In the past couple of years, a growing number of businesses from a wide range of global industries and sectors have been forced to work from home or adopt flexible or hybrid working practices as a result of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. It has, however, achieved mixed results with some employees preferring to work from the comfort of their own homes and others preferring to continue working amongst their peers. If you are curious as to whether or not working from home increases productivity, continue reading to find out everything you need to know.
It is a familiar setting
If you have been relegated to work from home within the past couple of years, you may have enjoyed spending your working hours in a familiar setting. It can, for example, lower stress levels in employees that find it difficult to interact as part of a team or communicate within a wider group setting. This can increase productivity by removing a number of external factors which results in fewer distractions throughout the day and, as a result, more time to proceed with the task at hand. If you have little to no space to establish a separate workspace or office to successfully work from home, however, working from home may end up decreasing productivity in the long run as you struggle to strike the right balance between your professional and personal endeavours.
There may be less human interaction
If you work from home but work long hours or your partner commutes to work, you may find yourself suffering from a lack of human interaction before long. This may not necessarily sound like a major problem if you treasure time spent in your own company or find yourself becoming socially anxious in the company of others but depending on how long you spend alone during the week, you may end up struggling to maintain a satisfactory level of productivity as a result. This can end up having a negative impact on your performance at work and may even command the attention of your boss if you fail to meet certain deadlines or your attendance or punctuality gradually declines as a result.
There is no need to commute
If you spend a minimum of 30 minutes commuting to work on a daily basis, working from home can remove the need to commute and save you a considerable amount of time and money in the process. This is especially important if you rely on public transport to get to and from work and spend upwards of £50 a week, for example, on bus, train, or taxi fares, or simply sitting in traffic. In addition to saving a considerable amount of money, you can also free up time to spend on the hobbies and interests you enjoy before and after work such as going for a run, catching up on your favourite television show, or just buying groceries whilst the vast majority of people are at work. In the past couple of years, this has emerged as one of the most commonly reported benefits of working from home and has
even been the determining factor that has encouraged a growing number of employees to continue working from home on a full-time basis going forward.
There are fewer opportunities for training
If you have only recently taken up a role with a brand-new company, you may find that there are fewer opportunities for training whilst working from home. It may not necessarily be a problem if you are happy with your current position or are uninterested in advancing your career but if you are committed to growing and developing within your chosen career path, this may lead to poor job satisfaction and, as a result, decreased productivity as you balance the daily tasks and responsibilities of your current position with the process of actively searching for a suitable replacement. It is entirely possible to continue participating in virtual training courses or attend in-person training courses from time to time but with reduced communication across the board, this may result in miscommunication between employers and employees or lead to a company-wide failure to keep up with the latest rules and regulations within your chosen industry, sector, or niche.
In 2020, a growing number of businesses from a wide range of global industries and sectors were forced to wave goodbye to the workplace and say hello the comfort of their own homes as the world gradually shifted towards flexible or hybrid working practices. It may have been a familiar setting and saved a considerable amount of time and money in commuting for employees, but it also resulted in less human interaction and fewer opportunities for training with mixed results reported when it comes to overall productivity.
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