Over the past 12 months, thanks in large part to the COVID-19 pandemic, remote work has become increasingly common for employees throughout the US and the entire globe. Although most of us automatically assume that anyone “working remotely” must be working from home, that assumption couldn’t be further from the truth. The fact is that people work remotely from a variety of different locations. And while the majority of telecommuters might be working remotely from home during the pandemic – particularly in areas where stay-at-home orders were in place – it’s important to keep in mind that remote work doesn’t necessarily mean working from home.
Telecommuting from Home
Many companies have enabled their employees to work from home over the past 12 months in order to keep their businesses afloat during the pandemic. For many of these people, working from home involves doing exactly what you would do from your office, but just doing it in your home instead. Most people who work from home can do so with minimal preparation – as little as a laptop and an IP phone connection might be enough to keep some employees working at home for a period of time. In fact, many employers have allowed staff members to work from home periodically for years – to take care of a sick child, for example, or to put in extra hours to finish a special project. And while there’s no doubt that working from home for an extended time requires a period of adjustment for both the employee and the employer, it’s quite different than people who have engaged in remote work for longer periods of time.
Remote Work Definition
Professionals who have engaged in remote work for many years typically have not only a different set of skills, but also a different mindset than people working from home on a temporary basis. Long-term remote work requires that an individual be self-motivated, extremely focused on the task at hand, and have superior time management skills. Remote workers aren’t holed up in a home office; in fact, just the opposite is true. Often, longtime telecommuters are extremely good at communicating with their managers, peers, and/or clients. Exceptional communication skills are a must when you’re working on your own. Quite often, this type of remote work isn’t done within the confines of a home office, but instead in a shared workplace or quite literally wherever the individual happens to be at the time when work needs to get done.
Whether you manage a group of employees who will be working from home on a temporary basis, or a team of professional telecommuters who will always work remotely, MySammy can be an invaluable management tool. Our cloud-based software allows you to measure productivity levels of your remote staff no matter where they are working – in an office environment, at home, in a shared work space, or wherever they may be. MySammy helps you to motivate your staff to be as productive as possible, and we accomplish this without the use of spyware or blocking websites. Find out more about MySammy, and sign up for your free trial today!
