23.04.2020

Five myths about working from a home office

OTRS Group compiles the five most common myths and highlights the truth

The current situation forces many companies to allow their employees to work from home. But are they really convinced that this is a viable solution for their businesses, and will they continue to give their employees this opportunity after the crisis? Perhaps now is the chance to throw traditional thinking patterns out forever.

Myth number 1: The IT infrastructure at home is not good. It is not safe to work there, and hackers could have an easier time accessing company data.

That doesn't have to be the case. There are a few tips to consider: IT equipment in the home office should always be up-to-date and GDPR-compliant processes should be followed. This also applies to all cloud providers that are used. Additionally, data exchange should always be encrypted. Password protection, virus scanners and encryption are essential in the home office, even if the work is done on private devices.

Myth number 2: The many digital means of communication create confusion and people lose focus.

It's true that there are numerous digital means of communication that increase the flood of information. But this problem also exists in the office. This is where targeted communication helps. In other words, the communication channel should be carefully selected according to the information, target group and urgency. In addition, there are solutions, such as OTRS, in which communication can take place via e-mail, telephone, SMS, chat or social media; then all communication strands flow together and are bundled in one place so that nothing gets lost and everything can be traced.

Myth number 3: Employees are more distracted and less productive in the home office.

According to an Airtasker study of 1004 people, those who work from a home office actually work 1.4 more days per month than their peers. Another compelling argument is that there is also more peace and quiet in the home office to focus on tricky issues. In addition, the time that is lost due to commuting is saved. However, good time management should always be a priority.

Myth number 4: At home, employees sometimes do other things quickly and are not always at the PC. How can employees know when their colleagues are available?

There are a number of tools that show whether an employee is currently available. Calendars can be shared with other teams for a better overview to find a common appointment times more quickly; communication tools with a chat function typically show the person's online status which helps to show when an employee is currently available.

Myth number 5: Employees cannot ask their colleagues something quickly. Knowledge transfer is lost.

Many systems, such as OTRS, have a knowledge base in which valuable information can be stored as a categorized article. Employees can find answers to burning questions here - or even post a contribution that could be helpful for their colleagues. If this is not quite enough information, expert assistance can, of course, still be requested digitally.

"Until recently, the concept of working from a home office was repeatedly questioned. Now companies are almost forced to allow their employees to work remotely. This is an opportunity to rethink processes and procedures and to review the status of digital transformation," says Sabine Riedel, member of the board of OTRS AG and expert on digital transformation. "In a crisis situation, we can quickly see which companies have already implemented digital transformation and are able to act in an agile way. For all others, there is now an opportunity to make long-term changes in order to be better able to react to unforeseen events".

You can find more information on the benefits of remote work here: http://otrs.com/remote-work-software/

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