Remote working has been one of the hottest topics of the past years after billions of people were forced to stay home during the worst part of the COVID19 pandemic. From discussions around the benefits/drawbacks of remote working to its viability on a permanent basis, it seems every major organization has a take on the topic. Unfortunately, despite most experts agreeing that remote and hybrid work is the future, there are still major challenges that need to be addressed.
Any employee who has experienced remote work is aware of the benefits it entails in terms of better work-life balance, flexibility, morale improvement (under the right conditions), and many more. Most data suggest that remote work also comes with higher productivity, reduced absenteeism, and decreased turnover, making remote and hybrid work just as beneficial to organizations.
Despite consensus among experts being mostly unanimous, employers' distrust of remote working continues to be one of the biggest barriers, leading to clashes with employees pushing toward more flexible models. The reasons for employers to be wary of remote work can range from the more than 50% of business leaders who believe their colleagues don't work as hard remotely to those who worry about diminishing collaboration between team members.
With most organizations reporting increased productivity from remote and hybrid working,the major challenge for remote work seems to be one of trust and collaboration. With the shift toward remote and hybrid work being inevitable, organizations have been struggling with effective ways to ensure productivity and compliance with internal policies without negatively affecting their relationship with their employees.
The result is an increasing demand for new tools that allow for just that, with many startups and companies looking to offer the best solution to it. If the level of collaboration and connection that in-person working offers could be brought to remote work, organizations would be more likely to stop thinking twice about instituting remote and hybrid work. For employees, this would also mean that issues like isolation, loneliness, and lack of motivation would be less likely to occur.
With the Metaverse being one of the other biggest topics of conversation, it is not a surprise that many developers have opted for a metaverse-based or metaverse-like solution, bridging the physical and virtual spaces together. Startups like Kosy Office offer organizations a chance to create an office in a virtual space. This not only allows employees to collaborate more effectively but also to share a virtual space, which has proven to help improve the morale, productivity, and cohesion of remote teams.
Citrix's study identified 4 pillars required for hybrid and remote work to succeed: Tech empowerment, connection & collaboration, flexibility & fluidity, and trust & empathy. Platforms like the one offered by Kosy Office are designed to help teams improve in all of these areas not only by bringing an office-like feeling to remote work but also by offering tools designed to make communication and collaboration more fluid.
"Although our company grew 50% since the beginning of this year, some of our employees have never actually been in touch," says Moritz Dresel, Team Lead at Dept Agency, about the impact Kosy Office had on the company. "Now that we use Kosy for meetings, collaboration sessions, socials and hang-outs, team-bonding became an organic part of our workday"
Kosy Office's success story is a reflection of the growing trend surrounding remote work. Not only have companies like SAP, Insider, Netflix, and Tripadvisor found value in their platform but so did startups -- reporting an improvement in morale, workflow, teambuilding, and mental health.
While hybrid work has helped alleviate some leaders' concerns, the fact of the matter remains: The time spent working remotely could be much more efficient, collaborative, and team-focused. Tools like Kosy Office have the potential to level up the field for employees by bringing them together into a shared workspace, no matter where they are currently working. With the shift toward remote and hybrid work only accelerating, ensuring teams can adequately work together will be essential.
* This is a contributed article and this content does not necessarily represent the views of techtimes.com
