Remote employees can actually improve the performance of your company if you learn how to build and manage a remote team, including planning its work, by supervising and providing proper feedback to members of it.
You should also acquire the ability to recognize, in an appropriate manner, how to use modern technology that can support your remote work and not interfere with it. In addition, if you know what remote workers can improve in relation to the traditional team, you will be able to use it in practice and achieve even faster success.
The current state of remote work
According to a Gallup poll, 37 percent of US employees say they have worked in a remote work model. This number has increased by more than 9 percent since 1995.
On the other hand, Owllabs data shows that 56% of companies allow remote work, of which 40% are “hybrid companies” combining remote work with stationary work, and 16% are fully remote. Last year, US data revealed that 85% of companies allowed hybrid work or required remote work. In 2017 52% of employees worked remotely at least once a week and 68% of respondents work remotely at least once a month in 2018. In the United States, only 15% of companies did not allow remote work in 2017.
Compared to the global average, South America has 81% more fully remote companies. Asia and South America each have 9% more companies that don’t allow remote work than the global average. Africa and Australia have the most hybrid or fully remote companies with 59% and 60% respectively.
18% of staff work always remote, 13% one day per week, 21% more than 1 day per week, 16% one day per month but one third (32%) has never even worked in this model. The number one reason that people prefer to work remotely is increased productivity and better focus. Secondly, no commute and lastly, a better work-life balance causing happiness.
In remote teams it is a bit harder
Remember, managing and organizing work in remote teams can be quite a challenge. This is mainly due to a lack of physical contact as well as the fact that members of remote teams do not see each other. Someone’s gestures, facial expressions, body posture – everything is hidden. So, let’s do everything to simulate reality – physical contact, closeness and relationships. We can use either modern technology or, from time to time, actually meet in the real world.
In the next article we’ll give you a few tips on how to do deal with such issues.
