Flexible working is becoming more prevalent as the years go on. It’s not surprising when you consider the wealth of opportunities that are available to us the days.
You might want to go travelling, you might want to stay at home with your children but still earn a living, you might want to choose your own working hours, maybe you have an elderly parent you need to care for. Flexible working allows you to meet these demands and needs and still maintain your monthly wages.
However, flexible working options aren’t all magic and roses, as there are some downsides which need to be managed. The good news is that they are entirely manageable, provided you know what to look for.
For an employer, having staff working from home can be a good thing and a bad thing.
For instance, employers save cash on employees who choose to work from their own home office, because it means they don’t need to pay as much in overheads and they don’t need to purchase office furniture for that particular employee. They also benefit from increased productivity, because when someone is happier with their working arrangement, they’re bound to work harder and more accurately as a result.
As before however, there are some negative effects of home working on a business. If you’re thinking about putting in a flexible working request, you need to outline as much information as possible on the possible downsides and then offer a solution that overrides it all. This will give you a much greater chance of having your request accepted.
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With that in mind, let’s look at the three reasons why employers might not want you to work from home and how you can solve them.
- A decrease in collaboration - Not having your entire team in the contemporary office means that collaboration opportunities aren’t as plentiful. There are fewer group meetings around the modern boardroom tables, and we all know how important teamwork and collaboration are these days. The good news is that it’s easier than ever before to be present in a place visually but not physically. How? Video calls! Zoom, Skype and other software allow you to collaborate with your colleagues as if you were in the room. This ensures the business continues to benefit from collaboration and therefore boosts productivity and business growth.
- Lower productivity due to distractions - Working from home can be distracting. There are a million and one temptations you might fall foul to and the fact that nobody is there to motivate you to carry on with your work can mean that your productivity drops. The only answer to this is to be self-disciplined and show your employer that you’re a diligent and dedicated member of staff who is able to organise themselves and their own working day, to ensure distractions don’t become a problem.
- Difficult communication - When your employees aren’t sat at their regular office desks, it can be difficult to communicate with them. You’re relying up phone lines and Internet connections for communication and sometimes this can be difficult. It’s vital that you are available throughout your working day, online and over the telephone. Check out this infographic which talks about how to effectively communicate with remote workers.
Source - https://venngage.com/blog/remote-team-communication/
As you can see, there is a way around every negative point, but you need to approach home working in the right way from the get-go. Know that you may find it hard to avoid distractions and temptations occasionally and put in a damage limitation plan to ensure that you stay on track. By doing that, you’re ensuring that your business continues to thrive and that you get the most out of your new flexible working arrangement too.
In that case, the entire thing is completely win-win on both sides!