Professional Distancing- Is WFH really giving the result?

There was a time when work from home was leisure to employees who wanted to spend some time at home without missing work. Fast forward it to the year 2020 and work from home has taken a new dimension altogether. It has been a saviour and the need of the hour for both the employees and the employers. Many employees must be thankful to get an opportunity to work from home in the current pandemic as it has kept their income running. As in this current time having a job matters the most especially when there are many around you who have either become unemployed or do not have the liberty to work from home, owing to various reasons like the nature of the job which cannot be done from home or they do not have the resources at home to carry out their work. 

Now the question comes down to whether working from home is giving the desired result? I personally feel it does give the result as we all are so well connected technically that we might not miss out on anything if we ever needed something whether it is any help from colleagues/seniors or some information online to get our work done we have all at the click of a button. So we all are technically equipped to get our work done. However, there are a few challenges that might make WFH really difficult for both the employer and the employees. There are many parameters which might hamper the work we do at home. For an employee the most common barrier we face while WFH is with our other family members as they have their own space at home and by converting it into our own work zone we are invading their privacy. Homes with kids and older people are the most difficult place to work from. From the employer’s point of view, the most challenging task is to keep a track of their employee’s work done from home as many struggle to manage their professional and personal space.

Let us see some more advantages and disadvantages of working from home.

Advantages

No Traveling - A person is relieved from commuting from home to office to do their work. They can do the work at the comfort of their house. This also saves a lot of time and money as no more being stuck in traffic and extra savings at the end of the month.

Work Home Balance – Many of us, especially women, find it difficult to maintain a balance between work and home. WFH allows them to coordinate between office work and managing house work which was more difficult earlier.

More family time – We all have had moments where we are not able to give time to our family because of those extended meetings, office trips or working overtime. WFH reduces that stress of missing out on time with family as you already home working.

Flexibility – WFH allows you to choose your own time to finish the work making our life less stressful. You are even free to choose what to wear when working at home until and unless you have a video call with someone.

Disadvantages

Self-Discipline – Getting up and focusing on work every day while working from home takes a great deal of self-discipline and motivation.

Isolation – Since a person is working from home there may be a feeling of isolation and loneliness without peers and colleagues around. There are chances one may miss out on knowing about any immediate changes in the work or task you working on.

Internet Connection – In the office, if the internet is down then there is no one to blame you as it’s a technical issue which needs to be addressed by the management. However, if the internet goes off at your house then it will be your issue which you have to deal with and run around to get it fixed so that you continue work.

Tempting Distractions – No matter how focused you are while working from home you will always have to deal with resisting the temptation of checking social media, grabbing something from the kitchen to eat or play games.

A study undertaken by Nicholas Bloom, a professor at Stanford University in California, back in 2013 somewhat forecast this trend: in his experiment, Bloom worked with a Chinese company to study remote-work productivity. Somewhat to Bloom’s surprise, the company’s staff became notably more productive by working from home four days a week. So at present, the favor is tilted towards the fact that working from home is indeed giving the desired result. And I believe there is going to be a trend in the future as well to work from home with all its pros and cons even after the pandemic.