Prior to the COVID 19 pandemic, companies often competed for office spaces in urban centers across the world. It was common to believe that offices were important to achieve productivity. The need for physical teamwork, juggling between meetings, flying across countries to close business deals and lunch breaks were considered as factors that promoted culture, collaboration, and the overall success of a company.
Research shows that in early April 2020 the number of American citizens who worked at home during the pandemic increased by 37%, from 25% prior to the pandemic to 62% during the crisis. Technological advancements made possible the use of videoconferencing to communicate and participate in business administration remotely. Zoom for instance became the most used videoconferencing service during the pandemic, from just 10 million participants each day to 300million meeting participants during Covid.
A picture was taken of an empty desk at the New York Times headquarters after the rush to leave offices in March 2020. While some people find the idea of working from home as a disruption from their daily routines, others find it a bit more productive and convenient than office life. Though they all seem to agree that they miss the office life, the buzz, the passing of a pen from Parker, the smiles and chit-chats that goes on during lunch break, the interactions during meetings.
Remote work has changed the traditional way of working, office life may never be the same again as a majority of people are gradually becoming comfortable working from home. Below are some effects (advantages and disadvantages) of this change.
Advantages Of Working From Home
A flexible schedule means that employees can start and end their day whenever they please as long as the job given to them is done. This advantage helps in balancing work-life relationships, it allows employers the chance to attend to the daily needs of their individual lives.
Whether running errands, dropping a kid off at school, or picking up some groceries, working from home has been shown to create a much better work-life balance.
Reduced commuting stress
One of the main downsides of office work is commuting to and from work every single day. In countries such as Nigeria where traffic is often hectic, remote workers are saved the stress of having to commute every day to work. This can also prevent fatigue and also promotes individual productivity.
Research shows that commuting 10 miles to work every day is related to certain health challenges such as; an increased risk of depression, increased cholesterol, and increased level of blood sugar.
Location independence
An advantage of working from home for employees lies in the ability to work from anywhere in the world. You could be attending a picnic while having a conference call, you could be vacationing on the islands and closing business deals.
It helps in providing a wide range of opportunities that are not limited by geographical locations. This means that even when moving to a different country or state, an employee still has the chance to keep their jobs.
Savings
Research from Global Work Space shows that companies can save approximately $11,000 per year for every employee who works from home. A lack of office space would mean no money spent on desks, tables, chairs, computers, and other office necessities.
On the part of the employees, costs which include; transportation, gas, lunches, office clothing will be reduced or completely eliminated.
Disadvantages Of Working From Home
Spending long hours on screen with no physical interaction with colleagues can be difficult and not as efficient as actual physical brainstorming.
Unmonitored Performance and frequent breaks
A lack of monitoring can result in laziness. In the office, the employee is constantly self-conscious due to the presence of colleagues. Without this self-consciousness and the freedom to work at your own time, backlogs in business may appear.
Distractions
A survey by Glassdoor showed that 32% out of a thousand American employees reported having been distracted from work by watching TV, while 27% blamed the distraction on child care. Distractions cause a lack of focus, this, in turn, creates a bad working environment which leads to burnout and eventual unproductiveness.