Pros & Cons of Working from Home During Covid-19

What are the pros and cons of working from home? A frequent topic that I have received from our readers. As a remote worker, it is not hard for me to realize the actual advantages as well as the drawbacks of working from home. Come with me to explore them in this post!

Pros of Working from Home

Working from home brings a host of benefits for workers. Thus, I want to list some outstanding advantages of remote working. You might be aware of some of them, but I believe the others are new to you.

Flexible Working Schedule

Working from home allows your working time to be more flexible and convenient. You can take a rest whenever you feel tired or even eat your lunch earlier than when you are in the office. Just make sure that the work progress is still stable and that you can do whatever you want without being observed by others.

Comfortable Working Environment

The second good aspect for work-from-home employees is a comfortable environment. You can work in any location you want and listen to music at any volume you want. It is easier to show your feelings, from angry to happy or sad.

In contrast to formal clothes in the office, you are enabled to wear anything you like, for instance, pajamas, leggings, or even some clothes that you do not wish your colleagues to see.

No Office Distraction

As you know, no impromptu conversation between co-workers and no distraction from others is what I want to say. Besides, you can avoid the horn outside the window when working from home. That is why remote workers always have a high concentration on their tasks and they are supposed to work more effectively.

Cost-effective

Eating out often costs more money than cooking by yourself, especially in expensive cities. There is no doubt that a lunch meal in San Francisco costs 13$ per person. If you work at home, you are able to spend more time buying and cooking your favorite foods while saving money.

An interesting fact is that these cost-savings are not beneficial for the employees. It also helps businesses reduce costs for equipment, electricity, and so on. A survey shows that a company can save up to $11,000 annually on a remote worker. So, many companies have begun to encourage their workers to work from homes, such as Shopify, a partner of DSers, Facebook, or Twitter.

Away from Crowd & Traffic Jam

Do you feel tired when you have to face traffic jams every morning? Working from home is an ideal solution to this issue. If you are a remote worker, you do not need to worry about the crowds or smog from other vehicles. Thanks to the working from home option, you can not only save your time but also protect the environment due to the decrease in air pollution.

More Time with Self & Family

Working from home means you do not have to go to the workplace. Therefore, you will have more opportunities to take care of yourself, family members, or even your pets. Take me as an example. When I work as a remote worker for a foreign company, I can spend more time cooking food for my parents while they have fevers.

Common Cons of Working from Home

Everything has cons, and working from home is no exception. Costly equipment, low productivity, etc. are the common cons that remote workers have to deal with.

Costly Equipment

If you are a remote worker, your electricity and water bills will be increased. And, of course, working from home does not mean you will receive an extra allowance from your company. So, you have to pay these increasing bills each month.

In some companies, employees are not provided with working equipment. They have to pay a fee for updating and maintaining their equipment to ensure the work progresses.

Read this post to learn how to create the best dropshipping store: A Complete Guide to Create a Profitable Dropshipping Store on Shopify

Lower Productivity

It is easy for you to get bored while home-working. You may miss your colleagues' amusing stories, which they frequently tell you during the break. I have to say that an office, in some aspects, has a positive energy that your home might not have. As a result, you can easily be sleepy and work at a slow speed that you cannot believe.

Missing Essential Meetings

You will need the help of your phone to remind you of the meetings as well as important calls with your boss. But, you know, sometimes the phone can accidentally encounter some technical problems and does not disturb you. Either way, you will have to deal with a "big" issue if you forget the meeting.

Hard to Concentration

There is plenty of distraction from other members and your pet at home. Moreover, some community activities around your home can have a lot of impact on your feelings.

It distracts you and prevents you from concentrating fully on your work. If you are an employee who works as a creator, you should consider finding a quiet place to begin your task.

Limited Information Accession

One of the biggest challenges for work-from-home employees is accessing information. Instead of discussing directly or asking your boss about your idea, you have to wait for the response and the answer. At worst, your boss could miss your message or call because he/she has many tasks to do on that day.

Hard to Discuss Directly with Colleagues

As I previously stated, you may find it difficult to discuss or inquire about certain topics with your peers. For instance, you are a new employee who wants to ask other colleagues about a task. As opposed to working in the office, you have to wait for your colleague to be free to answer your question or let you know what to do.

How Company Helps Employees Overcome Cons of Working From Home

So, what should the company do to help employees suffering from working from home difficulties? I have found some great suggestions that the leaders should focus on! Keep reading and take note of them!

Flexible Working Rule

Companies should create flexible working rules for all employees. It allows workers to balance their work and life with this rule. For instance, companies can divide "office days" for each department.

In more detail, the marketing department needs to work in the office on Tuesday and Wednesday, and they can work from home whenever they want on other days of the week. In that way, the employees can work more effectively but still have time for their family and their lives.

Increase Allowance

An interesting fact is that workers are satisfied with their high-salary jobs. A study demonstrates that 86% of Google employees are satisfied with their job because of the high salary and generous perks that the company gives them.

Therefore, if the company increases the extra allowance to support remote workers, they will distribute all the talent and effort to perfectly complete the missions.

Celebrate Happy Hours via Meeting Applications

Celebrating happy hours and playing games will help employees overcome boredom when they have to work from home. Then, it is hard to replicate direct interaction with co-workers after a long time of home-working. As a result, the company should provide an opportunity for employees to gather and interact freely.

It can be small meetings for sharing stories, experiences, or playing some games, such as Wonder Polls, Quiz Breaker, etc. Moreover, the company can award the winners of the games to attract all employees to take part in them.

Regularly Check Working Efficiency of Employees

There is almost no control once workers work from home. So, the leaders should proceed to check out the working progress of their employees to ensure everything is still good, like the time they work in the office.

If there is any problem, they should ask and listen to the answer from their workers. And, do not forget to give support to help the workers solve their issues and get back to work effectively.

Feel What Employees Feel

Regularly talk to employees to listen to their difficulties as well as their feelings about the company's tasks. Besides, the leaders will get more ideas on how to develop the company by talking to the employees. According to a survey, up to 82% of workers have great ideas to help the company achieve its big goal if the leaders are willing to listen to them.

Final Words

Working from home may come with advantages and also challenges. But I believe that you can overcome its difficulties and learn how to balance your work and life. Lastly, if you want to increase your income without a budget, you can find more information about dropshipping with DSers. Good luck!