This year, the staff in many businesses will have been working from home remotely, perhaps for the first time.

How have you found this way of working? Some have decided to continue working in this way long term, saving costs for the business as well as for their staff, or because they prefer the flexibility of working this way. Others prefer working in an office with other people because of the sense of team when people are in face to face contact and also the social side, rather than feeling isolated.

When deciding what is best for your business and your staff long term, it’s sensible to consider the pros and cons of both options, some of which I outline below.

Working from home

Pros:

  1. Reduced expenses – the most obvious benefit is saving on office rent and rates, as well as electricity and heating costs. This is a major potential saving for your business, as is desks, chairs, and other equipment.
  2. No travel time or expense for staff – for those who have to commute to work; saving them travel costs and they’ll have more time to spend on other things e.g. with their family.
  3. Less distractions from other staff members.
  4. Staff can be more flexible with their working times/hours which can be a great benefit say for parents who need to collect their kids from school or have other responsibilities or appointments during normal office hour times (9-5). They can also work when they feel they are most productive – for some that might be later in the evening.
  5. More choice of where you work e.g. in a coffee shop, or take your laptop to a park – can help creativity.
  6. Staff may be prepared to take a pay cut.
  7. Staff feel trusted and valued to work without being watched over, which some believe can improve their motivation and how much they care about the business.
  8. Lower chance of being off work ill as you won’t be exposed to other staff members’ bacteria/viruses – a major reason this year. Also consider there are other viruses that are around, which cause people to need time off sick e.g. influenza – even with a vaccine (it’s only 40-50% reliable and not everyone has flu jabs), it is a major cause of people having to take time off work.

Cons:

  1. Remote management can be more difficult. How do you keep track of what staff are doing and can they be trusted to work efficiently, getting the tasks done that they are responsible for? I’ll be covering trusting your staff to meet their responsibilities in a future post.
  2. A feeling of isolation from working alone and missing the social benefits of working with others.
  3. Distractions at home e.g. family/children/pets.
  4. Procrastination – displacement activities can be tempting e.g. quickly hang that washing out or empty the dishwasher. Small tasks like these can break your train of thought, unless their purposely planned. scheduled to give you a break away from your desk.
  5. Family and friends may think it’s ok to call or text you as you are not in an office, which means your concentration and focus is interrupted.
  6. Some of your staff may not have the space to make room for a desk/work area.
  7. Some staff may work longer hours than they should which can cause burnout.

Working in the office

Pros:

  1. Instant ways to communicate with other members of a team on projects.
  2. Structured work time.
  3. Ability to check staff are doing what they are meant to be doing.
  4. Less likely to be distracted by social media, texts, personal calls.
  5. Much easier to train new staff in an office environment rather than remotely.
  6. Gives your business credibility when clients or other contacts visit for meetings.
  7. More likely to collaborate or brainstorm with other members of the team on projects.

Cons:

  1. As mentioned, running an office involves large expenses.
  2. To expand and grow, you might need to get larger office space which may mean moving everything to another location.
  3. Staff disagreements can be awkward.
  4. Can be romantic relationships with one another which, if they do not work out, can mean one or both might want to leave the company or department.

Summary

Whichever way you choose to go with your business long term, you must engage and discuss with your staff to get their feedback. You might find the above pointers useful for that discussion. Some companies offer their staff both options, or some staff work partly in the office and partly from home to give them more flexibility. Another option is to work from home and hire a meeting room once a week/fortnight/month so you can have a face to face, brainstorming session and catch up, which can give staff a boost and something more social to look forward to.

Make certain you address the challenge and create a clear policy.