The debate about the effects of the recent global pandemic and lockdown is ongoing. Experiences differ, but at the end of the day, we’re still all in the same boat – trying to navigate the new remote work reality. To understand how these events have impacted the industry and our clients, we ran a Work From Anywhere Survey. The results are in, and we’re ready to share the findings with you.
2020 has put businesses in a very tricky situation. Suddenly, leaders and managers are facing a historic challenge to keep their teams engaged and performing. Gallup reported a historic drop in the employee engagement in the USA after just witnessing an all-time high in May. The findings are grim – 54% of workers are psychologically unattached to their work as well as company and put in less energy and passion, often contributing the minimum effort required.
More than that, people are struggling with the remote working reality, finding it challenging to balance their home and work life. And managers are trying to figure out how to align work and communication without having the physical space that would bring people together.
To gain a closer insight into what the lockdown has meant for business management, Scoro ran an online survey for our customers on their work-life and productivity during the pandemic. The survey got responses from 24 countries around the world, including the U.K., the USA, Canada, and Australia.
Scoro’s Work from Anywhere survey findings
1. People spent more time working
Most people said that even though they spent less time on the commute and getting ready for work, the amount of time they spent working still increased. More than half said the nature of their work changed, meaning they had to adapt and complete new or different tasks.
2. Productivity went up while working remotely
More hours spent on work meant that people also felt more productive. Only a fifth of respondents said they were less productive. For many, the lockdown experience gave confidence that working from home is possible and actually helped to work with fewer distractions and more focus.
3. Finding a good work-life balance was challenging
Finding balance was especially challenging for parents, who had to spread their time between work, child care, and homeschooling.
But the majority of respondents said that working from home made it more difficult to draw a line between work and personal life. Having their work laptop at home, people found themselves catching up on work late at night or over the weekends. Many recent surveys have yielded similar results, including the U.S. Census Bureau research, where the top issue faced by remote workers was “unplugging” from work.
4. People missed the face-to-face interactions with colleagues
Most people said they were missing seeing their colleagues, whether for casual social interactions or more severe work sessions. As one respondent said:
“Video calls and online documents are great, but nothing compares to actually being in the same room, bouncing ideas around and working on things together.”
Similarly, Buffer’s recent survey on remote work showed that the top issues of remote workers were the lack of communication and collaboration with colleagues and feeling lonely.
5. People want to have the flexibility to work from anywhere
Overwhelmingly, most people expect greater flexibility at work. Further, people said that if it were up to them, they would either prefer to work from home often or permanently.
‼️ Please note, the full report will be shared after our next webinar with all the participants (details below).
Business as Unusual: Maintaining Team Productivity
To find out more, join us for a 30-minute webinar on September 24th, 5 pm (BST) on how to ensure your team’s productivity while working remotely. Grab your seat today!
Scoro’s Inkeri Parman (Partner Success Manager) and Richard Wright (Head of Marketing) will provide practical tips on:
- The main challenges of remaining productive in lockdown
- Positive aspects of the new work reality that are here for the long term
- What managers can do to ensure productive team collaboration
- Traditional productivity tips to avoid during remote work
