Research has shown that remote working can reduce stress, boost productivity and decrease overhead costs. It’s no surprise then, that more and more employees are choosing to work from the comfort of their home.
But while there are plenty of benefits, there are also downsides to the remote working trend.
A new study has highlighted a worrying concern amongst employees. According to the 2019 State of the Digital Workspace report from Igloo, 70% of remote employees feel left out of their workplace.
Why? Apparently, it’s all down to a lack of workplace knowledge sharing and bad communication practices.
57% of the respondents said they are missing out on important information while 55% get excluded from meetings because of their remote location.
43% said they were unable to access people or groups. When it comes to documents or information, 39% also faced problems with access.
Another 33% said they missed information about process or policy changes. And 19% were unable to find the right tool to contact someone.
So, how do we overcome this?
It’s clear that the main problem is a lack of good communication tools and structure. In order to be successful, remote workers need to feel like they are part of the wider team. Knowledge sharing and effective applications are absolutely essential.
However, Igloo Software CMO Mike Hicks believes that companies need to take time to research the right tools and applications for their team instead of jumping on the latest trends. “We’re seeing businesses adopt more applications with the goal of increasing productivity, yet this approach continues to yield discouraging results for both employees and the organization”, he explains.
As more people work remotely, identifying the shortcomings of remote working is critically important in order to ensure workers are happy and productive.
