The coronavirus pandemic has changed the landscape of work for many people, if only temporarily. It is an interesting time in history for this kind of illness to take over the world since work has become so mobile. Numerous companies are already set up to allow their employees to work remotely, but many still require some in-office hours. As many more companies now have to allow working from home during a quarantine, a few challenges have come to the surface.
Missing Work-From-Home Policies. While some companies have a structure for their employees to work from home, the concept is still rather untested for many. It’s the lack of structure involved in working remotely that can cause trouble. The confusion is involved on all sides as both managers and employees are unsure what the policies are in terms of when to work and how to monitor assignments. Ultimately, policies are left up to local managers and work results can therefore be inconsistent in larger organizations.
The impact on IT. Working remotely also presents a unique challenge for the IT professionals in charge of keeping an office online and working properly. No doubt that the amount of help tickets jumped up the minute everyone started signing on to their work servers from home. Especially while workers try to work out the kinks, the IT department is bound to be strained. New policies, as well as more employees, may need to be added to IT departments.
It’s tough on comradery. Likely one of the challenging parts that is easiest to comprehend of an entire work team working from home is lack of connection. Video conferencing makes hearing and seeing co-workers much easier, but nothing can replace actually being in another person’s presence. Nuances of gestures can be missed as well as just the small talking that bonds people together. While things can be done to help address this issue, nothing will replace one-on-one interactions all together.
As a culture, we are likely to see a shift in how we work as a world after COVID-19. There are employees who will carry a fear of attending work in person because of virus transmission, and those workers are likely to be accommodated for the foreseeable future. Other companies may even find that a remote option actually serves the productivity of their company. Time will tell how the future of remote work is ultimately affected by the coronavirus pandemic and what other challenges will arise.