More and more companies consider remote work. Even if not on a regular basis, but at least as an additional flexibility measure in case of a crisis. But of course, changing the paradigm is not so easy. In this article, let’s go through the main myths and fears that prevent many companies from enjoying literally amazing benefits that working from home brings to both companies and employees.
We hope that our positive experience will help you implement new approaches in your company.
Myth #1. Remote Workers Dictate Their Schedule
While this is true in some regard, all remote workers need to be up and working when their clients and coworkers are doing the same. Sure, they may be able to sleep in longer and cut out the commute, but that doesn’t mean they are the only masters of their work-related time. A successful remote worker will have a set schedule that coordinates perfectly with the rest of the teams’ schedules.
We work from different countries literally all around the globe. But we have a fixed time of weekly meetings and we make sure that everyone’s schedule lets them communicate with other team members.
Myth #2. Work Simply Doesn’t Get Done from Home
The inverse is actually true. By removing the distractions of the office environment, such as coworkers stopping in to say “hi”, or a few minutes of gossip at the water cooler, remote workers focus on the work, rather than other people in the office. With fewer reasons not to pay attention to the task at hand, they can crank out more work each day. It is proven that productivity rises when people work remotely.
It’s a question of management, and it can be solved by learning and training. But isn’t it what any manager should do? Learn new approaches, help people become more effective and lead the team without checking each and every step in person.
Myth #3. Remote Workers Are Lazy
Nope, quite the opposite is true. Since many members of a remote team work in their physical house — although many do not — they often set aside a “working area”. Remote employees are not sitting in their lounge chairs, as they chat on a conference call. Instead, they use an area of their dwelling as an office. This allows for easier separation of work-life from home-life. This balance is essential to any person working remotely, which is why they create a “work only” space, to boost productivity.
It’s all about self-management. If you want to practice remote work in your team — yes, you’ll need to teach your employees how to manage their time from home and be more responsible for the results (or hire those who are already there). But in any case, it’s great to have highly responsible and organized people in your company, isn’t it? So, again, it’s not an obstacle, but just a skill to be trained. And even if you work in an office most of the time, the company will benefit from it a lot.
Myth #4. Domestic Workers Are Better Than Those Overseas
Talent is talent. If you’ve found a perfect candidate, but they live on the other-side-of-the-world, don’t fret! Just because they aren’t located within your country or timezone, doesn’t mean you can’t coordinate with them In fact, as long as you set a standard time for all workers, you can pull in new, remote people from across the globe.
Moreover, you get access to the whole world’s talent market with all its diversity in skills and prices which may be a great benefit for many companies.
Myth #5. Remote Meetings Are Ineffective
Think about it: conference calls have been a part of business meetings for decades. What is the difference between an individual sitting in an office, and an individual sitting in their home workspace participating in a conference call? Absolutely nothing. Conference calls, video calls, and chat-based meetings don’t change in effectiveness, based on an individual’s location. In fact, frequently coordinating communication of this type will only increase the effectiveness of remote teams.
Yes, you need to plan your meeting accurately to make sure everyone has their time to talk and all questions are discussed. But isn’t it important for any meeting? And again, it’ll help your team be more efficient.
Taking on a remote team can be a daunting task, but well worth the effort.
It is important to make sure you are clear about your expectations, including the amount of time spent working each week, specific working hours, and the quality of the work. Once these are in place, fear no more, and begin working with a very driven, talented portion of the business world!
Are you thinking about joining a distributed team or hiring remote workers? Our blog post series on “The Challenges of Remote Working” might be very interesting for you to check out.
