The state of work has never looked as different as it does now. COVID-19 has profoundly changed how people look at a job and their careers in general, and will continue do so for the foreseeable future. With continuous ups and downs in sight, it’s highly probable that hybrid work environments based on remote workers and onsite teams will continue to emerge in 2022 and further develop.
While working from home can be convenient and productive, it’s not without its distractions. According to a survey of 1,000 workers by Glassdoor, the top distraction that employees face during the workday is TV. Furthermore, only half of employees feel confident that they can maintain their productivity levels when working remotely as opposed to commuting to the office. Yet it is possible to manage your schedule as a remote worker in a way that maximizes productivity and removes distractions.
Having a well-balanced remote work schedule can be quite challenging. At home, you are not just fulfilling the role of a worker, you are also a family member, a housekeeper, and others, depending on individual circumstances. All of these roles come with a series of attributions that you are expected to fulfill. That is the reason why many remote workers have a hard time managing their time and sticking to a schedule.
Remote work is here to stay in one form or another for some companies and teams around the world. Yet, despite the benefits that work from home has to offer, there are drawbacks too. And one of the most often cited challenges is the absence of a remote work-life balance.
In the past year, more people have started working from home than ever before. The COVID-19 pandemic closed down businesses and many of those still standing strong are now working remotely. While most people are happy to work from the comfort of their own home, it also makes it difficult to separate work from personal life. In US, no less than 7 in 10 remote employees are struggling to achieve a healthy remote work life balance during this pandemic.
Business leaders can agree that last year has marked a turning point in the work from home trend. Even before the COVID-19 shutdown, remote work had gained some considerable traction. Yet, in 2020, it became the norm for millions of employees across the globe. Providing some remote working tips and strategies for employees and leaders alike has become paramount. And this is especially true for those that didn’t have remote work in place before.
When Coronavirus cases first started to spread across the country, businesses closed their doors and sent employees home to work remotely. Almost a year later, a great percentage of these working Americans are still clocking in from their kitchen tables or home offices. And many of them are working from home parents.
When the first wave of COVID-19 forced the world into lockdown, business leaders scrambled to pivot out of necessity. Overnight, they had to make financial adjustments and staffing decisions to keep the business afloat. They had to reassure stakeholders, hone their public message, and implement health and safety measures. If being a great leader was difficult before, now it has become even tougher.
If there’s one lesson the pandemic taught business owners this year, it’s that having a virtual workforce is doable across many industries and sectors. About 50 percent of surveyed companies in the United States and Canada think their employees are more productive when working from home and project this will continue in 2021, according to Talent Trends.
However, the research also indicates that another 43 percent of companies are not sure if they can adapt to a digitally enabled remote work entirely in the months ahead.
This year threw the workforce for a major loop, as millions of people exchanged office cubicles for their own sofas and kitchen tables. And while this shift in daily scenery is one thing for existing employees, for new team members there’s a different story altogether. In a matter of months, remote onboarding has become an even hotter topic.
