Today, there is a massive shift in the economy towards remote work culture, as more companies are focusing on virtual work set-ups. Recent studies has shown a remarkable surge in employees to opt for remote work, with a sudden rise of over 80% who are telecommuting since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
COVID-19 has played a major role in changing the work dynamics to promote more workers to adopt a more flexible and convenient working option. This shift has forced many companies to re-evaluate their traditional working spaces or arrangements to implement remote work policies within their business to avoid any kind of interruptions in operations.
“92% of them are planning to continue applying for remote job as a long-term goal”
Remote work trends is a hot topic today for many youngsters who are also promoting a hybrid working model where they can enjoy the flexibility of working from both their homes and offices. Current remote working policies have also evolved to accommodate this sudden shift by focusing on enhancing workers productivity to use the collaboration tools and other technologies to enhance their working quality.
What are the future workplace technologies shaping remote work?
Use of collaboration tools and platforms
The future of remote work has evolved with several technologies and tools that provide remote teams a better working environment. One of them are the collaboration tools and platforms that provide a virtual space where teams can work together in real-time. Tools like trello, slack, zoom and many others are used to share files, manage projects, and meet teams virtually without going to an actual office.
VR- Virtual Reality and AR- Augmented reality apps in remote work
Virtual & Augmented Reality apps are changing the way people work by creating an immersive virtual environment that helps employees to share their physical presence within different workspaces. Virtual tools like Connec2 and Immersed are used by teams to collaborate in a shared VR environment which is more engaging and productive for remote working. Glue is also an amazing tool that helps teams to meet and work together in a VR space.
AI in remote work for automation
Introduction to AI in remote work is like a blessing to many remote workers who can now automate various activities and routine tasks efficiently. These AI tools help employees to bring creativity in their work and make better decisions. AI powered chatbots and Virtual assistants can perform numerous business tasks like scheduling, sending emails, providing answers to customer queries and creating reports at the end of the day.
Cloud computing for teams
Teams can share big files, data, and applications over the internet with the cloud computing tools. There is no need for a physical infrastructure or interaction as they can easily perform certain business tasks at a single platform. Tools like Microsoft Office 365, G-suite, and Dropbox are the best examples for cloud computing where teams can easily edit & share files in real-time from any location. These tools bring flexibility, scalability and efficiency in the workplace and are cost efficient.
Challenges and Opportunities
– Effective Remote team communication
With the shift in work culture to remote, there is a challenge that many people are not focusing on. Remote work has a major challenge as it can lead to communication gaps between teams. As many employees are adapting to more digital tools and technologies to communicate there is a lack of face-to-face interactions which is necessary for overall employee’s personality development.
– More investment in technologies to work
To become a part of these new trends, these remote workers will need to invest in advanced and expensive technologies that facilitate their day to day business tasks. Tools like collaboration apps, project management platforms, and various virtual communication tools to enhance their workflow.
-Security concerns with remote work technologies
A major concern with remote work culture is the high risk of cyber threats. To save employees data and maintain privacy, companies will need to invest in various cyber security technologies and also have to train their employees to ensure their data safety and security while using these tools.
-Opportunities for increased productivity and flexibility
Talking about the opportunities in remote work culture then it can enhance employees productivity while working at the comfort of their homes. Many remote workers has reported a rise in their productivity levels while working remotely with less distractions and a personalized work atmosphere. There is a flexibility to set their preferred working hours to work daily
– Work life balance in remote work
One of the best things which many remote workers are glad for is to manage their personal and professional life effectively while working remotely. It removes the unnecessary commuting time and allows employees to work in their flexibility schedule.
-Focus on mental health and well-being
This can be a challenge as well as an opportunity depending upon the employee’s working situation and mental state. As many employees are enjoying their freedom and work life balance which is improving their overall mental health, whereas some employees are feeling lonely and depressed in a closed working space with less human interactions.
Effective tips for productivity while working remotely
There are some effective remote team productivity tips which will help your team stay focused and productive:-
- Schedule all the tasks and meetings in the morning to stay up to date to meet deadlines.
- Have a specific area to work daily for more productivity and efficiency. Tell your team members to do the same.
- Set daily and weekly team goals to accomplish them all within your flexible working schedule.
- Use performance analysing and project management tools to track your team performance and manage all the tasks at one place.
- Set SMART KPIs for your team to achieve their desired results within the given time frame.
- Create a feedback system by regularly communicating with the team members and helping each other achieve group goals.
- Take regular breaks and focus on your health by doing regular exercises. Also conduct mental health programmes virtually for your team to bring awareness.
Digital Marketing Strategies and SEO Practices for Remote Work
Understand how digital marketing is evolving to target remote workers-
- Creating a personalized marketing campaign catering to remote workers needs and Interests.
- Use of emails, social media platforms and webinars to connect remote workers.
- Hosting live conferences online to engage remote workers.
- Creating valuable content that helps remote employees solve common issues which they face daily.
Some SEO practices to enhance remote work environments-
- Focus on keywords related to remote work and the tools for efficiency.
- Enhancing user-experience with an accessible and advanced website setup for remote workers.
- Improve your site technical SEO to increase visibility of content relevant to remote workers. Contact a technical SEO agency to help you with this.
- Focus on local SEO to target remote workers in a small city or area.
Conclustion
Companies today are recreating their office setups as “places of magic” why? To attract the remote workers to join offices and work in a more collaborative and engaging workspace rather than an old traditional one. Here in this article we have discussed the evolution of remote workers before and after COVID-19. And the future trends and technologies that are supporting remote workers in communicating with their teams and automating daily tasks.
It focuses on the effectiveness of remote workers by increasing the level of productivity and job satisfaction among them.
Willshall here acts as an ideal partner to help businesses with our intensive local SEO services and white label SEO services. Our experts will help your business rank on search engines with a detailed and personalized strategy.
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With a Bachelor’s in Commerce and 15 years of experience in Ecommerce SEO and Shopify Development, I bring extensive expertise to the digital field. As Managing Partner at WillShall Consulting, I lead a team delivering exceptional Digital Marketing, Web Development, and Web Designing services. My passion for innovation and commitment to excellence help businesses thrive in the digital age.