Since the very beginning, our understanding of ‘job’ has always been synonymous with ‘physical office’. Nobody looked for other viable options, as only ‘conventional workplaces’ had the required technology and infrastructure to run a company. Work-from-home was always looked down upon by leaders and managers, as they equated proximity to productivity.
Generally, workplaces can be divided into three broad categories:
- Traditional workplaces – a brick and mortar space, where employees are required to work primarily from the office, for 5 days a week, usually from 9-5. Tech giants like Yahoo and IBM are few companies that strongly believed that only physical presence can ensure productivity and creativity.
- Fully remote teams – it is where team members are distributed all over the world, across different countries, and time zones. Companies that are completely remote have no physical office. According to the data by Hallway, there are currently over 60 companies in the world that have incorporated this model, and that number will only continue to grow.
Digital nomads like programmers, coders, app developers, digital marketers, data analysts choose to work from anywhere and everywhere, as long as they’re connected to the internet. Companies that have been fully remote since day one include Buffer, Automattic, and Zapier.
3. Hybrid teams – this is a model that takes the best of both worlds.
a) Employees are required to work from the office, but can occasionally work-from-home. Many companies, such AirBnb, Oracle, and Deloitte have adopted this occasional work-from-home policy.
b) Few companies have a headquarters where some employees work, but at the same time, there are several team members who work from different time zones. They have the freedom to choose where they work, whether that be the office, their home, or a cafe. Piktochart is an example of such a semi-distributed company.
Many businesses have started experimenting with remote working, whereas few conservative company leaders still consider it as a threat.
But the pandemic changed everything overnight.
Though the idea of telecommuting has been around for a while, the COVID crisis challenged companies to resort to remote working. As businesses around the world discuss returning to work, how and where we’re going to work remain important questions.
The New Digital Age – Remote Working
According to the New Global Workplace Study, four out of five employees surveyed want to work from home at least once a week post-COVID-19.
For companies that have seen huge economic losses, this strategy not only places employee wellbeing at the forefront but also ensures lesser crowds in workplaces.
Large tech companies are making long-term decisions about encouraging their workforce to work remotely. Facebook recently announced a 10-year plan to move most of its workforce to work remotely. Twitter is encouraging its employees to work from home forever. Shopify and Coinbase are going all-in on remote work with no plans to bring people back to work in offices.
Even Millennials, who are the largest generation in the U.S. labor force, are looking for flexibility in their jobs instead of stability, work-life balance instead of a 9-6 workday and want to ‘work to live’ instead of ‘living to work’.
Since it’s becoming increasingly possible to choose remote work, you need a workplace that suits your needs the best.
There are three popular options – home, cafes, or coworking spaces.
Work from Home
Flexibility in choosing your work timings, no need to commute and be stuck in traffic for hours, and complete autonomy on when and how to do the work – it’s a too good to be true deal, isn’t it? You can manage your household chores, spend time with your family, and even be 100% productive at your work, all in your PJs!
Working from home is often the go-to option for a remote worker. The biggest advantage of working from home is that it is very cost-effective.
But is it suitable for everyone?
Home is comfortable, but perhaps, sometimes, it can be too comfortable. You sit down to work in front of your laptop and 3 hours later, you have binged an entire tv-show without realizing it.
- Homes also come with a host of distractions and interruptions. Not all of us have a dedicated desk or a spare bedroom which can be converted to workstations.
- Having your office and home life so close could eventually cause havoc. Work-life balance? Poof!
- Most households are not equipped with the facilities required for working from home. Poor internet and network issues, lack of facilities like printers & scanners, or even the lack of community presence don’t ensure a smooth ride.
Pros: comfortable and convenient
Cons: lots of distractions, leads to procrastination
Work from a cafe
Working from a cafe is perhaps the most popular choice amongst remote workers. Unlike work from home, when you enter a cafe, you are mentally prepared to work. You can completely immerse yourself and can only be disturbed by a hot cup of coffee. However, not all coffee shops are not suitable for remote work.
Some don’t have enough wall outlets; others only allow Wi-Fi for a limited period of time and that too, only with purchase. Often, you’ll get glared at or are asked to leave for occupying a table for a long time.
The solution, therefore, is to find a cafe with sufficient electrical outlets, with a work-friendly atmosphere, unlimited Wi-Fi, and a table you won’t lose if you get up to take a break.
Pros: bustling environment, proximity, and of course, COFFEE.
Cons: crowded, unreliable Wi-Fi, need to purchase to keep the table
Co-working Spaces
Coworking spaces provide the perfect alternative to working from home or coffee shops. It is the best option for freelancers, entrepreneurs, and digital nomads.
When you sit down for work on a new desk every day, you get the opportunity to meet a plethora of people. They may be individuals working in a different company or could be from different places. Once you start interacting with them, you build a network that leaps across expertise and fields.
Coworking spaces make you feel like you belong to a larger community.
Another advantage is the variety of workstation options:
- floating desks
- training and meeting rooms
- event spaces
- private dedicated offices.
Whatever suits your needs and budget!
They also provide all office amenities such as printers, paper, and telephone booths with steady Wi-Fi.
So, which is the best work-space?
As a remote worker, you don’t have to choose just one workspace. The one that is best for you really depends on your personal work style, the type of work you do, and the amount of time you need to spend working.
You can work from a coworking space one day, and go to your nearby cafe next. Or you can mix it up!
Liberty and autonomy are some of the biggest advantages of being a remote worker.
You can enjoy it by working anywhere you please – as long as the work gets done.
Hi Anand,
This is a really nice blog which explains us how the future jobs post CoVid-19 pandemic may look like, there is going to be a huge raise in the work from jobs opportunity as we can see it from now itself.
Hello Anand,
This is a really great article and its reality that after a pandemic, the way of working has changed a lot and suddenly work-from-home-jobs is suddenly increasing.