Working From Home: An IT Challenge

Telecommuting is the next big thing for many companies. Whether a business provides internet marketing research or handles the accounting for major medical firms, chances are that many of their employees are eager for the opportunity to work from home on a regular basis. At EBOX, we understand that while a great deal of research has shown that this arrangement can be mutually beneficial, there are often still many significant IT issues that employers have to navigate and overcome in order to even make it possible.

Performance

Working from home is known for boosting morale and upping worker performance. But that is in the ideal situation where workers have all the tools they need in order to do their job well and without issue. The reality is that in most cases, employees who work from home do not have the same access to enterprise-class internet speeds they would have if they were at the office. When network performance is an issue, employee performance is also often an issue, as both tend to trend together. Unless businesses and workers can come together to ensure that near-business internet speeds are available at home, this could be a real problem.

Performance was the number one issue that IT professionals cited when they were asked about their biggest concern with telecommuting in a study performed by Comcast Business. Response times made up 79% of top concerns of all IT professionals included in the study, which included more than 1,500 specialists.

Wasted Time

When in an office setting, workers have the advantage of an IT specialist who is ready and able to help with any issues that may arise. While it may take a while for the IT specialist to fix the problem, there is a sense of security in knowing that the problem will be fixed as soon as possible. If a problem presents at home, the employee is left on his own to either attempt to research and resolve the IT issue himself or wait until a specialist can be sent out to his home to help. This wastes an immense amount of time that could otherwise be spent in fruitful endeavors. If a severe problem arises, a remote worker could be prevented from working for days, which may have a large impact on productivity and morale.

Maintaining Company Culture

Although it is not often given the consideration it deserves, company culture is an essential part of an enjoyable, productive workplace. Maintaining that company culture and making it available to remote workers is a challenge that the IT departments of many companies are still struggling to overcome. By creating forums in which coworkers can interact, or by having the appropriate tools available for workers to “meet” with each other on a daily basis as would occur in the office, companies can help maintain company culture for their remote employees. This may help prevent burnout, increase retention on telecommuting teams and simply make life more enjoyable for workers.

If you are going to allow employees to work remotely, it is vital that both you and the telecommuter are properly prepared to deal with any IT issues that may arise. This may help reduce periods of lower productivity, as well as help increase morale for those working remotely. For all your business Internet and phone needs, be sure to check EBOX’s offering!