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An interesting question is will remote work become the new default working mode in future? The future is coming and it demands that we take work home. Work which, in the past, meant physical presence in an office or factory has now been brought into the digital domain. This means that productivity is on-demand, regardless of where you are. It also means that mental work can be accomplished by anyone with a computer.
Still, many people feel this transition will require more than just software to actually make it happen successfully— some sort of physical presence at whatever workplace they go to may still be necessary due to the heightened degree of psychological comfort humans require while performing mental labour for hours on end while surrounded by other humans working on similar tasks at their desks.
If we look at history, it seems that physical presence is needed when working with technology for thousands of years. But, things are changing.
It is the reason why people are still using paper for all e-mail messages in today’s modern society. Office workers often go home, taking the work they did to their desks. Today’s office worker then goes home and does any electronic business through an e-mail transmitted through an Internet protocol instead of taking notes with pen and paper.
In future, the migration of jobs to the digital realm may be delayed by the human need for physical presence. Currently, this can be seen in telecommuting companies, such as Skype and virtual office spaces, where people go home every day to do business. Read more about remote work in today’s world here.
It may make sense to not go home at all if you live in certain cities which are considered hubs for people working on computer via the Internet in their homes.
Today’s popular work-at-home ideas are typically based on telecommuting or working in a private or shared space that is “not” your own with coworkers who are also “not” your coworkers.
Why do people prefer working from home?
There may be two considerations that cause people to work at home. The first is a desire for comfort, which may be due to poor working conditions in traditional or corporate offices.
2. Less over-the-shoulder supervision
The second reason is the discomfort caused by coworkers, co-workers, managers and supervisors; these are observed as the major factors that make working out of the home more appealing than working in an office full of people who are also not coworkers.
3. Saved costs
The recent growth in teleworking has been stimulated by their value as a cost-saving measure from both employers and employees. Cost-savings from employers may include reductions in travel costs, insurance premiums or facility costs due to less winter break or summer vacation required for its employees.
So, Will Physical work be replaced by remote working?
Slowly but surely there are changes happening in the workplace because of the rise of teleworking and remote working.
With the availability of internet, monitoring devices, remote workers can work from home and be connected to their workplaces. The re-location of physical offices to web spaces is one example of this transition in which many white-collar workers work in office regions that do not require individuals to actually visit physical offices at all.
Work that was traditionally done by people in an office environment is now being done remotely at home through software such as google docs, zoom, meet etc.
The result: A virtual office space in which people do business together in cyberspace and meet in person only when needed or wanted.
Should management change how they manage remote workers?
The need for supervision for remote workers has been questioned. This is because it has been argued that remote workers may naturally become less productive and, therefore, no longer want to work from home.
In addition, some research shows that workers who spend more time at home are likely to spend more time on the Internet, particularly on video sites. Also, remote working has not been proven to increase productivity(debatable).
Research by Ransom and colleagues has shown that the level of autonomy that an employee is given over their work is not affected by where they work. This contradicts some beliefs that employees working from home will feel less control over their work.
Psychosocial issues may affect the interaction between employer and remote workers, which may ultimately affect job performance.
The future is coming and it demands that we take work home. Work which, in the past, meant physical presence in an office or factory has now been brought into the digital domain.
The transition from a workplace where you have to be physically present to a place where you can carry out your work from anywhere with a computer may have caused some people’s roles to change from being limited to just having mental tasks completed by employees who are physically present in the workplace.
Today’s popular work-at-home ideas are typically based on remote working or working in a private or shared space that is “not” your own with coworkers who are also “not” your coworkers.
Read more about myths in working remotely.