Work From Home: Opportunities And Challenges

As with the emergence of the fourth industrial revolution, the global scientific discourse is marked by the advent of technological revolutions, especially Internet, that has now grown to become a colossal social space, a vital element of which is the nature of this technology and the ways in which it shapes the actual and potential interactions between people. Its revolutionary powers have allowed the people to spare geographic and social distance, even in this tumultuous time of the pandemic.

The world is witnessing the impact of COVID-19 on all facets, in all countries and all industries. Every enterprise has become the target of dwindling revenues even more, because of the lockdown imposed. And as the coronavirus pandemic continues to spread all over the world, mankind’s safest bet has become to work from home.

And, as it has proved work from home does have some benefits:

A company can hire the best regardless of their location, meetings can be done through a digital medium as well. Worried about employees going over on sabbaticals? Guess, that will not be a problem. The time and efforts devoted to the company could be much more than the other scenario.

Although working from home allows people to come back in the business, it does exhibit hard challenges:

1. The blurring of the line between personal and professional life: Working from home reduces the geographic division between the workplace and personal space. It also punches a hole right through the calm, safe, and secure mental picturization we have of our homes.
2. Distraction: Being drenched in house chores, personal hobbies, and surrounded by the family can really take the target off workers’ eyes. Sticking to schedules, managing their to-do’s can make it really hard for people to focus on work all the time.
3. With no co-workers around, working from home can be lonely: Not being able to bounce ideas off co-workers, interact with them, share pleasantries, can be hard for some, and make them feel lonely.
4. Lack of interaction affects team building: Lack of interaction can be a detriment to team building, something that builds over conversations at office, lunch, meetings, etc. Working remotely makes it difficult to maintain relationships with co-workers, and communication over Digital channels might not be as effective and it can also be unresponsive. Such circumstances also affect customer-client relationships since approval, approbation, feedbacks cannot be obtained over texts or e-mails.
5. Working remotely can mean inconsistent pay: Full-time job guarantees payment at the end of the month regardless, however when working from home during this time, monthly income can be unreliable, and always changing. People can be swamped with work, still, be unpaid.

Whether companies prefer “Work from Home” in the long run, would be based on practical observations, but in this tough time, it surely is the ‘need of the hour’.

Have you read?
World’s Best Business Schools.
World’s Best Hospitality And Hotel Management Schools.
World’s Best Countries For Education System.
World’s Best Countries For A Child To Be Born In.