Struggles with Working Remotely
With all the modern comforts of working from home, it would be understandable if the employees feel less productive. However, researchers have found that working from home could be in a way more stressful than working at the office. It is often a challenge to communicate and help your team stay focused and efficient during this working remotely phase.
In such times, all companies need to be open to listening to the needs of their employees. Technology can fill the distance up to an extent but the human need to find new ways to interact and make amends comes from within. Small interventions like a short call out of concern can make people generally happier and more productive at work.
Some struggles with working remotely that employees feel are:
Devoting too much time to work
One of the reasons why many companies do not approve of working remotely is they fear employees will loosen up if they are out of sight. Although this is one of the best reasons to work remotely, it can be a struggle if we find ourselves working too much. When we are at our workplace, it is easier to leave the door and your work with it. When we are home, we tend to over-work to manage other household chores along with our work.
Difficulty in prioritizing work
Remote workers need to be self-motivated all the time in order to be able to manage their time effectively. While every person having struggles with working remotely might find it difficult to stick to a particular schedule, it is more challenging to have flexible and free schedules to be able to give our bodies the rest they need. Managing our own work is hard enough and it becomes harder when we have a ticking clock.
Loneliness due to lack of human interaction
It might be difficult to work from home when you live alone. Human interactions are a huge part of our survival. Although technology has almost everything to offer us today yet, it cannot replace the connection with a human soul. Although, the benefits are that we can work without any distractions and according to our schedules yet it could eventually make us self addictive and less social with people at work.
Communication Issues with colleagues
It is easier to form bad blood with people when most of your communication is through mails or calls. Small misunderstandings like this could lead to a massive workplace drama. Although some people can savor in not having to interact with other colleagues on daily basis, it can sometimes be lonely for some without the communication. With modern technology, working from home does not to be like working alone. There are many ways to connect with people both online and face-to-face if you enjoy working alongside others in the office environment. It is one of the struggles with working remotely that it requires extra communication for the work to be done. The only real solution for this is to communicate as much as possible and clarify anything that could be a misunderstanding.
Preserving our energy
Managing our energy while working from home is more important than managing our time. We only improve by practice. Our energy is all drained if we overburden ourselves with work so it is important to give ourselves the necessary break to charge up when needed.
Conclusion
Organizations today need to step back and think about what distance to work actually means. There can be- physical distance, emotional distance, operational distance, and that is companies need to make sure they deal with their employees with trust and compassion to be connected.
