Remote working has become the buzzword since the last few days. Although a number of companies have been practicing the "work from home" culture in the last decade, the COVID-19 situation has made a million others join the force to make it the new normal. We are seeing and experiencing what may be the future of the workforce.
Millions of Americans in the field of design, artistry and creativity, technology and the IT sectors work remotely and swear by the versatility and freedom it offers. Did you know that in the U.S. alone, 4.7 million employees (3.4% of the workforce) work from home at least half the week. (Global Workplace Analytics). And 77% of remote employees say they're more productive when working from home. (CoSo Cloud).
Though it sounds very exciting, remote working for a number of professionals is not always a bed of roses, and comes with its own set of challenges.
Communication
“Did you say you emailed me the comments yesterday? Shoot, I seem to have completely overlooked the email”. Communication is one of the biggest challenges while working remotely. Most of the communication happens through emails and often people complain about their team not being on top of things or not receiving emails on time. At times, it becomes very easy for people to misread a certain tone of the email. Misunderstandings can spiral out of control in no time if communication is not handled properly while working remotely.
Collaboration
“WOW! It's a wonderful idea. But I will have to completely relook into my code to implement this. How nice would it have been had you left a note about this earlier?”. Most of the design work happens in collaboration with multiple stakeholders working under the same room and working in-sync with each other. So most designers feel crippled while working remotely and not getting to collaborate adequately with their team. Working remotely becomes a bigger challenge when stakeholders spread across different continents and working across different time zones.
Tracking
“If I don’t see you working, then how do I actually know if you are working?”. More often than we think, managers lose control of what is happening with their team either due to the plethora of emails that get exchanged during the day or due to lack of communication.While it is extremely important for the managers to keep a tab on what work is happening with their team and to have a sense of security, lack of trust can be a huge motivation killer for most employees. Tracking the progress while managing employee emotions thus becomes a huge challenge with the remote workforce.
Feedbacks
“Can I get your comments on this please?”. Designers always look forward to getting timely feedback and constructive criticism to deliver their best work. Delayed responses to feedback requests while working remotely can kill the enthusiasm of the designers.
Have we ever pondered upon the thought - “What if all these challenges had a single-point solution?” , “What if the sprint reviews happened in a ziffy?”. “What if we didn’t really have to worry about all these challenges while working remotely?” Wouldn't it be wonderful to have an answer to questions like these?
And what if we said, we do have a solution to all these problems? What if we said we are here to redefine communication and collaboration amongst your design stakeholders?
Be assured that an exciting website feedback tool is on your way. Watch out this space to know more in the coming days.
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