Over the past year or so, remote working has taken the world by storm. Part of this was certainly due to necessity, as the coronavirus pandemic meant anyone who could work from home in the UK was strongly advised to do so by the government. But in addition to this, many people believe that the remote revolution was long overdue, and it was welcomed by many workers in all sorts of industries. We’re now more than a year into this ‘working from home’ boom, but will the concept be here to stay? While some people are advocating for it to become the new norm, even once the pandemic is over, others are arguing for a swift return back to the offices in droves. So, it’s clear that remote working isn’t for everyone, and there are definite pros and cons. If you’re thinking about what your WFH policy is going to look like in the future, you may be wondering about the right thing to do. In this blog post, we’ll be discussing the pros and cons of remote working for your team. Of course, every single business is different. Each one needs different things from their employees, office environment, and company culture. For some, long-term remote working just might not be an effective solution. But for others, remote working could free up time and resources and actually make employees more productive. So, the pros and cons listed below may help you to realise what the best way forward is for you and your business.
What are the pros and cons of remote working for your team?
As with any decision, there are both benefits and drawbacks to long-term remote working, and it’s not going to be right for everyone. So, let’s take a closer look at five pros and five cons to this way of working in the long run, for both employers and employees:
The pros of remote working
Cost savings
Of course, one of the major pros of remote working for employers is the cost savings. There’s no denying that leasing an office is an expensive undertaking. So, with some or even all of your team working remotely, you can downsize your office to a smaller space and save money in the long run. Some organisations are even deciding to go fully remote and do away with a permanent office completely, instead using co-working spaces on an ad-hoc basis when teams do need to meet face-to-face or work in-person. While this may not be realistic for all businesses, the cost savings that can come from leasing a smaller space, not to mention spending less on utilities, can really add up and make a hugely positive difference.
Greater flexibility and work-life balance
For the vast majority of employees, work-life balance will be important to them. And, this is far easier to achieve when they don’t have to commute for multiple hours per day. Employees who have a good work-life balance tend to be happier and more motivated at work, and have more time to do things that they enjoy outside of the workplace too. And, working from home offers greater flexibility within the working day. It’s easier to fit around commitments such as family and appointments that would be hard to schedule into a regular office day. Also, if employers are willing to offer more freedom when working remotely, employees will appreciate this and tend to be no less productive than they would be in an office environment.
A wider choice of talent
When it comes to the pros and cons of remote working for your team, not many people would immediately think of this one. But, have you considered how allowing long-term remote working could increase the pool of talent from which you can hire? If being present in the office everyday is required for a job, you are limited to hiring only those candidates who are within commuting distance, or are willing to relocate (often at a big cost to your business). But, if remote working is the norm, you can instantly widen your search massively. In fact, with a few logistical challenges aside, you could even consider hiring from anywhere in the world. Just think of the huge amounts of talent that this opens your organisation up to, that you would have otherwise missed out on.
Efficiency and productivity
When you have some or all of your team working from home, you automatically start to find more efficient ways of doing things that build the productivity of your team as a whole. For example, instead of having everyone together for a face-to-face meeting, you may have to move it to a video call or even just an email. By nature, video calls tend to be more efficient as there’s usually less small talk. So, utilising technology to your advantage alongside remote working is the best way to save everyone’s time so that they can focus more on the work that really matters to drive your business forwards.
Higher levels of employee retention
Many employees really enjoy remote working and the benefits that it brings. They like having a better work-life balance, being able to work from the comfort of their own home, spending far less time commuting, and less time in meetings. So, when it comes to the pros and cons of remote working for your team, you may be surprised by how much loyalty it can foster. Happy employees tend to stay loyal to where they work for longer, and lots of employees find that their job satisfaction rises with some form of remote working. So, if you’re working to improve employee retention, take a look into how remote working schemes could help you.
The cons of remote working
Although remote working has been a welcome change for many people, it doesn’t come without its fair share of downsides too. So, next on this list of the pros and cons of remote working for your team, let’s take a look at a few of the reasons it may not always be the best decision:
Social isolation can be a problem
Most people are, on the whole, social creatures. And, they gain a lot of that needed social interaction from being around colleagues in an office all day. When teams switch to working completely remotely, many people feel more isolated. There’s nobody to have a quick chat with over a morning coffee, and team activities like a drink after work become almost nonexistent. It can also be a lot harder for new employees to build connections with their colleagues when working from home. In fact, for remote employees, it can actually be easy to go days or even weeks without a face-to-face conversation with somebody outside of their household. So, when working remotely, loneliness is something that employers should be aware of and monitor in their employees to help prevent it from spiralling into wider mental health issues such as depression.
A lack of structure does not work for everyone
While lots of employees will welcome the added flexibility that working from home brings, others won’t thrive on this way of working at all. There are plenty of people out there who value a rigid structure and routine, of which working from an office can form a large part. So, when they are working remotely, they struggle to maintain this structure. As a result, their performance at work and general wellbeing may suffer. For these team members, when working from home, it’s a good idea for them to set a specific routine (including set start and end points to the working day) to help them stay on track and in a routine that works for them.
Remote working can make it harder to employees to progress and develop
A huge part of career development and progression relies on consistent meetings with line managers to review performance, raise and concerns, and praise good work. However, when working remotely, it’s easy for these meetings to take on a different format or even disappear entirely as it’s harder for them to take place over video call. This can leave employees feeling frustrated and though their roles are not going anywhere. So, line managers need to make a conscious effort to regularly check in with their team members so that these reviews don’t fall by the wayside, and team members feel valued and supported in their roles.
Employees may feel burnout quicker
On this list of the pros and cons of remote working for your team, it’s clear that the flexibility it brings can be a blessing for many. But, alongside the lack of structure, it can also quickly lead to burnout. Many employees take the opportunity of remote working to spread their work out around their schedules. But, this can lead to them having no set start or end time to the working day, as they would in an office environment. So, they often end up working more hours than they did in-person, even without the commute factored in. This is a recipe for burnout to happen at a faster rate if it’s left unchecked. To help combat this, employers should set expectations of when work should finish and end, and not encourage employees to regularly work over their contracted hours when possible.
Hybrid working teams can lead to feelings of exclusion
As government restrictions start to ease, many businesses are taking a hybrid approach to remote working, with some team members working in the office and some from home at any given time. Of course, this is another flexible approach that works for many people. But, it can lead to those who work from home feeling excluded from the company culture when they see their colleagues working together face-to-face. Of course, all teams should try to keep communication as open as possible to help prevent this from becoming an issue. But, it is a tricky divide to close when some people are remotely working and others are not, so businesses should keep this in mind when deciding if remote working is right for them and their team.
So, what’s the answer to the pros and cons of remote working for your team?
As you can see, the benefits and drawbacks of working from home are wide and varied. Only you can make the final decision about what’s right for your business. For some people and businesses, working remotely in the long run just won’t work. Perhaps you need to see clients face-to-face on a regular basis. Or, maybe your team doesn’t really enjoy home working and would rather be in an office environment every day. It could even swing the other way, with employees far preferring being remote and being more efficient in their work because of it.
However, for a lot of business owners, weighing up the pros and cons of remote working for your team results in a blended approach. For most, this tends to mean that full-time office work doesn’t happen for every employee, but neither does full-time remote working. Most employees will spend some time working remotely and some time in the office environment, depending on factors such as space, preference, productivity, and meetings. Overall, there is no one-size-fits-all approach; it’s all about finding what works best for you and your team in the long run.
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