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WFH Meaning – Ultimate Guide

To Working From Home
Published On March 5, 2021 • Digital Workplace,Remote Work

Ultimate Guide To Work From Home

. Introduction
. WFH Meaning
. The major challenges of Working From Home (WFH) for
employers
. The major challenges of Working From Home (WFH) for
employees
. The big bene its of work from home
. The best practice for managing work from home
. Essential work from home tools to get you through

Over 88 percent[1] of organizations globally either made it mandatory or

encouraged their employees to work from home in 2020 due to the
ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

While work from home became incredibly popular throughout the year
due to restricted lockdowns in several parts of the world, it wasn’t a new
concept that organizations had to suddenly embrace – it has been
around for a long time. 4.7 million people already worked from home even
before the pandemic.

As things are slowly going back to normal, it has become more clear than
ever that work from home is here to stay. After all, it is beneficial to both
organizations and employees alike.

Organizations get to save on infrastructure costs and hire from a global

pool of talent, and employees get to have a better work-life balance with
a more flexible schedule.

Whatever the reasons are for going remote, if your company is planning
to create a work from home policy, it needs to be defined and tailored
according to your organizational needs as well as employee
requirements. In this article, we’ll discuss everything you need to know
about working from home.

What does WFH mean?

Working From Home (WFH) means employees can set up their workspace
in their homes and manage their entire work right from inside their
houses, without the need to necessarily go to the office.

Employees work remotely by using a dedicated laptop/PC connected to

the internet and business applications to collaborate and communicate
with their team members. While some employees work primarily from
their homes, others work occasionally from home and travel to their office
half of the time.

The COVID-19 pandemic has definitely increased the number of people

working from home, but the truth is, the work from home trend was
All Productsalready on the rise in the last decade. The number of employees who Login

work from home has increased by 173 percent from 2005 to 2018. In fact,
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it was predicted that by 2025 the majority of the workforce will end up
going remote. The pandemic has only made the work from home trend
the new norm, five years too early.

The major challenges of working from

home for employers

1. Remote collaboration
Collaboration is one of the biggest work from home challenges for
companies as employees no longer work from the same physical office
space.

Whether you have a small doubt or need to organize a team-wide

meeting, everything has to be scheduled in advance to ensure availability
– all of which can end up taking a big chunk of the employees’ time and
take them away from their core responsibilities.

2. Employees working from different locations

and time zones
Allowing employees to work from home means organizations can recruit
talented professionals from anywhere in the world, with no location
limitations. But the big downside of this perk is that companies end up
with a completely distributed workforce with employees working from
different locations and time zones.

Forcing all of the employees to be available at the same time is not an

ideal or a long term solution either since many would end up working
through the night. But allowing remote employees to set their own
schedule according to what works best for them, means you end up with
employees that all work at different times of the day.

Collaborating with team members, finding the right time to schedule

weekly team meetings or even 1:1 meetings can become incredibly
challenging.

3. Building and maintaining trust

When employees don’t have face-to-face interactions, there are some
obvious trust issues that can arise because of it. 52 percent of remote
employees feel they are often left out of big decisions and their team is
less trustful of them when they are working from home.

Even managers find it difficult to trust employees working from home

since they can’t see remote employees working right in front of them,
unlike physical offices. But it’s important to remember that trust is a two-
way street. Continuous mistrust from team members can often end up
demotivating employees and making them feel left out.

The major challenges of working from

home for employees

1. Working too much

While managers often assume that employees don’t work as efficiently
from home as they do from an office, the actual ground reality is
completely different.

With no excessive breaks or long commutes to the office, remote

employees are 20-25 percent more productive than their office
All Productscounterparts. But the lack of breaks with prolonged work is what makes Login

remote employees more susceptible to burnout.

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After all, when you have to manage both your work life and personal life
inside the same house, it can be difficult to create boundaries which can
often lead to exhaustion, overwork, and a decrease in productivity.

2. Loneliness
With no informal social interactions with colleagues, employees can feel
isolated and even develop communication issues with the rest of the
team. After all, if you don’t feel close to your team members, you will
hesitate to even reach out to them to ask a simple question.

For employees that have been forced to work from home for a long
period of time or are permanently remote, the social isolation problem,
when not addressed properly, can get further aggravated and lead to
burnouts, decreased efficiency, and increased intention to leave.

3. A lack of community
When you only have face-to-face interactions with your team members on
weekly or monthly video calls only, it can be rather challenging to create
a sense of camaraderie and bonding within the team.

Video conferencing is a good way to stay connected with your

coworkers, but the problems arise when there isn’t any room left for
social interactions.

To overcome the work from home challenges mentioned above, here are
work from home tips to have a successful working from home in the long
run.

The big benefits of work from home for

both employers and employees

1. Cost savings
When there are fewer employees coming to the office than usual,
organizations need fewer equipment, desks, and space to accommodate
them which will directly lead to lowered infrastructure and rental costs. In
fact, it’s possible for organizations to save up to $2000 for every
employee[3] that works from home simply by saving up on the office
space and infrastructure.

For employees too, working from home can lead to a lot of cost savings.
No morning commute means no extra costs to travel to the office every
day. Also, employees no longer need to pay high rents just to stay close to
their offices.

2. Flexible schedule and more freedom

When employees work from home, they get the freedom to create their
own schedule, according to their productivity levels and personal
commitments. They can work in the early mornings or through the nights
if that’s when they feel most productive.

When it comes to working from home, people focus more on getting

their work done and meeting deadlines instead of being fixated on the
total number of hours they spend working in front of their screens.

