The monumental shift of jobs has taken a turn due to the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic which made remote working a thing. Shifting to remote working has forever changed the hierarchy of modern workplaces. But let’s just face it, we all love the new norm of working from the comfort of our homes without worrying about travel time. Although businesses and governments around the world were bound to protect their workforce while keeping their operations up and running, it had its ups and downs as well. But remote working saved them all!
There have been multiple ways that employees made themselves feel at home while being literally in their homes working through the remote transition. Those ways are as follows that assist the employees really adjusting during the COVID-19 pandemic in the remote working setting.
1. By Prioritising Health
It is an inevitable fact that the top-most reason for adopting the remote working environment during the COVID-19 pandemic was the health and safety threats. Safeguarding the health of the employees was the most imperative thing to do at first due to the contagious nature that comes with the coronavirus. The traditional office environment with a lack of social distancing was not a suitable space to run operations imposing risks to the workforce. Well, this resulted in congregating all the businesses around the world to encourage their employees to work from their homes so that lesser sisk are imposed on their health.
2. By Resorting to Technological Advancements
Working from home with ease requires the inclusion of technology which became the lifeline for the employees. In remote operations, businesses wanted to keep tabs on everything going on in the business while making sure that each employee has access to the real-time data on their devices. This is where IT asset management software has helped a lot!
3. By Adhering to Flexible Policies for Remote Working
There were many businesses that had already placed their remote working policies before the pandemic hit the world. But let’s be real, never in a million years we thought that the tables would turn this way. But good riddance! Being prepared beforehand is one of the most important things with regard to risk assessment of the business and these already-made policies did not disappoint the employees. From the planning of occasional remote working, the policies helped in expanding the large workforce to shift towards remote working. And now, many companies are hiring remote workers around the world. Yes! That is a new normal!
4. By Balancing Work and Life Responsibilities
Everything is all fun and games until a challenge comes in the way. Whether it was homeschooling or piercing care, it was quite a challenge for the employee to juggle their professional work with their personal one. Remote working offered a hand of help to the employees and provided them with the opportunity to have a balanced work life and personal life. Because it is the least that the employees were offered the flexibility during the turbulent times. This way, not only did the employees juggle their responsibilities, but had the chance to give themselves a break and reset before hustling for another day.
5. By Increasing the Efficiency and Productivity
Businesses were initially a bit skeptical that the employee would show equal productivity and efficiency in their roles or not. But it turned out even more fruitful that the employees maintained equal productivity as they would in their office premises. Not only that, some organizations even reported that the employees were 65% more productive than they were in the offices. The adaptation of remote working increased the resilience of the workforce which showed their potential to accept change in different circumstances. That surely showed the employee’s loyalty and responsibility towards their organizations.
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6. By Adapting to Communication Tools
In office premises, time-to-time meetings, gatherings, and direct communication were some of the major things that imposed a challenge on shifting towards remorse working. But technology never disappoints and just like that, all the communication software like Skype, Zoom, and Microsoft Teams integrally contributed to the success of remote shifting. These virtual blessings came in handy with the pandemic where it got easier to communicate with team members to get updates on the projects and deadlines, which showed effective collaboration. Physical distance has never been made easier if it were not for these technologies disguised as a blessing.
7. By Making it a Long-Term Plan
Goals that inspire, always go a long way, and working towards them makes it even better. The pandemic has lasted its impact till date and we can only survive and adjust to its outcomes. With that said, remote working has now become a rapid transition among many organizations even if there is no need for social distancing. The hybrid transition has become a long-term arrangement for many businesses that can be a permanent one if the productivity of the employees proves to be equivalent. But it does not mean that companies will make employees work over hours. This is a long-term opportunity for employment around the world, so we better stick to the trends.
What we have endured, can be revolutionized and defy the traditional models and system which is associated with remote working. We would not have known the importance and benefits of remote working if it were not for the challenging time that the pandemic, COVID-19 gave us. The only concern for this remote shift was employees and business which made it easier through technology, strategies, and policies to make it a productive change. Moving forward, the lessons learned through this difficult time continue to shape the future working environment. This flexible approach will only lead to success.
