Monday, 24 April 2017

Week 4 [24-30.04.2017] Remote Work

When employees carry out their duties away from the office, that's called  remote work or teleworking.  The remote work can be understood in a few ways. The most common one is work from home, but some workers, like, for example, consultants often are located permanently outside a company, and it is also considered to be remote work. 

     Nowadays, more and more companies support teleworking or its variations. The trend can be easily noticed in job offers. Declaring part of overall work, which can be done remotely has been becoming common practice. Companies which truly believe in such a model offer even 100% remotely work. The chart below shows the Google search for "work remotely" phrase over the last 10 years:
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It has been rising systematically over the years. It's not a coincidence, every year more people prefer to work from home. Still, it's often said that home provides too much distraction.You have television, books or maybe do not live alone and there is always somebody to interrupt you. That's true, home environment can be to your disadvantage. If you decide to work from home, choose 8 hours a day when you will work and stick to them no matter what. It might be hard, but people can cope with it. The best proof are companies that do not giving up offering remote jobs. Clearly, it means they are happy with hiring remote workers and the quality of their work. From a company’s   perspective, there are a lot of pros. You do not have to provide office space for your worker. Also, a remote worker can live in a foreign country, so it's hugely expands the market of potential employees.  

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On the other hand, one of the cons is communication. When you don't see your coworkers, you need to rely on modern means of communication like Skype, e-mails or simply phone calls. Moreover, security of sensitive information is tougher to provide. Those disadvantages have been getting less significant over the years thanks to modern technology. Nowadays, quality of electronic or phone communication is almost the same as face-to-face communication. The same concerns security, which is getting better every year.

I encourage you to watch a video, a speech by Mike Hostetler about remote working:

  1. Would you like to work remotely?
  2. Do you think remote work will be ever more popular than "normal" work from an office?
  3. Do you think that everybody is able to work remotely?

Sources:

38 comments:

  1. 1. Yes, this is my a little dream because i would like work remotely with my journey from tropical islands.. just open the laptop on the beach and working and donc care about my bussines clothes or make up.

    2. Of course, a lot of programmers remote working and this is more economical of normal work in office from owner, because he dont care about workplace for staff.
    Remote work simply cuts off the employer's costs and
    nn employee does not have to go to workplace, he does not waste time in traffic jams.


    3. Of course not, i think are some professions require face to face for example a doctor.

    ReplyDelete
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    1. Oh yes, working from some tropical island sounds wonderfull. Let me know if you will hear about job offering such terms :)

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  2. 1. Would you like to work remotely?

    I tried to work remotely in the previous company. I’m not a fan of that solution. I prefer to work in the main seats of the company and work between people. In my opinion it still the best way to communicate with other people. I mean face to face than through instant messenger or phone.
    2. Do you think remote work will be ever more popular than "normal" work from an office?

    I think there are a lot of job offers, where we can work remotely, It becomes very popular and also cheaper, of course it mostly connected with the IT industry.
    3. Do you think that everybody is able to work remotely?

    No, of course. Doctors or builders cannot work remotely. I noticed that some advices may be connected with these professions but this is only a small percentage of all. Also not everyone can like this mode of work.

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    1. That's true, face to face will be always better, but I think it's not always necessary. I think it all comes to the employee and his approach to communication. I find that in most cases I can live without face to face conversation and still be in tthe right track in terms of work. 3 week of remote wroking and 1 week of on-site working sounds like solution

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  3. At the moment I only do remote work. I think that this is the future and it will develop. Of course remote work has pluses and minuses. Not everyone can do remote work. I think that I will always do remote work and also "normal" . I think that remote work will never be more popular than normal work. In most professions remote work is impossible. I'm graphic dsigner and I think that in graphics remote work is the most popular.

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    1. Cool. It's a shame I don't have any skills in graphic field. Happy to hear that 100% remote work is possible and preferable.

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  4. Generally, I don't like work remotely in full time, because my level of concentration in home is very, very low.. But other hand, my dog loves if I sometimes stay in home whole day. Walks, ball games - it is horrible in excess.

    My boss every once in while accept remote work. I use this if I am a bit ill, but I am more productivity in my little room in office.

    Generally, mini IT companies (startups) prefer remote work, becasue the cost of a business is smaller.

    Many people can work remotly (at the moment is many apps for helpful for remote work: web conference, collaboration of code), but this people should have a many, many self-discipline.

    Not all can work in home. In example builders or bakers.

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    1. I'm totally with you. Fisrt thing is self-discipline. If you can force yourself to work from home then working remotely is an option for you.

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  5. Would you like to work remotely?
    Yes I would! It is my dream to fork from home, where I can prepare my working place
    on my rules. It is really fantastic to manage my time in very flexible way!

    Do you think remote work will be ever more popular than "normal" work from an office?
    I think it is tricky question, but in my opinion it could be! Nowadays, world has a tendency to digitalize everything.
    So, we need only a few things to work remotly, computer, access to the Internet and willingness of course. What I see
    now, more and more poeple have opportunity to work remotly and they want work in such way. But I am afraid
    that working remotly will be dangerous for our psychology health. We will be in work for 24/7!

