Read What These 5 Experts Have to Say About Remote Workspaces

Remote workspaces are the new way of working. While it may seem intimidating at first, having a home office can be beneficial for many reasons. If you’re looking to get into remote work, or just want to learn more about this trend, here’s what five experts have to say on the topic.

1. Remote Workspaces Are Becoming Permanent

The number of individuals who work from home on a permanent basis is expected to quadruple by 2021, according to an Enterprise Technology Research poll. (ETR) “The output statistic shows that remote work is beneficial,” said Erik Bradley, ETR’s primary engagement strategist. According to a recent Gartner CFO survey, two-thirds or about 74% of businesses plan to permanently shift employees to remote work after the Covid-19 problem is resolved.

Employees at San Francisco-based Twitter were notified mid-last year that they may work from home forever. Around the same time, Square, which is also managed by Twitter’s Jack Dorsey, implemented a similar policy, allowing staff to work from home indefinitely, even when offices reopen. Around the same time, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg assured workers that many of them will be able to work remotely indefinitely.

2. More Engagement Will Be Required For Remote Workspaces

More remote companies have been requiring their employees to engage with each other more in order to keep optimal levels of productivity.

This may be the result of remote work becoming increasingly popular, especially among millennials who are looking for different types of flexibility that are not found in traditional workplaces.

Remote workspaces are also beneficial because they contain many tools and resources that can help remote workers perform better regardless of whether it’s just a virtual space or an actual workspace.

According to these experts, remote workspaces should focus on providing good communication between team members along with having access to professional development opportunities rather than fancy amenities.

A good attitude and excellent relationships open the doors to success in the workplace. Working remotely has the downside of making it more difficult to emphasize professional accomplishments. Employees will need to put in extra effort moving forward to increase their virtual involvement in order to have access to new chances. 

Employee involvement is significantly more difficult to describe and quantify in a remote workplace when employees collaborate mostly via email. Employees who work from home may stand out as leaders by attending virtual events, engaging in online meetings, and maintaining a high level of excitement.

3. The Advent Of Remote Workspaces Mean Fewer Office Spaces

Not according to remote workspace experts who posit that remote workspaces can provide a better work environment and more opportunities for productivity.

Some companies, like Automattic (the developers of WordPress), allow employees to choose whether or not they want their desks in the office space.

A recent survey found that nearly fifty percent would prefer having an option to telecommute with options on when and where they worked from. The main motivation cited? Better work-life balance leading to increased satisfaction in both life and work hours while also being able to reduce stress levels. And then there’s this: forty-five percent said it makes them feel valued as an employee while thirty-eight percent said it led to improved morale among remote workers.

However, the necessity for massive physical office premises, according to Moe Vela, Chief Transparency Officer of TransparentBusiness, will progressively go away. “Completely remote enterprises with no headquarters will continue to grow as other corporations downsize or eliminate office space for hybrid teams to save money,” Vela says. Businesses have already begun to move in this approach since the Covid-19 Pandemic hit.

4. Cybersecurity Is Critical In Remote Workspaces

As remote workspaces become the future of work, cybercriminals have a new twist to monitor employees and innovate their attacks.

Cybersecurity expert Robert Siciliano believes that remote workspaces are essential for organizations looking to maximize productivity while maintaining data security. For this reason, remote workspace cybersecurity is vital when it comes to protecting company information from hackers. “Remote access software allows workers who don’t sit at desks all day to log in securely,” he said in an interview with TechRepublic’s Dan Patterson.

Cybercrime has been one of the top reasons companies make remote offices a priority since remote office facilities can be used as command centers for conducting malicious cyber activity through public networks undetected by IT staff.

According to Cisco’s Future of Secure Remote Work Report, 85 percent of respondents believe cybersecurity is as vital as it was before the epidemic. A major source of worry is how data is accessed and how to adequately safeguard it. Organizations must think more strategically about cybersecurity spending and how to effectively secure personnel, data, and equipment, according to Jack Mannino, CEO of security firm nVisium.

5. Performance Management Is Impacted By Remote Workplaces

According to remote workspace experts, remote workspaces and performance management go hand in hand.

Remote workspaces and their effect on performance are closely intertwined—and for good reason. While physical presence might be nice every now and then, employees should avoid creating a culture where someone feels like they must always be physically present to be a part of the team.

For remote employees, it’s also important that managers and executives don’t forget about them entirely—and this happens more than you might think. Experts say that remote workers can feel disheartened if no one ever visits their workspace or asks how they are doing.

Employers should make sure remote workers know what behaviors will not be tolerated even though they may be geographically separated from others.

Organizations will increasingly place a premium on results rather than hours spent, necessitating the use of tools and applications to oversee remote employee performance. Employers will require visibility into what employees are doing in order to enhance staff efficiency. 

Time Doctor, Timely, and Transparent Business are some examples of remote employee management software. To manage production and cooperation while ensuring operational efficiency, it may be required to develop a new job role, such as Director of Remote Work.

Performance evaluations are being conducted on a regular basis rather than once a year in certain firms. As managers attempt to assist workers in navigating their job duties and meeting performance standards, continuous feedback will become increasingly important. In the new normal, rethinking goal-setting and establishing essential performance measures will be critical to managing remote workers.

Remote workspaces have been around for a while, but they are becoming more and more permanent. The advent of remote workplaces means fewer office spaces will be needed in the future. Cybersecurity is critical to ensure safety when working remotely, so make sure you take steps to protect your data if you work away from the office too often. Performance management may also need some tweaking as it pertains to remote employees because there’s no way for managers or supervisors to see how their team members are performing without being present with them full-time. If any of this sounds like something you might be interested in exploring further please give us a call today!