off times for work.
While people working remotely often mention fewer distractions from colleagues, they can encounter distractions from their home environment. Household chores, family members, and personal devices can tend to sometimes divert attention from work tasks, for instance the pesky neighbour who pops in for a chat and stays for lunch.
Without a routine in place via a physical office space, some employees might struggle to establish a consistent daily schedule. This lack of structure can impact time management and productivity. So it’s absolutely vital that you have a consistent daily schedule in place. You really cant sleep til 10 am and then try to catch up - you just don't!
Remote work heavily relies on technology and technical difficulties can really disrupt the workflow, especially with load shedding and the internet dropping. This can really cause frustrations and in some cases, the infrastructure from the office space is totally different from the home space. So having the right technology while working remotely is of prime importance - most people have bought their own scanner/printer and a myriad of other pieces of equipment to ensure the internet stays up no matter how much load shedding there is!
Our load-shedding solutions at Hirsch's have been incredibly popular in making sure you are always connected!
Working from home presents a mixed bag of advantages and challenges. However, it offers flexibility, increased productivity, cost savings and whilst despite having those little challenges in between, employees who work remotely would not give up this opportunity at all. The transition to remote work has reshaped the lives of many individuals in multifaceted ways.
Much Love,
Margaret Hirsch