Remote working: work beyond the workplace

Past are the years when remote working was seen as an eccentricity, a trend that would soon fade because nothing can replace the workplace offices which are the heart and the brain of any enterprise, small or large. The years have proved the doomsayers wrong and now, more than ever, remote working (or teleworking) is flourishing, as it shows Microsoft’s Work Without Walls report.

“Telework is no longer a company perk for employees but a business imperative,” stated Ron Markezich, corporate vice president of Microsoft’s U.S. Enterprise and Partner Group.

“Ten years ago, it was seen more as an employee benefit. Today, businesses around the world are seeing telework as a necessity,” he added.

The report shows that 57% of the information workers surveyed in the U.S. have stated that their company has a formal policy which allows them to work remotely. Sector wise, financial services lead with 64%, followed by manufacturing with 58% and professional services with 55%. Area wise the percentage is bigger in Dallas and Seattle with 64%, opposed to the 50% recorded in Los Angeles and Detroit.

Still, information workers said they’re only working remotely half the time they would prefer. On average, an information is working remotely around four days a month though they would like to work remotely nine days. City wise, Atlanta is leading with employees in the area working remotely, on average, 4.7 days a month, followed by Phoenix with 4.5 days. On the other end of the spectrum is Detroit with only 2.6 days.

According to Ron Markezich, the disparity between how much remote work employees would like to do and the remote work they’re actually allowed to have is still a cultural issue, as employers are still bound to the workplace model.

“So much of business was built around the workplace,” he stated. “But over the past few years technology has made it so people can be more productive spending part of their time working remotely.”

However, the workplace model is slowly being replaced by remote working as its benefits are being realized by businesses all over the country. Remote work improves productivity and lowers costs, it allows employers to access a larger talent pool, increasing diversity. Employees have an easier time balancing their work-life balance and allows them to avoid commuting.

When asked what are the main problems with remote working with other employees, the respondents stated the inability of speaking face-to-face and the lack of a quick response, problems that are easily solved with a remote conferencing solution.

The ideal solution then seems to be one that allows remote work and web conferencing at the same time. Remote working technology developers and vendors should focus on the all package in order to provide a full remote working experience, much like RHUB’s appliances.

RHUB’s appliances allow for remote work to be done while at the same time supports video, web and audio conferencing, allowing remote workers to be in contact at all times, as if they were in the same workroom.