Why a Remote Work Lifestyle is Beneficial

I’ve recently noticed a lot of articles cropping up about how people have individually been struggling with working from home. It is interesting to see this perspective, as I have personally had the exact opposite experience with full time working from home opportunities. I feel these articles are only going to hinder the progress we’ve been making in the workplace for allowing this kind of working relationship with employers.

The key thing to remember is it all comes down to your personality and how you, as an individual, compose yourself in these situations.

It can be said that it isn’t for everyone, but to say that it should not be an option is an entirely different philosophy. Recognizing that people have different personalities is essential to understanding the importance of offering different environments for different employees. People have different styles of working, meaning some people will thrive in a remote environment, and others will prefer the old-school approach to commuting and sitting in an office.

There is no right or wrong way here, there is only shaping your business model to being flexible to accommodate the lifestyles of their employees.

As many of us have jobs that are flexible and allow opportunities to work from home on occasion, I strongly believe that the workforce needs to evolve into the modern era, and allow for remote opportunities. Not only will it increase morale in employees looking for this kind of opportunity, but it will also broaden your talent pool when looking for new hires.

Reflecting on my experience with working remotely, I can tell you that I love the ability to be wherever I want and still have stability with my job. I took a road trip cross country and back this summer, and I only took 1 vacation day to do it because my company was flexible with my location. I felt the most refreshed I have ever felt waking up for work everyday, because the rest of my day was not limited to a specific routine.

There are most certainly hurdles when it comes to remote teams, I’m not trying to say otherwise. However, that doesn’t mean that because there is a challenge that we should just run away from it.

Embrace change people.

Communication with Colleagues, Isn’t it Difficult?

Many feel that the human element of a work relationship with colleagues is lost in these remote environments, but I’ve found that there are ways to work around this, and actually get your teammates to feel just as tight knit as you would in an office setting.

Utilizing digital communication methods, like Slack, are a great way to get started. Creating channels related to projects for productivity but then channels for water cooler talk as well, like a sports channel or a music channel, will create an environment that promotes a good team atmosphere. Finding ways to add channels to bring together teammates that don’t work on projects together, or are in other departments, is beneficial for the whole as well as the individual. A lot of trust is built in those water cooler channels, and I’ve found them most valuable for building strong relationships and being able to take a breath in the work day.

There are also integrations for Slack that are amazing for remote office culture — daily or weekly questionnaires where you can see everyone’s responses, polls and more. I highly recommend finding ways to utilize this tool to its full potential for creating a great bond with all of your teammates.

Virtual Communications are Even More Personal

Video calls are a vital tool for creating a good bond between individuals in remote settings. Frequent video communications allow team members to put names with faces, and not just pictures, meaning a more personalized experience. I can’t stress this enough, but anytime there are meetings internally, your team should be on video. Even quick 5 minute calls between two teammates should require video. This starts to bring that feeling of togetherness to the team and they begin to build stronger relationships.

87% of remote workers feel more connected through the use of video conferencing.

You might be thinking that it is impossible to establish a good connection with someone virtually, and to that I say welcome to the modern era of communication. With all of our social apps and digital forms of connecting with one another, it is no surprise that we are able to be in a remote setting and still feel so connected with one another.

Working Comfortably Improves Productivity

A great perk is you get to decide what your work environment is. Maybe it’s at home with your cat, or maybe it’s at a coffee shop, but whatever it is, it isn’t decided by someone else. You aren’t forced to stare at a gigantic yellow wall all day if you don’t want to, or stare out a window at a sea of buildings and parking garages.

Eighty-six percent of those surveyed said they preferred to work alone to “hit maximum productivity.” Remote.io

Wherever you feel most productive is where you can work.

This alone has made me feel like teams that work from home have been more determined to succeed, been more successful at reaching goals, and have grown more efficiently.

Turns out work-from-home employees work a true full-shift (or more) versus being late to the office or leaving early multiple times a week and found it less distracting and easier to concentrate at home. Inc.com

Eliminating the Burnout

It’s often been criticized that if you’re working from home you’re doing more work than the average Joe traveling to the office for the 9–5. This is only true if you let it be true.

Most remote environments are pretty flexible with schedules, which means sometimes you can be in front of the screen longer that 8 hours if you’re not paying attention. This is why you make sure you’re logging your time for every project as you go, so you can keep track of how much time in the day you’ve spent on work.

Some of my colleagues have actually scheduled time away from their desks. Lunch with friends, a coffee run, taking your dog for a walk, whatever it may be, take some time to get up, stretch your legs and look away from the computer.

As long as you’re good at managing your own time you won’t have any issues keeping yourself in check.

Why You Should Offer Remote

If you don’t offer remote opportunities currently, I’m not saying that you need to tell your entire office to pack their desks and go home. Nearly every remote environment I’ve been a part of still has a home-base where employees who reside nearby will come work from. What I’m saying is there are serious benefits for offering remote at your place of work. Giving employees the choice, instead of demanding the commute to a cubicle, will give them more time in the day to manage a better work life balance.

I remember spending over an hour in the car every day for a job and asking myself, why am I doing this?

Having remote employees also establishes a stronger sense of trust. When you can let go of the idea of “seeing a person means they’re actually doing the work you’re asking them to” there will be a lot less stress in your life. You will find out really quickly if someone is going to be productive or not, and it doesn’t matter if they’re sitting in your office or in a coffee shop 350 miles away and the trust it makes your employees feel is tenfold.

You’re showing them that you believe in their ability to be successful no matter where they are, and that they don’t need someone to hold their hand while they do it. You know what happens when you establish trust with your employees? You retain them longer.

In a Stanford University study, employers who offered a work from home option had employee turnover rates fall by over 50%. Fundera

Also, overhead costs for your business are going to decrease when you have remote team members. Less people coming into the office means a smaller office and smaller bills that go along with it. (Not to mention the benefits of costs it saves your employees to not have to commute to the office on the daily also.)

Lastly, as I mentioned before, it will significantly broaden your horizons when looking for new people to join your team. Instead of limiting your talent pool to a 30 mile radius of your office, you now have an entire country, if not world, of opportunity sitting at your fingertips.

As always, thanks for reading. If you have more questions or curiosities Id love to hear them, so please share your thoughts!

Check out my website, lindseygemmill.webflow.io, to see some of the cool things I’ve worked in in the past, and learn more about me! I’m always looking to add more connections to my network.