The advent of virtual teams and tools supporting them have been catalyzed by covid19. Do virtual teams work for your company? Here are the pros and cons of remote teams to find out!
As we wrap up the first quarter of the new year, managers are deliberating whether to opt for a fully-on-site workforce for the future, or implement a hybrid office model.
A sense of direction currently is on the rise toward a post COVID-19 era. Consequently, the productivity of employees, along with the challenges of remote work are dependent on the nature of one’s activity.
The success of a remote team also depends on the nature of the tasks and type of work that employees need to execute on a regular basis. To that extent, the pros and cons of remote teams need to be evaluated.
Benefits of remote teams
Increased employee happiness and satisfaction
Studies showed that remote employees displayed higher levels of perceived happiness (57%) as opposed to their co-workers who were in-office (50%). Among them, the majority of those who have tried working from home also note that the possibility of continuing this style of work (or better yet, of their lives) would keep them happy.
Working remotely provides a spectra of advantages that employees may not get as flexibly when working from office. The most notable in this case would be the better work-life balance and reduced costs—both of which are critical to employee job satisfaction.
From a company standpoint, sticking to the remote work format is what employees now demand. Refusing to allow distributed work can get employee turnover rates to soar, with potential candidates retracting away from your organization.
Higher productivity levels
The issue of productivity when working away from the office has been debated for long. Despite this there’s no substantial proof to indicated whether remote employees are being less productive or creative.
Yet, the majority of studies show how remote workers turn out higher levels of productivity when working from home. 78% of employees iterated that the flexibility of work arrangements make them more productive.
Think about it! Simply not commuting to and from the office means lesser energy and resources spent, allowing more time, availability, and focus. No rush-hour traffic jams to bother about while getting to work. No rushed breakfasts.
Letting employees create their own schedules also allows them to work during their peak performance hours and take breaks as they require in order to refresh and keep healthy. For others, the familiar home environment boosts concentration in the absence of external distractions.
And in this day and age of multiple collaborative tools, managing most of the tasks with the same ease is very much possible. One such tool is MultiCall, a group calling app dedicated to let you call many with the ease of calling one.
Cons of remote teams
With all the benefits it can offer, having teams remotely does pose its challenges. Let’s have a look at a few.
More effort required for trust-building
No business, let alone any basic relationship, functions without trust. Consider this scenario. Can you fully rely or trust someone you’ve never met? In the corporate scenario a newly hired individual can be found difficult to rely on, if you’ve never met even once to complete their work at full creative capacity. This also applies in a security context, considering data and confidentiality of information. For those employers who cannot risk this, a fully-virtual team can never come to be.
A team culture that’s harder to build and maintain
It can take years to build a team culture spirit, and years more to ensure its upkeep. Culture commences with the company’s commitment to establish and communicate a mindset of values and growth, even during remote work.
Processes like recruitment and induction also provide a chance to spot culture fits. Show your team your values and keep the environment conducive to bringing their own beliefs and practices on board as well.
In a fluid environment such as the present one, schedule a recurring MultiCall to review said values on a regular basis. Based on performance and feedback outcomes both from the work and team standpoints, allow room to revise these consistently. So is your team fit to work as a virtual one?
Here are some more links to better take the pros and cons aforementioned into account:
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