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Working at a distance will be the new work modality of the future. Let's analyze some pros and cons.

joelgonz1982Posted for Everyone to comment on, 5 years ago5 min read

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The world has changed significantly in recent years. One of the most relevant transformations is the irruption and massification of work at a distance. Nowadays it is a practically present modality in all the planet. And it is expected that in the future it will be the labor modality that predominates.

Working remotely brings great benefits. It saves valuable time to travel from one place to another, while helping to reduce traffic congestion and, therefore, environmental pollution. In general, it offers greater flexibility in the organization of time and grants greater autonomy to the worker.

However, the work at a distance also has several problematic aspects. Among others, the fact that it almost always involves working physically in solitude. You do not have a partner by your side to tell you something or joke during a break. The others begin to be an abstract and strictly functional presence.

This raises questions about the future of organizations. Will collaboration environments no longer exist? Will this lack of contact with colleagues be harmful, which often contributes to solving problems and generating innovations in general?



The pros of remote work



The work at a distance offers very relevant benefits. The first of them, already mentioned, is the saving of time in displacements. This also involves saving money and emotional energy, not having to face the frenzy that often exists in large cities. For all this, it is cheaper for both the worker, as for the company and for society.

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work from your home

On the other hand, with distance work, or teleworking, geographical barriers are eliminated. A person can work anywhere in the world, for any company in the world. The company wins because this allows it to access eventually more talented profiles. And the worker also, because he has a much wider labor market to choose from.

Teleworking, above all, offers a wide margin of autonomy to the worker. In addition to having more possibilities to negotiate your schedule, other pressures of face-to-face work are also avoided. For example, you have to invest less in street clothes. Likewise, he has the possibility of designing his own work environment and doing it in the way that makes him feel more comfortable. In the end, distance work gives you greater independence.



The cons of teleworking



Just as distance work guarantees greater autonomy, it also demands great self-discipline. There is no one strictly monitoring the work and this lack of external control could lead some people to become disorganized. There are those who fail to replicate the work routine of the company within their home. Then the disorder and instability will be the predominant note.


distraction at home

By not leaving home daily, also the household problems end up interfering with the work in some occasions. There is no cut with the family environment and if this is not healthy, this would have negative consequences on performance. Additionally, it is possible that there are many more interruptions and distractions in the house than in a workplace. This could have an impact on spending more time doing some activity.

On the other hand, there is the handicap that there is no longer a group of classmates physically present. This could impoverish social life and generate a sense of loneliness. Likewise, it can harm work in the sense that the intellectual and emotional stimulus given by an immediate team is lost. With this, the tasks could be impoverished, as well as the skills for collaborative work.



A model under construction



The work at a distance is a relatively new modality (linked mainly to computer science, although if we look in history we will find other precedents, like sewing work). We are in a phase in which the methods and processes are being refined and perfected. to enhance all its advantages. In fact, in the computer world there is no great interest in solving problems in a way that this type of work demands.

In principle, distance should not be a limitation to carry out collaborative and integration experiences. These are the basis of innovation. At present, the "octopus" type structure has been imposed, in which there is a head that concentrates, creates and unites the scattered pieces. This would have to evolve over time.

The ideal is that the work at a distance does not generate isolated workers, lonely and invaded by work in their personal lives. There are many pieces to be adjusted on that goal. Teleworking is a new challenge for organizations and for those in charge of organizational well-being. Surely efficient responses to these challenges will be designed in a few years.



This is all for today, I hope you liked to leave your comments, See you in the next post. Thank you.




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