Work from home: Good or Bad?
Businesses that do not have a physical location have always been a thing, but since the pandemic, their popularity has boomed. People realised that they could be just as productive, if not more, when working from their homes.
At On The Same Page Consulting, we decided from the very beginning that we would be Work-from-home business. None of us had ever worked completely from home, so it was something everyone had to come to learn to do well.
Over our 2 years in business, we have discovered a few big pros and cons of the WFH business structure:
Our amazing writers and administration staff are located across Australia, drawing the best talent to service NT whilst keeping all profits local. This is great because we have such a brain drain here when people leave. We think our model allows us to keep these skills in the NT economy and knowledge market that desperately needs them.
Very high levels of flexibility for our employees in their workday and in most factors. This has been great for those of us that need a quieter workplace to focus on or who don’t want to work the traditional 9-5 office job.
We have very low operating costs because we don't have an office to run. This means we can spend more on staff development, donating to the community and spending time sharing our knowledge and skills.
We have a larger customer reach throughout Australia and the global market and have completed multiple jobs for businesses/organisations “down south”, but interestingly, always through our local contacts.
We get to work with our dogs and cats who are great work mates and quiet too- most of the time!!
These are the disadvantages that we are slowly learning about and figuring out how to combat:
No small talk at the water cooler or kettle! This could be considered a benefit depending on your introvert/extrovert placement, but lots of people thrive with social connection, so we are all learning how to celebrate successes and communicate effectively even when we aren't in the same building. This includes using Canva images to share wins in our chat room on Microsoft Teams.
Managing timelines that rely on others. Getting jobs done often involves a lot of collaboration within a business. When you are in an office, you can go sit with someone to get all the information you need, but when collaborating virtually, you need to book in a meeting, or wait for a response via email or chat. It requires a little bit more effort, but the flip side is you can manage those pesky questions to get better focused time and flow creating a more productive work arrangement for all of us.
Learning new skills over a video call. This is one that our junior administrators have struggled with. It's often difficult to grasp new skills or learn how to complete tasks when it is over a shared screen and a video call. Our dedication to having written instructions for every function within the business has been helpful in this sense.
Despite the few disadvantages, we love our work from home setup at OTSPC, and when problems arise, we work to troubleshoot them as a team.
Have you considered employing someone virtually? If not, have a think about why you aren’t.
If you decide you are interested in this option, and it's an administrator or office manager you are looking for, perhaps check out the Virtual Assistant Lead Network. It’s a great resource that even helps you work out what you need in a Virtual Assistant or Virtual Office Manager.
