As a parent, figuring out how to do everything between work and your kids and all your other responsibilities can be challenging, but working from home helps with that. But as someone who works from home, I can tell you that there also are challenges involved. However, I work for myself which has its own perks and difficulties that are different from when you work remotely for another company. If you are considering working remotely, here are some things you might want to consider that are challenges in that situation.
For whatever reason, your organization has started to work remotely. You thought this was a good idea because you’ve heard everyone talk about the benefits of remote working. It can help you save money, it allows your employees to be more productive, and you eliminate carbon emissions created by commuting to work.
Okay, there are (admitedly) a lot of things to like about remote working. It can very much be a viable option for your business - and for many other businesses. Nevertheless, you can’t deny the drawbacks as well. The problem is, hardly anyone talks about some of the problems that stem from working from home.
One significant consideration when transitioning to remote work is ensuring that your employees have access to reliable networking equipment. Without proper devices, maintaining efficient communication and productivity can become challenging. For instance, incorporating high-quality networking switches into your infrastructure can drastically improve connectivity and overall performance, which is crucial for remote work setups.
So, this post will uncover them! Carry on reading to find out the remote working issues nobody ever talks about:
Scheduling can be tricky
Having all of your employees working in an office can make it easier for you to schedule everything. They all know when they have to be in, they know when they can stop work, and so on. Remote working makes things slightly more complicated. You don’t have the same degree of control over scheduling. Sure, you can tell your team to start and end at specific times, but how do you know they’re actually working? Unless you’re on a video call the entire day - which is unlikely- you have no idea of knowing if they are starting work on time or being as productive as can be.
In turn, this can mean you don’t get through as many tasks every single day. Therefore, you struggle to complete projects, etc. Thankfully, you can make this a bit easier by using things like Sling Employee Scheduling Software to assign tasks and keep everyone on track. But, there’s no denying that trying to create a schedule is a lot harder when everyone works remotely.
Tech troubles are frequent
Tech troubles will plague any workplace. You could be in an office and still suffer from common tech issues. Unfortunately, these issues are much worse when you’re working remotely. In an office setting, you only have one set of things that could go wrong. But, when you have lots of people working from all over the place, any number of tech issues can plague them.
One individual might have internet problems while another has an issue with their laptop. You could also experience trouble with different software applications. To compound the misery, it is harder to solve these problems quickly. If you worked in an office, you might have some tech support handy at all times. It is much harder to get tech support for a team of remote workers. In most cases, you have to hope that they can find solutions to the issues as quickly as possible - especially when they affect things like wifi or PCs. Looking up ‘internet providers near me’ helps you find the right internet connection for you.
With software problems, you should be able to get support from the developers - or even from yoru own IT team. Still, you can’t hide from the fact that tech troubles are a) more frequent, and b) more painful when working from home.
Communication is sometimes an issue
Realistically, this links into the tech problems point. It’s 2022, and we are gifted with a complete wealth of communication tools to make our lives easier. Seriously, there are so many ways to stay connect while remote working. You have email, direct messaging, phone calls, video calls; the list goes on and on. Not to forget that you have cloud software to communicate and collaborate while working on things together.
However, this all falls apart when someone has tech problems. Now, we’re not really talking about serious problems - like the ones mentioned earlier. Instead, we’re looking at some issues that are even more common, yet not as drastic. The best example of this is someone with a weak internet connection. It’s good enough to get them online, but it’s not powerful enough to handle things like video calls/conferences.
So, what happens? Well, you try to have a meeting or you try to call the individual, but you can’t hear what they’re saying because the connection is too weak. It is incredibly frustrating, now imagine this problem with multiple employees all at once. Sure, you can resort to email or messages, but then you have another concern; what if they don’t reply in time? What if someone doesn’t get a notification or doesn’t see it? Instead of replying instantly - when you need them to - they reply after 20 minutes, an hour; two hours! Regardless of how advanced modern communication technology is, there is no replacement for the speed and convenience of talking face-to-face in an office.
Distracted employees struggle at home
There’s a great debate over whether or not working from home is more productive for businesses or not. In truth, it depends on the individuals working for your company and how yoru business is run. On the one side, you could say that allowing your employees more flexibility and freedom makes them more productive. They can design the perfect work setting for themselves, feel as comfortable as possible, and work at their most productive hours of the day.
On the other hand, you can point to all of the distractions in the home. It is so easy for someone to become distracted by trivial things when working remotely. You feel a bit peckish, so you get up and go to the kitchen. Before you know it, you’ve wasted half an hour just wandering around looking for something to eat or making a snack. What if you live with other people? You always have them as a distraction because they might not be working.
The simple fact is that your employees have to deal with distractions when working from home. Some can’t manage this, so they don’t get much work done at all. It slows down your business, leading to productivity issues that could end up costing a lot of money.
There are insurance complications
When you have people working in the same place as you, there’s a duty to provide a reasonable level of safety for everyone. You need to provide them with a safe work environment, and you will also need worker’s compensation insurance. Worker’s comp is used to cover any issues that arise at work - such as injuries or sickness related to the workplace. If you switch to remote working, things get extremely complicated.
Technically, your insurance does still cover injuries or sicknesses that happen when someone is working for you. It doesn’t matter if they are working from home or in the office. The problem is that the worker has to prove they were working when they got injured. If they fell down the stairs, they could try to claim this as a workplace injury because they fell while running to answer a business call. You end up with so many little issues like this that can be super complicated and cost your business money. You don’t want to deny claims, but you also don’t want to feel like you’re being cheated out of money. Things are simply easier to deal with when you all work in the same place. If you're uncertain about navigating these insurance challenges, consulting a workers' compensation attorney might be a wise step to ensure you're compliant and protected.
Is working from home a bad idea?
Remote working isn’t a good or bad idea. It can be good for some businesses, and bad for others. The important thing is to weigh up both sides of the coin. Don’t start sending your employees home and working remotely because you’ve seen other companies do this. Be aware of the drawbacks and think about trialing this before you full commit to a decision.