Remote Work Challenges – Why We Love and Hate Work from Home
Remote work challenges are discussed in every home for months. This causes the daily life in each household to adjust to a certain degree. There are advantages and drawbacks to remote working, but they depend on the individual worker and their lifestyle. For some, working remotely is being clothed in pyjamas while earning a salary. For others, lifting the laptop lid in the living room means struggling to balance life and work.
Confidential Struggles of Remote Worker
If you take a look a decade ago, the notion of remote work was uncommon in Serbia. Very few people can say they were working online for a decade. In the meantime, the commuters on their way to the office were wishing they could do the same.
It seems now, the traditional work alteration has made their dream come true. In a matter of days, every household sets the stage for telecommunication setup. Indeed, behind each computer screen, there is a person who faces remote work challenges.
Although not all of them are severe, there are similarities among the remote workers’ opinions. Though, very few are ready to reveal their share of small tragedies as well as comedies.
Neverending Silence
One of the current reasons why home-based workers dislike remote jobs is isolation. Many people do not favour gazing at the screen while reading messages from their co-workers. It eliminates the sentiment of conversing and causes a dramatic silence. Alas, the chit-chat in the kitchen will never be the same. But, using the various collaboration tools frequently can lessen the anxiety induced by solitude.
All Alone Waiting for the Meeting
At some point, everyone was too early for a meeting. The longer the user waits for the call the more uncomfortable they get. Some collaboration tools offer notification on the screen, informing that there is no one else present in the meeting. Two out of five persons will create a story behind this notification. Being early for the call is better than being late. Yet, the human brain is capable of conceiving a tragi-comic situation behind it.
Guilt
Individuals new to working remotely have a distinct perspective of the remote work concept. Because they are not in the facility in front of the superiors, they tend to feel guilty. Overthinking the judgment of others pushes them to overwork.
Work Hours
The guilt leads us to overtime performance, which is not uncommon for virtual workers. Some people lose track of time while working from their apartments. It causes burnout, which drives anxiety. Constant dissatisfaction can have severe outcomes such as work withdrawal. Thankfully, there are numerous software applications developed to remind us to take a break once in a while.
Slang Use
Interaction among peers is another challenge for some workers. Utilizing short terms and jargon may be convenient to use, but some people are unaware of their meaning. On the other side of the discussion, the person might be understanding the information incorrectly. This creates a difficulty in communication, and in overall performance.
The Future of Remote Work
Remote work is not something that converted to a trend overnight. It has become a necessity during the trialling time of the Coronavirus outbreak. More than 60% of Serbian organizations transition from traditional to work from home.
If you type remote jobs in Google Trends, the level of interest is growing in the past five years. According to world surveys, it is probable that at some point businesses will permanently adopt this method. Despite the work transformation, the advantages of remote work surpass the challenges.
Following the global study conducted on remote workers and organizations, the results show benefits for both participants. The majority of subjects interviewed have revealed a productivity improvement. The freedom and flexibility of online work present another positive response. Also, the employees provide an extra day of work hours at the end of the month.
Benefits for the companies are not only extended working hours but better performance.
For most firms, the face-to-face meeting was replaced with technologies for seamless remote work. As a result, live video conferencing has given a contemporary workforce improved mobility. They have an opportunity to operate efficiently from anyplace on the planet with the Internet as a sole requirement.