    Do you think that everybody is able to work remotely?
    No, I do not think that everybody is able to work remotly.
    Some of us prefer to work in regular way in the office, it is very discussing topic.
    I think it depends on very big set of dependecies.

    The post is amazing!

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    1. Thank you for your input. I am also more interesed in wroking remotely. Unfortunately, in current job it's not possible. Maybe some day...

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    2. Never give up on your dreams!

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  6. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  7. Would you like to work remotely
    To be honest with you I have one remote work and I can admit that it is quite good. I do it when I want and ofcourse where I want to.
    Do you think remote work will be ever more popular than "normal" work from an office?
    It may be become more and more popular than normal "office" work. To support my opinion I can add that: first of all you can wear casual clothes, not elegant clothes, or even an special uniform. Second, there is no stress, like in office, and last reason for me is that you don't have to be bored, during doing your work outside office.
    Do you think that everybody is able to work remotely?
    I don't think that everyone is able to work outside office, because some of them can easily get couch potato and doing nothing. What is more some of them need to work under time pressure and with boss, who is keeping an eye on them.
    Monika D

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    1. I'm glad to get opinion from a person who actually works remotely. I must say that I'm a little bit jealous. Your point about wearing casual clothes sounds good. I have dress code in my work and it's something that I'd be happy to change.

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  8. 1. Would you like to work remotely?

    To be honest I prefer to work with people and that is why I do not work remotely. In my opinion it still the best way to communicate with other people.

    2. Do you think remote work will be ever more popular than "normal" work from an office?

    Definitely yes. Remote work is our future and it is more and more popular. I recommend reading this article:
    I recommend reading this article:
    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/alvin-chia/how-remote-work-will-be-t_b_9863892.html

    3. Do you think that everybody is able to work remotely?

    I think that it depends on the profession. People from IT can definitely work remotyly but for instance lawyers should be on place - because of contact with people and clients.

    ReplyDelete
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    1. Thank you for the link to an article. It's really interesting. I can argue with your first point. From my perspective even you work remotely you still work with people :) It's just matter of communication's choice.

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  9. 1. Yes I would love to work remotely and travel a lot.
    2. I think yes it will be more and more popular in the future.
    3. Not,no every profession can work remotely.

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    1. I can wish you best in finding remote work (if don't have one already) :)

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  10. Would you like to work remotely?
    I'd love to work remotely full time. It's very comfortable and relaxing when you don't need to sit in a office all day long. Not to mention that you save time needed for transport.
    Do you think remote work will be ever more popular than "normal" work from an office?
    I don't know. Some companies or managers feel like they need to have person on spot. And reasons are not always clear to read.
    Do you think that everybody is able to work remotely?
    Working remotely demands strong discipline and motivation. Probably it's not suitable for everyone.. but hey, if one wants to do something else than his job, he'll find a way in a office, also.

    ReplyDelete
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    1. I couldn't agree more with you. I'd also love to work remotely and I'm planning to do so one day. You can live everywhere with remote work, maybe by the sea?

      Delete
  11. 1. Of course, who would not want it? Unfortunately, I work in a corporation in which they do not understand remote work :(
    Do you think remote work will be ever more popular than "normal" work from an office?
    2. Probably yes, but only in office. Someone has to sell us bread. Well unless we talk about robots, but that's another topic.
    3. Of course not. If someone can not motivate to work at home it can be a big problem. The employer will not pay for lack of effective work :)

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    1. Well, have you heard urban legend about worker who had been paid for few years even though he wasn't going to work at all? It's said he was discovered when the company wanted to award him for his work :)

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  12. If I had to be honest – I’d be extremaly happy if I was able to work remotely, mostly because it would save me around 3 hours of traveling to get to my workplace. At my job, we’re allowed to work this way for a certain amount of days, however I don’t find this very convenient due to the nature of my work and the amount of projects we happen to deal with on daily basis.

    I noticed the trend of remote work being more and more popular (at least when it comes to bigger corporations, because let’s face it – unless you’re your own boss it’s not gonna happen in the nearest future when it comes to small, private companies) and I hope people will be able to prove that this solution can be as effective as working „normally” from an office. After all, it usually has more ups than downs – not only the employee saves the time and feels more comfortable working wherever they want, but also the employer doesn’t have to worry about preparing a proper workplace, usually also saving money by not having to provide equipement such as laptops or desks and chairs.

    Even if the remote work becomes more popular in the future, not everyone will be blessed to sit at their home, wrapped in a blanket, typing comfortably on their laptop – there are tons of professions that require heading outside – after all we can’t all be programmers or consultants :)

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    1. Travel time is also annoying me. Reading your comment I must say that my travel time is nothing compared to yours, but anyway remote work would reduce it to 0 hours. Could it be any better? I think not

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  13. I would like to work remotely and I have such possibilities.

