Australians have gotten pretty comfortable working from home due to the Covid-19 pandemic that 86 per cent of them want to continue working from home, at least partially. Worker’s appreciation of the “new normal” of office life was revealed in a recent Redback Connect survey which found over a quarter of those currently working from home due to lockdown social distancing restrictions would prefer to work from home permanently on a full-time basis. Over half of the respondents said they’d like to work from home one to four days a week from here on out.
“Our survey shows that, after the pandemic, Australian workers want workplaces to change permanently,” says Jeff Downs, CEO and founder of Redback Connect. “Many people have discovered just how much work they can achieve while working from home – especially if they have the right digital resources. If employers listen to their employees, we may see a decentralisation of the workforce from the cities to the suburbs.”
The old saying ‘when the boss is away the mice will play’ doesn’t seem to apply to 2020’s work culture. Half of the survey’s respondents say that working from home does not result in a productivity fall, so long as they have the right tools. Meanwhile, 33 per cent believe working from home increases productivity while 17 per cent say that opposite.
Workers say that having the right technology and other tools are the key to making working from home efficient. Digital capabilities favoured by respondents to maximise productivity include the ability to share and edit documents, projects and schedules, remote meetings and visibility over when colleagues are available or not.
“While video and teleconference meetings ensure physical distancing, our research reveals that poor meeting management and technical difficulties can sometimes defeat their purpose,” says Mr Downs.
“In this current climate, we have seen an overwhelming number of organisations fall back on video and audio meetings and teleconferences, simply because they are not aware of other remote meeting technologies they can use.”
“Our research reveals that more purpose-specific virtual technologies that offer a broader range of secure, interactive platform features – such as online polling and live Q&As – would help maximise the productivity of at-home offices.”
