In my previous blog post, I discussed some of the evident challenges arising from the widespread adoption of Work From Home (WFH) setups. Today, we'll continue to dig deeper into the evidence and examine other issues that have emerged since our collective shift to remote work.
1. Delayed Morning Start: The first issue we have noticed relates to the start of the workday. Previously, our IT help desk received most troubleshooting tickets promptly at 8 am (or client start time) when employees began their workday in the office. But in the current WFH scenario, we see a consistent delay with trouble tickets coming in around 8:30-8:45 am. This delay indicates a potential shift in employees' schedules, perhaps due to the absence of a traditional commute or less structured home environments, which subsequently impacts productivity and punctuality.
2. Increased Incidences of User Errors: We have also observed a significant increase in tickets related to file restoration, indicating a rise in the accidental deletion or moving of files. Such incidents suggest a possible lack of concentration attributable to numerous distractions at home, which are inevitably higher than in a controlled office environment.
3. Misaligned Schedules and Idle Time: One striking observation involves users often claiming they're too busy for a remote session, even when their computer has been idle for over 20 minutes. This could hint at employees taking longer breaks, managing household chores, or attending to personal matters during work hours. Such practices can reduce productivity, missed deadlines, and communication breakdowns.
Working from home does bring unique flexibility, but it also comes with a new set of challenges. From our experiences, the evidence is stacking up, showing a shift in work habits, increased user errors, and misaligned time management. While these findings are not universal and do not represent every remote worker's experience, they are significant enough to warrant attention.
As we've always maintained, your success is our success. Hence, we continue to explore this topic, highlighting these issues not as criticisms but as areas where we can improve and adapt. Whether we meet with clients or share insights on this blog, our goal remains to foster an environment that encourages productivity, efficiency, and balance, regardless of where we work.