The idea of working from home is definitely intriguing.
Picture this: You wake up naturally in the morning, without the annoying buzz of alarm clock jerking you up alarmingly from your deep sleep. As your eyes slowly accustom to the warmth of the morning, accompanied by the beautiful ray of the sun seeping in from the window, a new day has arrive.
You take a slow walk to the bathroom, started brushing your teeth while checking out for zits in the mirror. Next, you grab the morning papers and browse through the daily happenings. Before long, the toasted bread is ready for consumption, together with your lovely cup of coffee and orange juice.
Sounds perfect.
Still in your pajamas, you switch on the laptop and follow up on the things that are supposed to be done.
Wait, are we missing something here? Don’t you have to report to office? Don’t you have to tussle with the crowd to get into the bus? And how about the bosses breathing down your neck, and your superiors watching your every move?
Our concept of the workplace hasn’t caught up with the needs of modern society, or what tools today can empower us to. Virtual work has to be valued and rewarded. It has to be featured in the media and it has to be socially desirable.
According to a recent study, workers consider themselves to be more productive when they are working away from the office. It implies that the boss trusts them enough to work where they feel is appropriate to deliver the output expected of them.
Away from the office, we have more opportunities to expose ourselves to different things. It opens the experience of working in more environments, meeting different people and potentially delivering more innovation solutions as a result.
Once empowered, individuals or/and teams can then select the best location to suit the tasks or activities.
I’m sure many of us could resonate with the lists above, but the benefits of working virtually extend far and beyond that.
It increases your productivity
We can be more productive when working from home. The endless meeting are time consuming, and the biggest expense for any corporation are spent on meeting. A 2-hour meeting involving many executives, many a time without serving the intended purpose of holding a meeting in the first place. It all adds up, and the time can be better use somewhere else.
It saves employer money
Rentals are increasing, sometimes to the level that is forcing many businesses to relocate or even push them out of contention altogether. Is it necessary for the company to house all of its staffs in a confined space? By properly delegating the work, I’m pretty sure most of the things can are done in office can be accomplished at home.
It eliminates redundant travel time (and eases traffic congestion)
Every day, we spend so much time traveling.The biggest waste of resource is the unproductive time, energy and money wasted into getting people to and fro office.You are also directly, and indirectly, helping the cause of saving the environment and easing the problem of traffic congestion by working from home.
Makes us more creative
Creative works are often produced when we are in a relaxed state. Seldom are works of creative nature produced under pressure-cooker environment. When we are working virtually, we could be in our favorite places. Having lunch in the quiet restaurant round the corner, with a moleskine and pencil, you begin to draft out the storyboard of what will be the beginning of a great plot.
We all need our personal space for discovery to take place. Allow your creative nature to strive in this kind of environment.
Having said that, social interaction is extremely important. It is vital to catch up with one another, update colleagues on the progress. Human interaction is what builds strong relationships. And strong relationship is the fundamental building block of our basic needs. Take some time, drop by the office. It could be anywhere, an informal meetup at your favorite coffee place and bar would suffice.
Working from home is for the minority.
Working from home and office is for the majority.
Working anywhere is the future.
Would we be better off, if we could just wake up and log into our work anywhere?