What did the pandemic mean for the workforce? While for the world it meant shut-downs, distance, and sickness, for the workforce and for businesses, it meant greater work and productivity. At a time when everything was crumbling, remote work was emerging as the new incredible solution (and the possible path even post-pandemic) that made employees happy and employers profit.
Remote work is essentially meant to work from home. There are meetings as regular except they’re virtual! Deliverables are still required but over other platforms rather than hard copies. You may still have to pitch an idea from the comfort of your own desk.
What Technologies Emerged work and productivity?
During this time, several technologies, apps, and software experienced a boom in their success. Do you remember hearing about ‘Zoom’ ever before the pandemic? It was practically unknown. However, come coronavirus, it became the only thing on everybody’s mind!
Technologies like Zoom and Slack had a minuscule effect on businesses before but remote work taught everybody their significance and impact. They began having a large impact on businesses’ ability to communicate and monitor their employees. This meant work could go on as planned. Moreover, other software and specialized tools like employee engagement software that focuses exclusively on team members made hiring easier, reducing new hire worries.
Why Were People More Productive in Remote Work?
Not too long ago into the remote work era, studies showed that work and productivity levels were across the roof despite the socio-political climate. How was that possible? For starters, the newfound ability to balance work and home so pleasantly was helping people devote more effort to their work. Because they were not burnt out all the time, the work they were producing was also impeccable. It was even found that those who do remote work are less likely to quit and report better job satisfaction. Statistics also speak for themselves! A survey in the United States showed that 91% of remote workers believed that they were more productive when they worked from home.
There are other factors at play here too. For instance, the office space is more distracting and takes up unnecessary time. The new technology enabled people to communicate less but communicate effectively. Zoom allowed people to converse for hours on end but that one long meeting was held only once a week rather than pointless meetings throughout.
Cloud-based programs and collaboration tools also help to encourage this streamlined approach to communication. People found effortless organization and ease when they could keep all the sensitive and important documents on one platform online and share them seamlessly. This was not the case outside of remote work. What’s more, work, in the form of remote work, also tired out people less. In an office space when they had to complete one task they needed to go to multiple offices and other sources. In remote work, you simply open Slack and communicate in relevant channels without any issues. So why would work and productivity not rise?
Because of this, many companies and businesses are now looking at a hybrid setting of work where remote work also becomes a possibility regardless of the pandemic’s status.
