Working remotely or telecommuting, is an important part of today's working environment. Unrestricted by the traditional nine to five work day, working remotely is characterized by a flexible work schedule with the added advantage of reduced pressure to make your presence felt. Working remotely is an arrangement where employees don’t commute to a place of work, be it office building, warehouse or shop.
Primarily meant to improve work-life balance, employees often choose to work remotely when they are unable to commute to a workplace or need to complete important personal tasks. For employees, working remotely not only saves time traveling but also allows them to take care of essential personal work at home that they wouldn’t have been able to do, if working in an office location.
Working remotely is also an option that can be chosen by the business. When employees are distributed geographically, or office space costs are too high, this can help employees communicate and reduce overhead costs.
The advent of reliable technology and use of tools has made remote working much easier for both companies and their employees. It has allowed employees to communicate with co-workers and supervisors, all while in different locations. For effectively communicating while working remotely, it is best to prepare a schedule and follow it diligently.
Unlike face-to-face interactions, in a remote working environment, virtual communication is the only option. Technology from email to videoconferencing allow companies to develop bespoke systems to communicate with remote employees. This allows for frequent communication between employees that mostly has positive impact on their productivity and job satisfaction. However, one major drawback of this is that employees may grow to feel disconnected from co-workers and the organization over time.
In such a situation, virtual meetings between employees can go a long way in bridging the gap strengthening virtual team cohesion or bonding. Setting up a Virtual Private Network (VPN) backed by a reliable VOIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol) to safely access the corporate network for effective communication is the best way to ensure this can be done easily and effectively. With these tools and modern work stations, these interactions can occur on a regular basis to keep remote teams connected.
In a remote working environment, effective two-way and group communication between employees is key to maintaining professionalism, making faster decisions, collaborating on work, building relationships and solving problems with ease.
