Top 5 Remote Work Trends to Watch in 2022
Much has been written about the sudden transition in our working lives due to the on-going pandemic. The Covid-19 pandemic still continues to affect global economic growth and plays a significant role in shaping the workplace. However, it is true that during the past two years employees have learned to adapt to new behavioral patterns and expectations while they work from home. In 2021, remote work has given employees more freedom to choose when and where to work and also given them the opportunity to strike a better balance between personal and working life. While the year 2021 was a year of adaptation and recovery, 2022 will be a year of growth.
So what will the world of remote work look like in 2022? With the number of cases of Covid-19 still increasing in most parts of the world, it is no surprise that remote work is here to stay. Leaders will need to address many positive trends and renewed focus for a more improved hybrid working model. Businesses have already realized the importance of digitization and use of modern tools to get work done. As a result, businesses and remote professionals are ready to enter 2022 on a high note and make progress with these technological capabilities.
Remote working attracts employees with lots of benefits, like reduced costs, greater flexibility, increased productivity and more. Businesses also enjoy reduced cost of office maintenance, access to a greater talent pool and more. When companies wanted to move back to on-site operation in 2021, not every employee was interested in returning to the previous work mode. This has given rise to a hybrid workplace- where employees are working remotely and also working in the office when required. This is a flexible approach that allows employees to maintain a healthy work-life balance. Several businesses reported an increase in productivity of their hybrid employees. In these cases, it is no wonder that in 2022 employees will still work from home. In this article, we will highlight the top five remote work trends for 2021 that businesses can adapt in 2022 to manage their overall business growth.
Top 5 Remote Work Trends 2021
- Productivity Tracking for Remote Professionals: When employees are working from home, managers are always concerned about productivity. To ensure that remote employees are working according to in office expectations, businesses implemented work from home employee monitoring software to track and measure their productivity. According to Gartner, 16% of businesses use technologies more frequently in the post-pandemic era to track and monitor their employees to better understand their work activities. Employee monitoring software keeps track of employee working hours, tracks website and app usage during working hours, captures random screenshots and gives a detailed overview of computer activity level which helps businesses to better understand how their remote employees worked during the day. The use of monitoring software eliminates the chances of time theft and helps employees to work productively. A study by Digital.com found out that 60% of businesses with a remote workforce are currently using remote employee monitoring software, while a large percentage is considering implementing it.
How to Maintain This Trend in 2022?
Whether you manage remote employees, hybrid teams, individual contractors or full-time employees, using a monitoring software like CloudDesk is the best way to track employee productivity. CloudDesk is a robust productivity monitoring software with features like time tracking, activity monitoring, Face-ID verification, comprehensive reporting and more. The software is only $5 per user per month, this is the most affordable solution to gain a complete and precise view of employee productivity.
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2. Flexible Work Arrangement: Working in a physical office creates an imbalance in work-life maintenance. With additional commuting hours, employees end up spending most of their time each day on work with barely any time for personal interests. When employees started to work from home, the flexible working schedule and the comfort of working from their own home did not only reduce their stress but also helped them to maintain a better work-life balance. Flexible schedules have given employees the chance to start work early and take a break for their personal tasks when required.
How to Maintain This Trend in 2022?
The importance of flexibility is paramount even in 2022, and to maintain it effectively be sure to communicate clearly with your remote teams. Let your remote team know project deadlines and what the company expects from them. Offering a flexible arrangement that supports everyone is not an easy task, you can have a discussion with your team as a whole to learn what works best for them. Schedule a time during the week when everyone must be present for a team discussion, it will help you to collaborate better. Establish a healthy work culture to keep remote employees inspired, engaged and productive.
- Cloud Collaboration Tool: Communication and collaboration are the two major practices for any flexible work options. As there are fewer opportunities for physical interaction, it is a major concern for companies to recreate a digital version of daily communication to facilitate discussion. In 2021 many companies started to use cloud-based web conferencing tools to communicate with each other. The goal is to connect with remote teams better and build trust.
How to Maintain This Trend in 2022?
At the rate the pandemic is going, it seems like the trend of using cloud collaboration tools will continue in 2022. Unified Communications as a Service (UCaaS) such as Skype, Zoom and Microsoft Teams will continue to be the heart of remote workplace in 2022. The use of these tools will help teams to be connected with each other, help them to communicate instantly, and conduct meetings. To help your team stay connected add more tools as needed. Also don’t forget to update your existing software as your business requirements change. Moving forward in 2022 your remote workforce will continue to rely on cloud collaboration tools to maintain smooth business workflows.
- No More Longer Hours: It is no secret that remote employees work longer hours. This has happened mainly because remote employees have a hard time separating professional and personal time. During the start of the pandemic in 2020, remote employees worked more hours per week which has increased burnout rates. In 2021 and beyond, as remote work became the new normal, businesses came up with policies to curb this problem. Businesses started to encourage employees to completely unplug from official work once they were done with their workday. Managers monitored the working hours that employees were working and assisted in balancing employee workloads. In 2021 businesses understood that long workdays will not be sustainable and thus they started to support flexible scheduling and encourage employees to take time off when needed.
How to Maintain This Trend in 2022?
Give more importance to employee well-being by providing greater flexibility and autonomy. Set clear priorities to your remote employees to help them plan their work activities better. Also clarify your expectation for employee accessibility to create a better remote work environment and a culture that encourages employees to power down for their convenience and during the weekend. It is already observed that employees with greater benefits perform better, so help your employees to create a healthy work-life balance by allowing them to establish a clear boundary between their work and personal life.
- Enhanced Cybersecurity: Remote work has triggered the demand for advancement in cybersecurity. A CISCO survey revealed that 85% of the participants felt that cybersecurity was more important than before the pandemic. As a result organizations invested in additional cybersecurity awareness programs for password-security, anti-phishing and social engineering. This has helped businesses with remote employees to implement proper security measures for an extra layer of protection.
How to Maintain This Trend in 2022?
In 2022 you will have to continue to develop this strategy to further allow your remote teams to work from their home without compromising security. You can offer your employees cybersecurity training and build awareness around security. Ensure your distributed teams are connecting their devices from known networks and monitor them constantly to protect your company data. Establish an effective security policy to mitigate any risk.
Wrap Up
Remote work has brought various benefits like greater flexibility, increased job satisfaction and better work-life balance. The trends allow businesses to streamline their projects and ensure the well-being of remote employees. By catering to your remote employees with greater flexibility and providing them with a satisfactory work environment, you can achieve your business goals in the best way possible.
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