Is there a Decline in Productivity in Remote Work?

We can say that in some situations, yes there is.?

The Stanford analysis, highlighted in a Forbes article, suggests that across multiple studies, there's been an overall 10% to 20% reduction in productivity. This decline is attributed to challenges in communication, and coordination, reduced creativity, and a decline in learning and feedback opportunities.??

For example: Not all team members are always motivated, and sometimes you have to wait for the responses, especially when they work remotely.

However, this doesn't mean that remote teams should be disregarded. From our firsthand experience, we can say that these challenges do exist (but as we said they can be overcome).?

How to Handle the Productivity Remotely?

We start with the fact that employee motivation is an important factor, and challenges can occur in all sorts of situations. Meaning: It's harder to mitigate employee motivation issues in remote settings than managerial obstacles in communication, coordination, and overall productivity.

If your team wants to work remotely, it's all on your creativity and management to enhance communication and coordination. Our creativity was beneficial in empowering one of the industry leaders.? Here is a quick checklist based on our experience!?

But Is the Productive Remote Staff ‘Still a Thing’?

We’ll cut straight to the chase with some concrete pieces of information, starting with data from the Becker Friedman Institute Research in January 2023.

What they found out is that remote employees save 40% of the time they would have wasted commuting to work, and they're able to create a comfortable and efficient home environment.

Now, let's apply this data to real life. Firstly, what do we mean by commuting??

Commuting refers to the regular travel between one's residence and workplace, usually daily. However, it's not only about the costs of travel; it's also about your comfort.

At FatCat Coders, we like to joke that there are at least two types of Software Developers, both very productive.

There are the ones who play loud music and the ones who prefer a peaceful and quiet environment (and, of course, there are those in between).?

Now, mix all those individuals together in the same room. It just goes without saying, doesn’t it?

Yet there is more about this topic that we would like to share with you, including more interesting data and first-hand experience.

So, be sure that you read our blog article: Should I Hire Remote Staff? :)