Why we should all telework

5 reasons why we should all telework, and if possible from Amsterdam!

8th of November: Sunday 9 pm at Schiphol Amsterdam Airport.

Overloaded with KitKats and Kinder Bueno, my friends and I were ready to jump on a plane and say bye to beautiful Amsterdam, just when Easyjet announced that our flight to London was cancelled. No flights to London would operate until Tuesday night.  

After a couple of panic minutes, I called my boss while mentally moaning about losing two days of leave: only to find out that if I had a laptop he would be fine with me teleworking. Half an hour later I had found and borrowed a laptop, googled top cafes to work from in Amsterdam, logged in our working platform Kaams® and was ready to start a different but exciting working journey the next day.

Not only did I have two extra days in a great city, but I also realised how productive I was while working from Coconut Coffee (a total must if you go to Amsterdam!). And that kept me thinking of why we should all telework on a regular basis:

1.Fosters productivity and creativity
It might have been the hipster atmosphere, the great coffee or the boost of being a nomad worker, but the truth is that not only was I able to get through my long to do list but I was also able to think of new ways of creating a more effective 2016 communications strategy. Changing your work environment from time to time provides you with more control over how you work, allowing you to be more innovative and creative.

2.Creates real agile workplaces
We all want our companies to be agile, to react fast, making sure employees get things done in a shorter amount of time. Well, teleworking allows everyone to be connected. In our case, we all use Kaams®, our organisational memory system, to collaborate, exchange ideas, create new processes and gather experiential knowledge.  

3.Enhances efficient personal communications
Many companies fear that letting their employees telecommute will affect communications and collaboration across the organisation. However, telecommuting has been proven a great way to enhance efficient communications while avoiding constant interruptions.  Instead of long meetings and one-off chatters, all updates in both projects and tasks are streamlined through online chat, video calls and email.

4.Eliminates the necessity for presenteeism
We are all familiarised with absenteeism, an employee’s intentional or habitual absence from work. However, since the economic situation shifted some years ago and due to the lack of job security, companies are now facing a new challenge: preseenteism or the act of attending work even when you are sick.

Telecommuting solves this in a very easy way: your germs should stay with you, instead of wandering around the whole office, so you can telework from home and stay in bed until you feel better!

5.Encourages work-life balance
Teleworking is not only about being able to work in your pyjamas (which is already pretty great in itself). Not having to allocate two daily hours to commute gives the employee the flexibility to do whatever they want with that spare time without putting their productivity in jeopardy.

Many companies are now looking for the secret sauce to embrace digital transformation in a successful way and letting your employees telecommute it’s your first step to make it happen. To create a culture of trust and collaboration you don’t need to have your employees physically in your office: trust them and let them work from their home, Amsterdam or a coffee store and you will see the immediate benefits of it.

 

Paloma Redondo

Marketing Manager