“Work is something you do, not somewhere you go”
Summary: From businesses becoming remote-first or hybrid overnight to companies declaring the “9-to-5 workday” dead, things have changed drastically in the past 18 months. Talkr as an outsourcing and remote-first company has also had its share of changes and did some adapting to the new circumstances.
A team is a team regardless of where and how collaboration happens, that’s why we believe that work is something you do, not somewhere you go. Yes, physical offices bring benefits for ease of communication, and provide that social element that is missing from remote work where employees are more often alone and without the correct support can feel isolated. But with 2022 almost upon us and the changed dynamics of today’s world, people’s everyday lives have become so different that from being accustomed to spending every day in the office, most have started cherishing the freedom and flexibility that remote work offers and many would now opt for a hybrid work model.
Difference between Hybrid and Remote work
All-remote, hybrid-remote, remote-first, hybrid. Many would argue that these are just different names that cover the same idea, but we will try to differentiate between remote work and hybrid work because these two are just not quite the same.
Remote work
In addition, it gives businesses access to a wider talent pool, allows for flexible work arrangements, whether full-time, part-time or permanent, it contributes to employees’ effectiveness through giving them the freedom to improve work-life balance, and has a great impact on employee retention.
However, there are some negative sides to it as well. In some cases, it can erode company culture, or even create a gap between management and employees as there is a lack of face-to-face communication and lack of exchange or flow of information between these two. If not dealt with at the right time these issues can create a great overall damage to the company. Of course, loneliness is the ever present factor that might or might not appear among remote workers depending on the efforts and the way a business is organised.
Hybrid Work
Hybrid work is when a company allows its employees to work remotely or from the office. A typical hybrid workplace gives employees the opportunity to work either at home or in a central office, splitting their time between the two. Employees can work where they feel most productive and directly manage their work-life balance. Although this model became more famous as a form of an experiment during the pandemic, it is growingly popular among companies.
The advantage of this model is that employees can better plan their working hours, which can lead to improved productivity and employee happiness, as there is less commuting, more time spent at home, but on the other hand there’s the freedom to go to an office when the much-needed peace and focus are required.
As a disadvantage we can list the possibility of burnout, which is not strange to remote work, as employees often tend to spend more time working when at home then in a regular office setting. Also, being almost completely reliant on technology means that poor or unstable internet connection at home or unavailability and lack of adequate hardware and resources could lead to frustration and impact everyday operations.
So now that all is kind of “different”, we think that a large portion of the workforce is eager to return to an office but only if it is a flexible arrangement. Talkr encourages its employees to try and split their time between office and remote since the situation so far has taught us that work can be done regardless of where employees are and that location does not pose any difficulty for continuing everyday operations. And while we know that the office coffee and chit-chat are much missed, having the option to also work remotely means the world to many.