Like many other companies, over the last five months most of us at Local Pages have spent a considerable amount of time working from home. Unthought of a year ago, we have now discovered that by changing our working practices and investing in new technology we can be more efficient while offering our team greater flexibility in how and where they work.
There have been other benefits too. Cutting back on commuting and replacing face-to-face client visits with video calls has substantially reduced our carbon footprint and less people in the office means savings on space, heating and lighting.
Five months in and we are still counting the benefits from a business perspective. But how do the staff feel about such a radical change? So, we asked them. Specifically we asked what were the best and worst bits about working from home. You can see from the list below that the positives far outweigh the negatives and where there are negatives we are doing our best to address them.
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Best
- Not having to spend time putting on makeup
- Not having to sit in traffic every day getting to work
- Saving money on petrol
- Looking out over my garden from the office chair
- Being able to work in casual clothes (but definitely notmy PJs!)
- Having a well organised and ergonomically functioning office based around me.
- Being able to concentrate without distractions
- Greater productivity and accuracy
- It’s quiet
- Not having to walk miles/downstairs to the printer/shredder
- Having more ‘me’ time without having to commute
- Being able to hang out the washing during the day
- Feeling safe from coronavirus
- Be able to accept Amazon parcels
- The days fly by
- Being able to spend more time talking to customers
- Losing weight (away from the office biscuit tin)
- Reducing our carbon footprint
- Saving on paper
- Greater efficiency with video calls replacing face to face meetings
- Enjoying the company of my dogs and cats
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Worst
- It’s harder working on a diddy little screen
- Missing the banter and interaction with colleagues
- Using my electricity (offset by the savings on fuel)
- IT issues more difficult to resolve remotely
- Using a lot more printer paper
- Missing the ‘buzz’ of a busy office
- Connectivity issues
- Motivation and moral is lower without the support of the rest of the team
- Unlimited snacking
- Loneliness if you don’t have a dog or cat to keep you company
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Working from home is now the new normal with commercial, environmental and employee benefits. It’s just a shame that it took a global pandemic to force us into taking off our blinkers, opening our eyes and doing things differently.
