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According to a recent Buffer survey of 2500 remote workers, 40% cited "flexibility in work schedule as the biggest benefit to working remotely. 95% of respondents also stated they would encourage others to seek job opportunities that offer remote working as (at least) an option.
Remote working or telecommuting is admittedly nothing new in the marketplace. Companies for years have allowed some of their team members to work from, well, remote locations.
This, of course, meaning one would not have to come to the office. Companies have often chosen this tool as a way to allow some of their employees ample flexibility to realize some of their work-life balance goals.
For the firms, offering telecommuting as an option for some of their employees reduces the cost to house all workers under one roof and other liability-related costs. Over the past ten years, however, there has been a significant uptick in the number of companies increasing the number of remote employees.
Some Like InVision, the Demo tool maker, and Buffer, the social media consultancy, have opted to maintain a 100% remote workforce. Below (via Monday) are 3 reasons for you to also consider building your business around remote teams.
1. Boost Productivity
With distractions like water-cooler gossip and the grind of the daily commute in the traditional workplace, it’s not surprising that it’s hard to for employers to achieve maximum productivity. Without the distractions of a conventional office setting, employees can set their own schedules and only commute as fart the home office to achieve greater productivity.
The State of Work Productivity Report reveals that 65 percent of full-time employees think a remote work schedule would increase productivity. And this is supported by many team managers who have seen an overall increase in productivity from their remote employees.
2. Cut Costs with Distributed Teams
The most obvious saving with distributed teams is office space. According to PGi, the average real estate savings with full-time teleworkers is $10,000 per employee a year.
Or take the case of insurance giant Aetna: 14,500 of its 35,000 employees do not have a desk and 2,000 work from home. These flexible working arrangements has allowed the company to shed 2.7 million square feet of office space. At $29 a square foot, this means the company saves about $78 million per year (once you include utilities, housekeeping, mail service and document shredding).
3. Reach Different Demographics
The appeal of working in a distributed team cuts across demographics. As more baby boomers are hitting retirement, many are finding themselves without adequate savings and need to continue working in other job, or else they just want to continue working but with more flexible arrangements. Working from home provides an opportunity to continue to work under more convenient circumstances.
At the other end of the spectrum, millennials are also demanding more flexible work schedules, to achieve better work-life balance. And the majority believe that these arrangements will make them more productive, as measured by their output as opposed to the number of hours spent in the office.
A Spark article contends: “Because they are tethered to technology, millennials naturally gravitate toward remote employment situations. They often want to work from home and have flexible hours to balance their lifestyles . . .”