Many companies are thinking about going back to the office; however others feel that becoming a 100% remote business is the future for their company. In this article, we will run through 7 of the benefits to bear in mind if you decide to “go” remote.
Reason 1: Hiring is easier for remote teams.
Teams have realised that if everyone works remotely, it doesn’t matter where new hires are from. This means that your talent pool can be from all around the world. For all companies – and especially those based outside of typical talent hotbeds – hiring remote team members creates a bigger pool of talent to recruit from, and this is something that would have been otherwise impossible.
Reason 2: People become more focused working from home.
Working from home is proven to increase productivity and gives many the opportunity to achieve better quality work, with fewer interruptions, compared with working from a traditional office space. There are plenty of exceptions of course, such as having the distraction of having children at home, a space that doesn’t accommodate home-working etc., however, for the vast majority, productivity will tend to increase.
Reason 3: Flexibility improves quality of life.
Happier employees = better staff retention. Fact. Employees have become used to working flexibly and simply do want to give this up. And, given the general shortage of talent at the moment, flexible or remote working has become an essential tool to finding/attracting/keeping staff . There are plenty of examples of where companies are losing staff and are unable to attract new staff, because they are stuck in pre-covid “traditional” old-work styles of the 9-5 Monday to Friday structure.
Reason 4: Remote teams are more resilient.
The pandemic like the one we’re seeing may be unlike anything we’ve ever seen, but life is full of unforeseen circumstances. While everyone almost without exception has faced disruptions, teams that were already remote have had to make fewer adjustments. This most certainly holds for other kinds of natural disasters or unforeseen circumstances as well: Remote teams are far more prepared than most to face these obstacles.
Reason 5: Remote teams have fewer meetings that drag on.
As remote workers are more autonomous, there’s usually less reason to have meetings that drag on and on. Time is saved travelling to/from meetings and the meeting itself is more focused. Teams become more adept at making better decisions as meetings can involve colleagues from all over the world in one go. This means more time is freed up throughout the day for better standard of work.
Reason 6: Remote teams save money.
Employees will save money on things like travel to/from work, and meals. Companies will save money by reducing office space. In the case of a company, savings from overheads in office space can be substantial and those savings can be better spent on more global hiring, or to host in-person team meetups and team socials.
Reason 7: Remote teams are better for the environment.
One of the best bits of the quarantines around the world was that we have seen a massive reduction in carbon emissions globally. There are reports of improved air quality in places like China, Spain, and California as a direct result of fewer cars on the road, planes in the sky and less use of air conditioning. After the pandemic, pollution may go back to previous levels. However, remote working gets rid of the need to produce all this pollution.
