While we aren’t completely post-pandemic quite yet, many aspects of daily life are beginning to return to "normal." However, some things have been impacted permanently, like remote work.
Statistics show that 88% of companies suggested or required employees to work from home during the pandemic.
Although the transition happened quickly, many in the work force adjusted to working from home and some have even come to love it. The big question is...as health restrictions are lifting will commuting to an office return or is working remotely here to stay? 2020 certainly provided an opportunity to test out working remotely vs. traditional "in the office" environments. Here are a few pros and cons research over the past year has shown to working remotely:
Pros:
- Increase in productivity in most companies to up to 45%.
- Organizations are better equipped to handle any future crisis as they have mobilized a crisis response team.
- More companies are using their video feature during meetings, which has helped many feel more comfortable with this form of communication. The increase in video calls is astounding. For example, Zoom went from 10 million daily video calls in December to over 200 million calls in recent months! This will allow a smoother transition to full or part time remote work in the future.
- Remote work has shown a positive effect on workplace retention. It is expected that 75% of employees will ask to increase their remote work hours by 35%.
- Lower operations cost from people working from home is a huge potential benefit and 77% of executives believe this cost reduction will be evident with more and more remote work been done moving forward.
- Savings in personal monthly expenses on less wear and tear on vehicles and gas, dry cleaning bills, etc.
- Time saved on commuting to be spent with family or doing activities.
- More freedom and flexibility of where you work and when is priceless. Some people work from a beach in Hawaii one month and the mountains of Colorado another.
Cons:
- There is less face to face communication and collaboration.
- It requires more self-discipline to work in the comfort of home.
- Parents who normally have their younger children get care from their home, may need to make new arrangements if there is too much distraction during work hours.
- Technology and infrastructure is not up to speed with the connectivity demands for remote work.
- Poor SaaS performance causes interruptions and delays in work flow.
How will more digital interactions effect the sales industry?
Research conducted by McKinsey & Company this past year found that 70-80% of B2B decisions makers actually prefer digital interactions with sellers and digital self-service. They also liked how easy it was to schedule using apps like Calendly. Companies no longer had to pay traveling expenses and felt more safe working from home.
In addition, many sales people have changed their content strategy to have more of an online presence and changes in their target and messaging strategy.
The increase of empathy for people in general has been very significant. In Sales, empathy is shown by actively listening to customers' needs and concerns and showing good intentions among heightened sensitivities. Understanding the customers and showing compassion will make for better interaction.
More and more, Sales Professionals are turning to LinkedIn as it is a highly effective platform to become more involved with and grow your professional network.
Conclusion
The past year has shown us that remote work is effective and will only get better, especially as the demand has increased. Most companies will have a system in place to work remotely if a pandemic occurs again, but many will continue to offer remote work options to their employees. While there are a few cons, it appears that companies and employees alike see more pros to working remotely. With all apps out there to ensure smooth SOPs like Calendly, Monday, Asana, Slack, etc, remote work can be just as successful as working from an office.
Drop us a comment below to share how you've experienced remote work or more empathy in your professional life. We would love to hear from you!
