Today, the world is living in a grey area where there is no clear promising vision about the future. There is no doubt that the pandemic has introduced a new work routine for businesses and individuals that may last after it fades. To be more precise; the concept of working from home has been followed by many companies to cope with the unstable economic and business crises that have been stated as a result of the existing Corona Virus situation. Many have come to question how the nature of work will be, how to cope with it, and how to manage any work-related consequences.

Moving forward from that point, some businesses in Jordan went bankrupt or had to stop operating until this situation ends. The equation is still vague, especially in Jordan, since the process of knowing how to deal with this pandemic was mysterious. 

Remote working 

“Online” means being connected to a computer regardless of where you are (office, home,
school, etc.), but people have been forced to stay connected from one place (home), due to the
pandemic. Which stressed the concept of telecommuting or remote work from home.

According to Gartner's CFO survey, 74% of employees will be part of a lasting post-pandemic effect that will shift their work careers’ path to work permanently from home. What happened can be described as a mess for some companies, since they aren’t prepared to conduct their businesses online, not to forget that some businesses’ nature demand crucial offline operations to be conducted. For example, car maintenance services can’t be conducted online, the action must be done offline. However, selling some products can be done online without a crucial need for offline operations.

Companies can be cost-saving if it lessens the cost of real estate, supplies, and turnover rate through telecommuting which results in reducing overhead expenses. A study showed that companies would save an average of 11,000$ per employee in the USA if the employees were allowed to work remotely from home half-time.

How employees responded to telecommuting

Employees have shown great satisfaction regarding telecommuting, from which their productivity level is increasing. Time factor here plays a very important role, people at home have flexible working hours, which means work will be conducted when the employee is feeling most energetic during the day. Nine to five is an office working hours but ten to three can be the ideal working hours where the employee is working according to the time that suits him the most to achieve.

When dealing with online meetings, employees managed to increase their productivity level. Since virtual meetings generally lack face-to-face meetings’ interruptions. However, technology can fail you sometimes and doesn’t work properly. Such meetings can be energy-draining since you need to stick behind your computer’s screen until the meeting ends. Unlike offline meetings where it is easier for employees to connect, interact and engage.

Flexjobs survey has reported more than 50% of the respondents are willing to work remotely from home especially after the pandemic. The scene is clear when looking from their side of view; flexible working hours, no commute expense, and better life balance regardless of the distractions at home, the need to work all day “sometimes” and the difficulty in finding the ideal working spot.

Check 7 tips for working remotely: here

The Most Important Post-Pandemic Requirement

In order to handle future crises, businesses need to apply a proactive approach unless it is capable to handle a reactive approach to deal with such situations. Applying an After-action review analysis helps in determining the potential recovery procedures after crises and gives insights about future opportunities. Many companies have dedicated their efforts towards building organizational resilience with a well-trained crisis response team.

One of the most important organizational resilience examples is telecommuting. The ability to manage work and adapt to the emerging changes is a challenge that is worth taking in order for a business to prosper instead of falling. Taking a closer look at how Aimstyle Graphics agency managed to survive with pretty mesmerizing results; the team that worked behind the scenes managed to cope with telecommuting effectively. No work was done from the actual office, the team collaborated and worked from different areas if not countries all along to deliver projects on time.

Continuous online meetings were being held normally and efficiently, direct communication between team members via phone replaced direct face-to-face communication. Most above all the harmony between the team was a priority to deliver a proficient work experience with no stress.

The pandemic has also pushed people to learn more about conducting meetings, workshops, and conferences via certain programs and tools such as zoom, Microsoft teams, and a lot more. Dealing with technology is a must now, there is less reliance on companies’ IT departments since employees are conducting needed tasks from home. Some people decided to have their own customized ideal working spot at home; where it is made to mimic the ideal working office atmosphere but at home. A new daily routine for working from home should be set to adapt with new work experience, where they need to manage work atmosphere from home. This doesn’t sound easy, Does it?

The main idea behind work

Although remote working might not be a cheering idea for some. what should be really focused on is getting the job done regardless of the location. The idea behind what has been suggested is being able to access the work resources remotely, which can be done through having software that manages and enables the access of information to employees.

Conclusion

The “New Normal” may vary from business to business and from individual to individual but it definitely will include telecommuting. All signs indicate that although corona has put many obstacles in front of us but has also induced a proactive and reactive approach for companies to cope with the current situation. The old way of conducting business will no longer be sufficient in the near future, however, some may have a different point of view. What’s yours?