As the demand for remote working increases, driven in large part by the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus, companies need to address the challenges that may arise in these new environments.
Connectivity leaders 99&One have conducted a study to determine what issues were most problematic for businesses in these new remote working environments. According to the report, missing out on social interaction and therefore feeling isolated was the main issue of working from home. 27% of respondents mentioned a lack of interaction as a challenge.
Further research into 2016 flexible and remote workers carried out before the COVID-19 crisis hit, revealed other major issues experienced by employees in remote spaces. These problems included everything from connectivity issues to the pressure to prove productivity.
The Issues that Remote Workers Face
The report highlights all of the leading issues that today’s remote workers face when given the opportunity to work from home. Second, to missing out on social interaction is the pressure to prove productivity, (24%), followed by colleagues taking longer to respond (18%), and connectivity issues (17%). Other problems highlighted by the report include:
- Feeling disconnected from team members (16%)
- Feeling out of sight and out of mind (16%)
- Feeling out of the loop with the news in the business (15%)
- Getting distracted more often (15%)
- Relying too much on technology (14%)
- Feeling isolated (12%)
According to 99&One, these findings reinforce the need for today’s companies to put business culture first and enable greater connectivity, productivity, and collaboration opportunities.
