Why Now is the Right Time to Move Your Team Remote

Businesses and people everywhere are having to adjust to a new normal. Many businesses are moving to providing digital products and services, like online courses and sessions. Retailers are starting to open again. Yet 89 percent of consumers are still hesitant about shopping in physical stores, according to a survey by The Harris Poll.

Many businesses are facing tough odds, while they scramble to figure out how to get ahead of this crisis. Small businesses especially are in danger, with only 47 percent expecting to still be in business at the end of the year if the crisis lasts four months. Half of those four months have passed, and we’re nowhere near the end of the crisis.

In order to recover from the pandemic as a thriving business, one of the solutions that you can look into is enabling remote work for your employees. Remote work has been gaining traction over the recent years and now is the right time to make your team remote.

Here are five reasons why your business should take the plunge.

1. This Transformative Time Requires Businesses to Adapt
   This coronavirus outbreak signals the start of a wave of disruption. Customer behaviors and business models are set to change significantly over the next months. This substantial change in the market will affect how people do business.

   Remote work is one of these practices showing a continuously upward trend. Since 2005 to 2017, there has been a 159 percent increase in remote work. More companies are looking into the possibility of providing remote work arrangements permanently even after the pandemic blows over.

   This is a movement that will continue past the current crisis, and now is the perfect time to get started on implementing it for your business.

2. Improving your bottom line is more important than ever
   If you’ve closed down your business during this crisis, you’re likely losing out on significant revenue. While 82 percent of business leaders expect declines in revenues in the short term, more than half expect there to be an uptake a year from now.

   Putting in measures to allow your team to work remote lets you start reversing loss now. It will also put you in a good position to continue to save on cost even after the pandemic.

   By allowing employees to work remotely, companies also save overhead expenses while employees save on transportation, meals, and other personal expenses.

3. This is a Perfect Testing Ground to Find Out if Remote Work is a Good Fit
   100 percent remote work will not be the right choice for every business after the crisis. But getting your employees to work remotely now will help you test if and by how much this practice fits your business.

   Depending on your business objective, lifecycle and team members, the type of virtual team that is relevant for you and your goals will vary, but the benefits of working it out will abound. Aside from the cost savings mentioned above, remote work flexibility raises your employees’ productivity by letting them adapt to different circumstances without any drop in productivity or hours lost on the road.

   Due to current necessity, employees will be more open to trying out work from home arrangements now. Your business can start building a culture that will encourage your employees to flourish while working remotely.

4. The Remote Job Market is Booming
   If you’ve been looking for new team members before the pandemic, consider hiring remotely for the new position instead. With the limitation of proximity removed, you have access to a bigger talent pool. This pool has been beefed up even more in the last months, from the many professionals that have been let go from their former jobs and are looking for alternative income.

   This may even have impact past the pandemic, when businesses are allowed to fully reopen. Many employees are starting to consider the ability to work remotely as part of their benefits wishlist, alongside training and development.

   That number was 35 percent in 2017 according to Gallup, but as employees consider their experiences of remote work under the pandemic, more may consider continuing in the same fashion.

5. Online Tools to Support Remote Work are On the Rise
   COVID-19’s impact on the video conferencing market is phenomenal. While the market has been steadily increasing over the past decade, downloads and usage for video conferencing apps are at record highs. Many online software businesses are offering discounts or freebies to help SMBs past this crisis.

   With this kind of adoption and usage, there is also increased scrutiny, competition, and funding for these businesses. This may be the best time to find and adopt an appropriate online or remote tool for your business, when you can be sure of continued focus and growth in this market.

Now is the Time to Adapt

It’s not too late to get started on providing remote work arrangements for your business. Many companies will be vulnerable during this time, but taking proactive steps to mitigate and plan ahead will be the best weapon to fight against the crisis.

Look to the future and plan your next strategy. Take care of your employees. Take your team remote. Now is the right time.

Written by Uwe Dreissigacker. Here’s what you’ve missed?
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