    I am not sure that remote work will be more popular. For sure still lot of people can use this kind of possibility. But there is always some limitations and stop things.

    Nowadays is important to work in project mode, to work in cooperation with other employees. With remote it is harder to communicate, but still not impossible.

    I think that this trend will grow and we have to learn how to solve remote work issues.

    ReplyDelete
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    1. I think with time every obstacale can be overcome to allow as much people as possible to work remotely. We must face it that remote work is more lazy than office work and most of people like to be lazy especially when it comes to working.

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  14. 1. Would you like to work remotely?

    Yes, I would like work remotely, but I would not like this become everyday manner.

    2. Do you think remote work will be ever more popular than "normal" work from an office?

    Of course yes. In the future I supose most of an employees will work remotely from home. There are several positive aspects of this kind of work.
    For employees you don't have to go to the office every thay in the morning. You can stay at cozy home preper your breakfast or lunch whatever you want.
    For employer point of you there are possitive economy aspects. Electrical, water and hadware used savings are one of them. This situation it depends on work duty.

    3. Do you think that everybody is able to work remotely?

    Definitely no. It depends on people character. There are a lot of things that can distract attention.

    ReplyDelete
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    1. It seems that you the person who like to be lazy, but only from time to time as you wouldn't like to working remotely every single day. I think it's a solution for a person who has trouble with working at home. Let's say 4 days at office, 1 day at home. It should be achievable.

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  15. I agree with author of this article the most in one thing. It means that it's very important to pre-determined time for work. Personally, I would say that this is the most important thing in other way we could enter to the Facebook or Youtube and disappear for a long hour. Reffering. Reffering to questions asked.

    1. To be honest, currently I am working only at home, only remote. At the present it's fantastic that I can meet remotely with my multiple clients and co-workers and deal with all this.

    2. It's hard to say. On the one hand there is very loudly about robots that can replace a human in simple competitions for example as shopassistent. On the other hand somebody have to create this robots. So to be honest I hope not.

    3. I thing certainly not. For example a therapist or a psychologist. Can anyone imagine this? Because I can not.

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    1. I agree. Nowdays techonlogies are advanced enough to have proper remotely meeting with anybody around the world. It's not a excuse anymore to kill idea of remote work.

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  16. 1. Would you like to work remotely?
    I've worked remotely in my previous job. In current one I'm also, but only sometimes. It's great, so in future I'll search for possibilities to work from some nice places (and maybe with higher temperature than in Poland...)

    2. Do you think remote work will be ever more popular than "normal" work from an office?
    Yes - for companies it's cheaper - they don't need to pay for extra-spaces in office etc. And for employees - they don't need to waste the time in traffic jams each day.

    3. Do you think that everybody is able to work remotely?
    No. It depends on character. For example some kind of people needs support almost all the time...

    ReplyDelete
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    1. Huge benefit of woriking remotely is possibility to work from where you want and chnage the place whenever you wish.
      I see most people saying it depends on character regarding last question. It shows that remote work is more difficult, not only you must have work related skills, but also specific personality.

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  17. 1. Not for every day but from time to time it could be nice.
    2. I don’t think so. A lot of company prefer team work. I think it this kind of work is important to be physically with the team.
    3. It depends on people and their scope of work.

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    1. I must disagree with you. From my perspective remote work also support team work. Sometimes it's even better. For example when there are more people working remotely, when not 100% of the team are onsite.

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  18. Would you like to work remotely?

    Yes, I often use this type of work. Sometimes there are so many things we have to do in our work time. For example in city office. So "home office" is perfect option! Hmm, but it's honest sometimes I'm lazy for go to office: P

    Do you think remote work will be ever more popular than "normal" work from an office?

    It depends of job type. In IT the answer is yes in my opinion. Why? Because we have now market oriented on employee especially in IT. Nowadays companies employ people from around the world. They wants to hire specialist but we more jobs than people.

    Do you think that everybody is able to work remotely?

    I don't think so. Many people can't focus with only a little of distraction like when something moving on the over side of windows etc. As I wrote in the answer for the first question I like work sometimes remotely, but not too much. After couple day of "home office" coming back to standard office is disaster :P

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    1. If you are able to plan your working day efficiently then you will be able for sure to squeeze some house chores or any other not exactly work related activities without impacting your work efficency. That's a huge benefit.

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  19. 1.Would you like to work remotely? NO. I hate remote work, I am graphic designer, so when I sometimes have remote work, people call to more time, than I am in office.

    2.Do you think remote work will be ever more popular than "normal" work from an office? It is depend of kind of work. Many employees from medicinal areas. However in advertising an IT sector it could be more popular in future.

    3.Do you think that everybody is able to work remotely? I answer about this question above.

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    1. If you hate calls and remote meeting then I imagine remote work is a nightmare for you. Unfortunately, without calls such a way of working is not possible. But calls are something you can get used to. You can try buying comfortable bluetooth headset. It'll allow yout to talk without being force to stop working.

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