3. Hire and retain global talent

All ProductsRetaining talent becomes easier when companies offer work from home Login

perks. For 83 percent of employees, the ability to work from home is a big
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deciding factor when they consider a new job offer. Over 73 percent of
employees are willing to quit their current jobs if they are offered a new
job in an organization that allows them to work from home – even if the
salary stays the same.

For companies, that means, allowing employees to work from home can
make it easier for them to hire and retain top talent without any kind of
location limitations.

4. Better work-life balance

When employees work from home, they no longer have to spend hours
driving in the traffic every day, chatting with coworkers near the
watercooler, or organizing dinner parties with team members which
directly saves them a lot of time that they can in turn use to spend with
their friends, family, or just to do things that they like. With more
downtime, enough rest, and better work-life balance, employees are able
to better focus on the work which leads to higher efficiency and
productivity.

5. Positive employee experience

With more flexibility, no everyday bumper to bumper commute traffic,
and better work-life balance, work from home ends up improving the
overall employee experience within the organization. This in turn creates
a company culture of high performance where employees want to
perform at their best and continuously improve at work.

6. Increase in productivity
When employees get the freedom to create their own work schedule and
workspace, they feel more positive and productive. Moreover, with no
excessive breaks or disruptions from coworkers, work from home
employees end up being more productive than their in-office
counterparts as well.

In fact, over 77 percent of employees agree that they are more

productive when they work from home.

The best practice for managing Work From

Home (WFH)

1.Maintain trust among employees

Trust is the foundation of successful remote work. When employees don’t
feel like they are trusted within the organization, it can eventually affect
their work. As a result, before you even start implementing a work from
home strategy for employees, make sure you list down the guidelines of
what is expected of them and what they can expect from their team
managers. More importantly, it’s essential to avoid micromanaging
employees. It’s best to give them some breathing space.

2. Define communication guidelines

The only thing worse than remote employees feeling lonely and isolated,
is them feeling overwhelmed with all the messages and calls coming their
way. While it is important to streamline communication with the team
when working from home, it is just as important to set clear
communication guidelines.
All ProductsHere are a few ways you can set up work from home communication Login

guidelines for your team:

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Keep a common team calendar marking everyone’s time zones and

working hours so that it’s easier to schedule team meetings and 1:1
discussions
Decide on the maximum number of hours that employees can take
to reply back to messages so they don’t feel pressured to reply
immediately
Share the main communication tools used within the company and
their main purpose
Limit the number of emails and opt for messaging tools instead
Create separate communication channels for formal and informal
communication

3. Avoid distractions
Employees should create a separate workspace in the house to stay
focused on their work throughout the entire day so they can maintain
consistent efficiency. Moreover, they should avoid online distractions as
well and limit time spent on emails, social media platforms, and websites
that are completely unrelated to work. Organizations can help with that
by providing employees with a unified platform for project management,
task management, and communication so employees don’t have to go
back and forth between applications which can eventually distract them
from their work.

4. Recognize and appreciate good work

Working from home, all alone, without meeting or seeing your coworkers
can feel rather isolating, which makes constant validation and recognition
more important than ever. Remember that recognition doesn’t always
have to cost something, just sending a simple ‘good work’ message to
your colleagues can sometimes be enough to boost their morale and
encourage them to work harder.

☛ Check Out: 15 Tips to Make Work From Home Better!

Essential work from home tools to get you

through

1. Collaboration and communication tools

Effective communication tools should have features like instant
messaging, video calling, voice calling, and support for private and public
communication channels to make it easier for employees to collaborate
while working from home.

2. Project management tools

The right project management tool will make it easier for distributed
teams to streamline project work and tasks while maintaining complete
transparency. It helps reduce constant back and forth emails and ensures
everyone is always on the same page.

3. Cloud storage tools

You need centralized cloud storage that allows employees to access and
search for the latest version of the files that they need to manage their
work, from any location or device. The cloud storage that you choose
should be reliable, affordable, secure, and follow all the necessary
industry compliances.
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4. Screen sharing and recording tools
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Screen sharing applications help employees understand each other’s
perspectives and the issues that they are facing by providing them with
the right context. It can also help support teams in providing your
customers with better and faster resolutions.

5. Digital workplace platform

Instead of using dozens of digital tools that can only make remote
employees more overwhelmed and confused, you can introduce a digital
workplace platform in your organization to help employees collaborate,
communicate, and manage their way without having to switch constantly
between applications.

The digital workplace is a unified platform that gives employees access to

the complete set of digital tools they need to effectively manage all of
their work responsibilities. An ideal digital workplace like Kissflow offers
project management, case management, task management, cloud
storage, public and private communication channels, and all the other
features that work from home employees need to streamline their work
and easily collaborate with remote team members.

Work from home is the future

Work from home is truly the future of work and it is here to stay. Even
though there are some challenges to it, the pros of working from home
easily outweigh the cons.

Of course, incorporating a work from home strategy for the first time can
be difficult, but it’s not impossible. With a strong company culture and
the right tools by your side, you can successfully implement a work from
home strategy in your organization that aligns with your long-term
business goals and your employees’ requirements as well.

More Resources

Work From Home Best Practices

Pros And Cons Of Working From Home
How Uni ied Communication Can Enhance Work From Home
Productivity

WORK FROM HOME

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Product Tour Remote Work Productivity

Collaboration Overcome Remote Challenges Webinars

Plans & Pricing Remote Team Communication

Digital Transformation Remote Work Software Documentation

Customers Build Strong Remote Culture

Employee Experience Tools For Remote Teams

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