5 Benefits and drawbacks of work from home

5 Benefits and drawbacks of work from home

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The working from home policy is now very common in almost all the organisations (big or small). Reports say, that employees who work from home at least a few days in a week grew by 60% recently. So, let’s see some of the benefits and drawbacks of work from home.

Benefits:

  1. Improved work life balance: Work from home gives the employees opportunity of spending more time with family, take care of their health and other personal activities. And what’s better than being able to work in pajamas all day? According to Connect Solutions employees who availed work from home are healthier and happier. Fifty-one percent of those polled said they were also able to spend more time with their families.
  2. Reduced travel time: Another major advantage is employees save a lot of travel time. If you consider the big cities, the time wasted every morning and evening due to the traffic jam is huge. By working from home you can utilize the time that gets wasted during these rush hours.
  3. Flexibility: Work from home brings a lot of flexibility like deciding your own work timings, wearing whatever you please, accommodating other personal tasks etc. The flexibility makes you happy and the productivity tends to increase. Also, you get sufficient time with your family and friends.
  4. No unwanted interruptions: No unnecessary discussions, no unwanted meetings, no interruptions by the co-workers, you can have a calmer and stress-free environment where you can finish your work faster and more efficiently.
  5. More productivity and less stress: As mentioned in the above points, work from home improves the work life balance, provides flexibility, helps to reduce interruptions, increases efficiency and gives you the opportunity to spend more time with family which reduces stress and in turn increases productivity. You are much happier and satisfied with your personal and professional life.

Drawbacks:

  1. Laziness: In case of work from home there is no one to monitor your timings and behavior hence it is very easy to start late and work at your own pace. A little pressure is needed at times to get the best out of you. Productivity instead of increasing will decrease if there is lack in self-discipline.
  2. Distractions: Although office distractions are avoided by work from home but there are different distractions at home. Family, friends, neighbors, children may be very interrupting and can act as a hindrance. You need to make extra efforts to make people understand that though you are at home but you are working and cannot be disturbed.
  3. No information about the developments in the office: There are changes happening on a day to day basis in an organisation and you may find yourself unaware of such developments like staff reshuffling, new hires, changes in the company policy, new competitive intelligence, new business, changes in the team etc. Your physical presence is necessary otherwise people have the tendency to forget what they don’t see.
  4. Decreased productivity: When you are at home, it can become really difficult to avoid personal duties. You get too much involved in your household chores that the official task that can be done in fifteen minutes often take hours. This decreases your productivity and also you fail to deliver the work on time. This deteriorates your performance, skills and work quality.
  5. Self-discipline: This is a must. Work from home is certainly not for all the employees. It requires a huge amount of dedication, determination, self-control, a strong sense of self, and discipline to finish your work efficiently and on time. You must make sure that your presence at home doesn’t make you available for your family and friends.

Reporting to the office once or twice a week is advised as it allows you to have interaction with your co-workers and seniors. Also, you get to discuss your issues in person which is always better and you remain in touch with company developments while still having the comfort and convenience of working from home. A combination of the two is an optimum solution as it allows you to have an improved work life balance with increased productivity.

 

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