{"id":3534,"date":"2020-05-28T14:18:06","date_gmt":"2020-05-28T13:18:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conferencecall.co.uk\/blog\/?p=3534"},"modified":"2021-06-15T10:50:05","modified_gmt":"2021-06-15T09:50:05","slug":"remote-working-isnt-easy-might-think","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conferencecall.co.uk\/blog\/remote-working-isnt-easy-might-think\/","title":{"rendered":"Remote working isn’t as easy as you think"},"content":{"rendered":"

Before the Covid-19, there were around 4.2 million of us enjoying the benefits of remote working – that’s 13.9% of the entire UK workforce, according to figures from the Office for National Statistics<\/a> (ONS).<\/p>\n

But the coronavirus lockdown has seen more employees than ever working remotely, with some businesses setting up entire remote workforces and call centres almost overnight.<\/p>\n

And while we regular readers will know we’re right behind remote working, it’s not always as easy as it should be, especially if you have to work from a coffee shop, or don’t quite have the right set up at home.<\/p>\n

This infographic from Turnstone<\/a>, designers of inspiring office furniture, highlights the problems faced by anyone working away from the office.<\/p>\n

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The trouble with remote working<\/h2>\n

A survey of 2,022 adults across the United States, the report found that almost three-quarters (71%) of employed workers work remotely at times, and nearly two-thirds (64%) of workers were found to be most productive when they worked from home. But this dropped dramatically to 18% when using a\u00a0co-working space, and\u00a0just 6% when working from a coffee shop (6%).<\/p>\n

And while the accepted wisdom is that remote working is good for\u00a0productivity, this study found that frequently working away from the office actually had a detrimental effect on productivity levels. This is a statistic that’s all the more concerning – from an employer’s perspective, at least – by the fact that a FlexJobs study<\/a> reported that almost two-third (64%) of companies don\u2019t have formal remote working policy and only 3% of organisations measure performance, engagement, and productivity to quantify ROI.<\/p>\n

So if you don’t monitor the performance of your remote workforce, it may be high time you did.<\/p>\n

More than seven out of 10 (72%) reported having some problems when working outside the office, with over a third (35%) complaining phone conversations could be difficult to hear and keep up with, while more than a quarter (26%) cited\u00a0limited WiFi\/internet access.<\/p>\n

The absence of printing facilities\u00a0was a problem for\u00a0a quarter (25%) of those surveyed, while just under a quarter (24%) struggled to connect to company servers.<\/p>\n

If you’ve ever had problems when working from home, a co-working space, or a coffee shop, see\u00a0if any of this sounds familiar…<\/p>\n

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How to stop overworking<\/h2>\n

Over working can be a huge problem when working remotely, and even if you take regular breaks during the day, these still might not offset the fact that you’re often starting earlier and working later.<\/p>\n

Here are some things you can do to avoid the problem of overworking:<\/p>\n