Conquer the most popular remote work destinations with WorkTime!

Remote work… Remote workplaces are often created as a result of the demand for outsourcing. According to Forbes, starting 2019 IT outsourcing even increased. However, outsourcing isn't the only factor driving demand for remote workplaces. Many businesses are sending their workers to work remotely in light of the current situation, which includes countless lockdowns. And, the stricter the restrictions in the country, the more employees work from home and even in foreign countries.

In light of the current situation more employees work from home or even in foreign countries.

When employers have no other choice, they agree to allow their employees to work remotely. So, what happens? As a result of this, travel agencies and vacation destinations are beginning to respond to this situation. However, not all businesses are prepared for it. Managing remote employees is not the same as managing staff in an office.

Not every business is well equipped to manage remote employees. Managing remote workers is not the same as managing staff in an office.

And what happens to the productivity of employees working remotely? TechRepublic data reports that employee productivity drops when working remotely long term. Read more on how to keep your remote employees productive with WorkTime remote employee monitoring software.

You can keep your remote employees productive with WorkTime, a remote work monitoring software.

Barbados, Bermuda, Dominica, Dubai, & more remote work destinations!

In 2020, a lot of Canadian IT workers had relocated to Barbados. This happened due to Canada imposing one of the world's most stringent lockdowns on its citizens. With the kids attending classes from home for months, many parents have to be present at home. Also, with the "stay at home" order and all the restrictions placed on businesses, many employees have switched to working remotely or from home. All of this has pushed people to look for a more fulfilling life for themselves and their children. And IT workers are at the top of this list since it is more flexible for them to work remotely; all they need is their computer and internet connection. Vacation destinations started to create conditions that would attract remote workers. Barbados, for example, offers a one-year residence visa in response to the situation, so remote workers will definitely appreciate the idea of moving.

Barbados: come here, work remotely, beaches are open!

Can you imagine what it would be like for IT professionals? An opportunity to swim in the ocean with their kids, enjoying the sunshine! It's almost like paradise. But what does this mean for employers? This means less connection with employees and a drop in productivity.

What appears to be a paradise for an employee may be a hard time for an employer. Employee productivity might drop significantly at their beautiful vacation destination.

Even if some of the employees (or the entire team) work from a remote vacation destination, employers still want to keep employee productivity and engagement at a good level. Applying WorkTime remote work monitoring software can make a huge difference. According to one WorkTime client's success story, using WorkTime for remote employee monitoring helped them save about $7,500 per employee per year. WorkTime easily improves remote worker monitoring and engagement in a variety of ways: it monitors employee idle time and attendance; it calculates productivity level and distraction score; and it records time spent in online meetings (with remote work, online meetings become significant time eaters).

WorkTime easily helps with remote employee monitoring and engagement in several ways. Employee productivity improves as a result.

Remote workers can obtain visas in Bermuda, Dominica, Dubai, and Montserrat, among other places. According to this article, the cost per person ranges from $0 to $2000, with visas lasting from one year to 18 months. