Is Working From Home The Wave Of The Future?

For many, working from home is living the dream; there are no alarms, no bosses breathing down your neck (although they may send endless emails), and you can finally make that 10 am gym class you’ve been dying to try.

In some instances, working from home can be that way, but it depends on your job and your employer. If you’re working from home but still answering customer calls, you’ll probably still need to set that alarm and won’t have the flexibility to leave your workspace whenever you like.

For some kinds of people, working from home is perfect. Maybe you have a job that allows you some leeway to take your kids to school, be there when they get home, and you have that A-type personality where you’re raring to go first thing in the morning. You detest procrastination, don’t “need” to be physically around your peers and maybe even excel in more isolated work. If that’s the case, the rise of the working from home era was made for you and it’s your time to shine.

I believe we’re witnessing a trend in business; a shift toward higher acceptance of working from home among businesses and company cultures.

The technology exists to fully support it, and some studies have suggested that home workers tend to be happier and more productive.

Let’s explore this trend in more depth.

Why working from home will become more common

Maintaining a physical office costs a lot of money for startups, (I know the financial difficulty that put our company in when we got our first office). There are lease fees, insurance, utility bills, furniture, security, and a host of other expenses.

Plus, it costs your employees money and time (and sometimes, emotional stress) to even get to the office when you consider long commutes, rush hour traffic, parking costs and rising fuel costs.

There was a time when it was necessary to meet in person to share information, collaborate with colleagues, and exchange documents, but with great digital web conferencing options, cloud hosting and the rise of connected, business-functional mobile devices, that’s no longer an issue.

Simply put, it’s more expensive and more troublesome to have a physical office and/or require in-office workers all the time. There are still many positions where working from home isn’t an option, but there are also plenty which can be moved to at least part-time virtual work.

This can save the company money, save the working from home employee money, and often lead to a happier relationship overall.

But what happens when an employee’s personality doesn’t mesh with working from home?

It’s not for everyone

There’s no “perfect” work situation that’s going to suit every employee for every position. Marissa Mayer made headlines when she stopped Yahoo!’s working from home options and forced employees back to work full-time.

Her reasoning was that employees weren’t as effective and productive when they were at home where distractions may be, they couldn’t mesh with the company as easily, and it could be tough to stay on track.

That can certainly be true for some personality types.

Just like any other position and setup, some people will thrive with working from home and others will wilt. It doesn’t matter if a company has the best video conferencing features imaginable if one employee just can’t manage their schedule effectively while at home.

It needs to be a symbiotic relationship, and both the employer and the employee need to agree on stringent outlines of what’s expected. Working from home may very well be the future of work, but not without some major growing pains first.

The hurdles to come

Cost savings, convenience, and employee happiness will ultimately win out, which is why working from home will continue to grow in popularity and acceptance. Partner that with the fact that technology is making it easier and cheaper than ever to successfully collaborate from anywhere in the world with wifi connection, and it’s a sure thing.

However, companies need to first embrace the technology and upsides to a virtual environment and then set down ground rules for every single position.

This can be challenging for those who haven’t managed a virtual employee before and don’t know what to expect.

Some companies may backtrack like Yahoo! and others may be hesitant based on some research that has suggested that telecommuting employees are unhappy or not as productive (there’s research to back up both sides of this debate).

However, not long ago, people were convinced that digital access to movies and online bookstores would never surpass brick and mortar operations, but now there’s nary a Blockbuster or thriving bookstore (excepting a few Barnes and Nobles) to be found.

Virtual is the way of the future for many companies, and it’d be wise to not only brace for the change but also embrace it.