Tips to help you overcome common work-from-home challenges, such as network services issues, limited IT support, and staying productive.
In a matter of weeks, the global workforce underwent a profound transformation with millions of workers becoming fully remote in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. For many individuals, this was a significant transition. Telework may look easy in blog posts and on social media, but the truth is remote work can come with many unexpected challenges. Working from home is now a reality for many companies, so it’s imperative that employees learn quickly how to thrive just as they would in any busy office environment. Let’s explore some of the challenges facing remote teams with tips for staying productive and healthy.
The TOP 5 Challenges of Remote Workers
- You don’t know what to do
Many companies have not set up their employees for success through remote training. Without the right skills, policies and framework in place, employees are left to make their own rules, which can lead to confusion and security vulnerabilities.
- You’re not productive
Employees are often times not properly prepared to put in a full week working from home, and some may require extra support or assistance—as well as a reminder of acceptable conduct. Those in this situation have been thrust into a much different world and may need tools to help them prioritize and master self-discipline.
- Your routine is off
Working remotely requires embracing a different mindset and adapting to new routines. It means saying goodbye to many seemingly small processes, like listening to a favorite podcast during a commute, catching up with coworkers around the coffee machine, or sitting down in a quiet cubicle. It can take weeks or even months to get used to the flow of a remote workday.
- You don’t have a good network connection
The pressures of working from home are often exacerbated by a general lack of available network resources, which can make it difficult—and at times impossible—to accomplish basic tasks.
- You’re lonely
Water cooler talk lifts the pressures of the day and helps employees get to know one another. Friendships and comradery are key to being successful in today’s modern workplace. In fact, a sudden shift to working from home can exacerbate feelings of isolation.
Technology Challenges
- Poor Network Performance
The sudden influx of remote workers has created numerous backend challenges for service providers, who are struggling to accommodate changes in traffic.
For example, up until recently, ISPs divided larger user groups into time-shifted usage patterns, similar to how a factory runs on multiple shifts. Now, providers are faced with a situation where entire households—and neighborhoods—use shared network resources throughout the day and night, for both work and entertainment purposes. The significant increase in bandwidth during business hours creates call quality problems, such as echo, choppiness, and delays.
What’s more, networks are interconnected based on usage models which are no longer accurate. It will take time—months, perhaps—for ISPs to respond to this shift and make strategic circuit alterations. In the meantime, there will continue to be contention at public peering points, resulting in poor network performance for end users.
- Limited IT Support
In addition to poor network performance and call quality, remote teams are largely struggling with inefficient home networks—most of which were built to prioritize cost savings over performance.
IT departments across the board are stretched thin and can’t keep up with trouble tickets. In the past, when networks went awry, remote workers simply utilized public Wi-Fi areas, such as coffee shops. But, in many areas, this option is no longer the case as public facilities are shut down. Many employees are left puzzled as they optimize and troubleshoot their own networks.
- Rising Cyberthreats
Making matters worse, cybercriminals are aware that insecure home networks are being increasingly used to store and transfer sensitive data. Cybercriminals are also capitalizing on end user interest in COVID-19, loading apps and documents with malware.
Companies are strongly encouraged to invest in virtual private networks (VPNs) and security information event management (SIEM) systems to protect sensitive data as it flows through potentially insecure remote environments.
- Work From Home Tips from the Pros
There’s no shortage of technical challenges facing remote workers today. Yet, it’s the remote workers themselves who tend to pose the biggest problems. Again, this is due to a challenges in communication, and lack of training and experience in working remotely.
The good news is that almost anyone can learn to be an effective and reliable remote worker. Here are some pro tips for staying on track:
- Maintain Discipline
Above all, working from home requires discipline—it can make or break the work at home experience. And unfortunately, it’s a challenge to maintain when there are televisions to watch, snacks to eat, and family members roaming the halls.
Employees should strive to create a dedicated work area, and avoid common areas or locations that are overly comfortable such as sofas, hammocks, or poolside. Likewise, trips to the refrigerator should be limited. Attempt to keep a set schedule, and work at a desk—this puts workers in the ideal mindset. These tips are critical for maintaining productivity.
- Reduce Noise
It’s necessary to have a quiet place to work, especially during virtual meetings. Background noises like barking dogs, playing children, and televisions can sound unprofessional and negatively impact communications.
To help eliminate background noise, all workers should remain on mute when not speaking. Using headphones can also eliminate certain background noises. And if possible, workers should try and use an office space with a closed do
- Respect Working Hours
For some people, one of the most difficult aspects of working from home isn’t staying productive—it’s stopping at the end of the day. As the lines blur between work and
home, working past eight hours can become the norm, rather than the exception.
Few managers will complain about employees who work too much. However, this can be detrimental to health and well-being. If you’re not careful, a 40-hour week could turn into 50 or 60. This can lead to depression, anxiety, burnout, and even turnover
What’s more, remote work can change the company culture. For example, a traditionally 9-5 office may start operating 24/7/365. So, it’s important to respect normal working hours and communicate only when necessary after hours.
- Keep Communication Flowing
Social isolation can be very difficult, particularly for extroverts, or people who live alone. As such, the right processes and technology should be in place to keep employees engaged throughout the day. Communication is critical for any remote team—both for productivity, and for morale.
One of the best ways to keep remote teams engaged is to leverage unified communications as a service (UCaaS)—a centralized, cloud-based communications system that employees can use to make calls, video chat, text, fax, and collaborate on projects even while working from a distance. With a UCaaS solution, employees can communicate just as they would in a regular office.
In addition, UCaaS can provide a secure and reliable remote communications environment, reducing shadow IT and preventing data breaches from occurring.
Plus, it can reduce or eliminate excess infrastructure like phone systems and fax machines for remote workers, thus providing solutions for many of the struggles businesses and remote workers now face.
- References
- Fox News, Survey: Many US workers want to stay remote, https://q13fox.com/2020/05/06/survey-majority-of-us-workers-want-to-stay-remote/, 2020
- Business News Daily, Working from Home Increase Productivity, https://www.businessnewsdaily.com/15259-working-from-home-more-productive.html, 2019
- Buffer, State Of Remote Work, https://buffer.com/state-of-remote-work-2019, 2019