Advantages of Working from Home - MGR Blog

Just a few years ago, people who work from home were perceived as relaxed, slacker types. They are portrayed as working in their pajamas all day, perched on their beds, laptop on their lap. They seem to take tea breaks whenever they want, doze off for a couple of hours on the sofa after lunch, and just basically go through their workday in a blissful, calm and unhurried state.

But this antiquated and often inaccurate perception of the work-from-home professional is fast shifting. In fact, it appears that the complete opposite is happening inside the closed doors of their apartments and their corner kitchen home offices. Now, studies are revealing that work from home employees are more productive, more focused and more efficient than their office-based counterparts.

At the same time, they enjoy good sleeping habits — a key to being a better worker. The flexible work hours that most work-at-home jobs allow gives employees more opportunities to create better work-life balance for themselves. And, as you know, having work-life balance is an essential element of being a high-performing employee. It’s the truth: You actually accomplish more and turn over better results when you have time for both work and play or rejuvenation than simply being stuck behind your desk all day.

Work-at-home employees often list down the following benefits of their set-up:

–          Avoid soul-crushing, long commutes

–          Less commute time means more time for self, family and personal passions

–          More focus on work and less on office politics

–          Less stressful environment, providing more headspace and concentration to do your job

–          Be more environment-friendly, thanks to lower gas or fuel consumption

Employees working at home provide significant benefits to employers, too, that’s why many businesses are now opting for virtual teams:

–          Access to global talent pool – you can hire top talent and recruit them to work for you no matter where they are

–          Save money by doing away with the taxes and operational costs of running a traditional office

–          Benefit from a more productive and “present” workforce – a Standford study reveals that work-from-home employees generally show higher productivity, input longer work hours, request for fewer sick leaves, take fewer breaks and have low resignation rates. Also, they report that they are happy with their jobs.

Why some corporations are still reluctant to allow their employees to work remotely is mind-boggling to me.  There are so many advantages that far outweigh any possible shortfalls that any excuses still being used to keep all employees anchored “at the office” all the time are starting to sound quite absurd.  In fact, if you’re one of the persons that works in a traditional office setting, I’m sure you’ve heard colleagues say or even you have said yourself things like “tomorrow, I’m coming early when the office is quiet so that I can get some work done” or “I’m staying late after everyone leaves to concentrate on this task” or even more telling, “I’m staying home in the morning to finish this project without distractions.”  What does that tell you about the employee productivity at your current office environment?

At MGR, we have the philosophy that “office is NOT required” and all of our team members are free to work from any location they want any hours they want.  We’re more focused about quality, innovation, and meeting our clients’ deadlines than office settings and things like that.  “Concept + Create + Implement” is our tag line for those of you not familiar with our company.  Beyond that, everyone is absolutely “location-independent” when it comes to how they work or where they work from.

The bottom line is that in today’s world, you must always move forward and adapt to new technologies, business environments, lifestyles, and especially, creating a work-life balance that allows you to perform at your best without preventing you from living and loving every minute of your life.  If your business or career can benefit from a more flexible set-up, would you go for it? Perhaps it’s time for you to really look into the work-from-home set-up and see if it can offer you or your team a better way to work — and to live.

Thank you for reading.  Until next time, this is Manuel Gil del Real (MGR)