Nowadays, remote working has become widespread due to health reasons, but it was already encouraged in many companies and now has become permanent for some businesses. With the help of various testimonials from professionals, let’s take stock of the current state of teleworking in companies and consider ways of maintaining team cohesion in this context of working from home.

The generalisation of teleworking: a fairly recent factor

In today’s digitised and connected business world, teleworking is a self-evident fact. Since 2017 and President Macron‘s ordinances, teleworking in French companies has been greatly facilitated. In January 2018 an IFOP survey indicated that 25% of employees use telework but only 6% contractually.

The coronavirus crisis has, unsurprisingly, given an accelerating effect to the development of remote working (for companies that can of course). Moreover, according to a survey by the Journal Du Dimanche newspaper survey dating from April 2020, 85% of the readers surveyed had used teleworking since the beginning of the first lockdown.

Remote working has many positive aspects

When questioning employees who are used to teleworking (or have become used to in a more constrained way), several common features stand out. One of them is quietness. Indeed, according to Stephen market manager at Sonepar,  it allows him to concentrate better, unlike an open space of 40 people; where working became “hell with everyone on the phone at the same time” or even when “only 2 or 3 people are chatting.” So thanks to telework he feels less disturbed since nobody cuts him off when he needs to concentrate.

This is also what Audrey, a business manager at BNP Paribas bank, tells us. Thus, she appreciates the “silence which, unlike open space, allows you to move forward very quickly and to be extremely concentrated”.

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Silence and concentration are not the only advantages. One of the most beneficial effects is in time savings during a workday, precisely because there is no need to travel and the elimination of work commutes leads to enhanced productivity. Thus teleworking in a company allows you to have more time and therefore to be able to take more time for yourself.

The organisation of time is also one of the advantages of teleworking. Work can be modulated according to one’s personal rhythm, such as “no waking up early in the morning, meals when you are hungry, breaks and more control over their work day. 

Teleworking, therefore, makes life more comfortable and productive on a daily basis, but be careful, there are also disadvantages linked to this mode of activity.

Teleworking is popular but also has its drawbacks

We were talking about comfort, about a better rhythm, but it must be said: remote working also has its faults. According to Delphine, a senior manager in the public administration, a lot of time is sometimes lost with teleworking. Indeed, before “when we had a question, we would get up and ask it to our colleague”, in the context of telework it becomes “interminable meetings” or “thousands of emails” (the record: 256 emails in 1h30 during a lunch break, according to her!). So we can see that although teleworking in a company allows for better individual concentration, it does not necessarily make it possible to be more efficient collectively.

Another negative aspect sometimes mentioned is that some advantages are lost, such as the company restaurant, for example. Even if some people cite this as a positive point, in order to be able to cook “good food” during the lunch break, we must admit that we are not all cordon bleu or we do not all like to cook!

We can add that the tools and equipment are not the same at home as at the office. Thus Aloïs, financial controller in an investment fund, tells us that he is “sometimes slower in his daily tasks because working on a laptop is not as comfortable as a big screen”. Indeed, this leads to “more visual fatigue and back pain due to being bent over”.  Finally, he can’t print documents as he would need to.

Requirement to adapt to the new uses induced by teleworking

According to Louis, a senior designer strategist in the digital sector, it takes an adaptation time that is sometimes long or forced! Accustomed to working once a week from home, he found it difficult to remotely work because it was difficult for him to “feel the company life”. With the forced confinement of the Covid19 and therefore the telework that followed, he managed to better understand the dynamics of telework to finally find a “better balance even if he works more hours in the end”.

Working more or at a staggering pace is again one of the faults cited, as in the example given to us of workers “who go to enjoy their garden between 3 and 6 pm and don’t answer emails until much later in the evening, even between 8 and 10 pm”. This inevitably complicates the work and contributes to slowing down decisions. But the most aggravating factor of telework for all those questioned is the lack of social links… a study from Data Project company showed that 29% of the employees questioned felt a certain amount of loneliness during the period of telework during the Covid crisis19.

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Create team cohesion in a virtual way during remote working

Solutions exist to build team relationships and cohesion with teleworking for the companies that do operate remotely now, and laughter and play can be a good way to create building remotely and thus help alleviate the lack of social interactions we’re so used to. Join Booster2Success and virtually explore the Louvre museum in a virtual way by carrying out team challenges. See for yourself how developing communication skills and Covid safe interactions between your employees can refresh your teams and give your business a needed boost. 

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Want something different? Set your team with improvisation sessions with professional actors. This experience is not only 100% funny and really interactive, but it creates links between remote employees. Join a live escape game or a giant online quiz for a new type of team building in teleworking!

Working remotely isn’t effective for everyone, but for those who do, there are ways to build team spirit and relationships. The challenges for management in a remote environment requires new solutions. Booster2Success has solutions for you today.

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Booster2Success develops team cohesion through playful team building activities in Paris.

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