A study by Upwork has revealed that about 22% of the American workforce will be working from home by 2025. Remote work is here to stay, bringing many benefits along with it—including significant cost savings for businesses and the promise of a better work-life balance for employees. However, the question remains: Is the greater flexibility offered by telecommuting accompanied by performance improvements? Read on to discover whether this revolutionary way of working results in gains for employers and employees.  

Increased productivity and performance

A study at Stanford University has shown that remote workers are up to 47% more productive than those working in offices. What’s more, they spend about 10 minutes less a day being unproductive and work one more day per week. The study, conducted by economist Nicholas Bloom, found that employees who work from home for two days per week are also producing good quality work and are just as likely to be promoted as their office-working peers. His research additionally showed that the resignation rate among workers who went from working full-time in an office to a hybrid schedule went down by 33%.  

Attacks from prominent business leaders

Bloom’s study is particularly important because there are already workers who spend some days at home and some days in offices, performing tasks on a hybrid basis. Despite the undeniable findings, there has been pushback from many Fortune 500 company leaders and other prominent entrepreneurs. Elon Musk of Tesla, Jamie Dimon of JPMorgan Chase, and other leaders have stated that specific aspects of work such as employee training and mentoring, innovation, and corporate culture suffer when workers aren’t in the office every day.

Bloom answers these allegations by noting that problems only tend to arise when fully remote workers aren’t managed well. Companies that offer mentoring, coaching, and training can easily get over this hurdle by scheduling workers to work in the office for two or three days a week. This way, employees can obtain the benefit of face-to-face interaction while reducing commuting time and wasting less time overall.

New tools for productivity

Businesses across the globe are making the most of project management and networking tools such as Asana and Slack. Asana, for instance, allows managers to ensure that projects are moving at a designated pace. Slack, meanwhile, allows workers to communicate in private, group, or open channels, ensuring that workers’ and managers’ queries and requests can be immediately dealt with during work hours. One survey has shown that 32% of workers who used Slack stated that the software improved their team’s productivity. This app allowed them to reduce team meetings by over 25% and intranet emails by more than 48%. What’s more, about 80% of people surveyed felt that Slack enriched their team culture, leading to a stronger sense of connection.

Teething problems

The above findings don’t rule out problems that exist with workers who shift to a remote working mode after spending years in an office. One obvious problem is that many remote workers might not have a dedicated space for a home office and may also lack ergonomic furniture such as standing desks, adjustable chairs, quality monitors and keyboards, and similar equipment.

Companies can get around this issue by providing workers with a stipend for office expenses, electricity, water, and more. In general, companies offer remote workers between $50 and $250 extra a month, which adds up to about $1,000 per year. Workers can apply this amount to upgrade their furniture and equipment, and create sustainable home workspaces that are energy-efficient, ergonomic, and pleasant.

As the years go by and workers have their setup in place, they can consider replacing toxic furniture with natural and reclaimed wood furniture, or replacing traditional lighting with LED varieties. They can also bring plants into their office design to promote greater calm and productivity, since studies have shown that working amidst greenery can result in greater focus and work performance. 

Ensuring team cohesion

As mentioned, software such as Slack enables teams to feel united despite the distance separating them. However, executive teams can work to strengthen employee bonds by regularly hosting get-togethers, weekly lunches, or out-of-work team-building activities. Doing so can be particularly useful for larger teams, since different departments may barely have a chance to interact with people from other teams. Hybrid work models and regular social meet-ups can ensure that new synergies are created, and that teams have opportunities to share their ideas, challenges, and solutions. Studies have shown that allowing workers to work from home at least part time is undoubtedly productive.

Of course, the success of the transition from a traditional to a remote working model depends greatly on how well managers do their jobs. Managers can create bridges between workers and ensure the smooth flow of work by investing in top project management and messaging apps. They can also invite workers to work part of their week in the office, provide stipends, and host regular team meet-ups so the human touch isn’t lost.