The reason of such a tendency of transferring staff members to home office format is quite clear: very often this form of work is profitable for management as well as for employees. Let’s name other advantages of this format.
- The most obvious advantage of home office is saving funds because there is no need to pay for rent, to buy necessary supplies and to hire support staff.
- You don’t need to hold corporate events, pay for corporate trainings, team-buildings, don’t need to create a positive environment at the office.
- Home office is a perfect way to find talented employees from other regions which can solve the problem of lack of personnel.
- Home office work is more productive as there is no opportunity to get distracted on chat with colleagues or on conflicts and intrigues.
There are lots of other positive moments in home office. But you need to estimate potential risks connected with such format of business. So, here are disadvantages of home office.
- Home office can be used by accountants, sales managers, lawyers, call-center workers, etc. But there are some professional spheres which cannot be transferred to home office format. Some specialists need to be present at the office, meet clients, communicate with colleagues online, control activities of other employees, etc. Home office hardly ever can provide confidentiality of information that is why employees who work with such information need to be at the office. Production and commerce, except online commerce, also cannot be transferred to home office format.
- Some people cannot work at home as there are many reasons to get distracted there. Even a time tracker cannot make them work. Also some people like work atmosphere at the office and they cannot work productively in other conditions. To work remotely one should be responsible, hard-working and well motivated.
- It is hard to control employees remotely and to standardize their work. That is why it is important to have a good time tracker and manager. A good manager will find a balance between being too strict and ability to give freedom to choose to employees.
- Absence of place for negotiations can play a negative role for a company. Sometimes it can arouse mistrust among clients.
In this way, to organize an effective work at home office we need:
- To estimate is it possible to transfer your exact sphere of business to home office format or not and what sources you need for it
- To set requirements for candidates and follow them while recruiting
- To monitor employees by using of a time tracker
- To assess skills and capabilities of your employees, analyze time tracker reports and decide who can work remotely and who cannot
- To find a manager who has an experience to work with remote employees
- To develop effective systems of setting objectives, control, motivation, payment for work with the help of a time tracker.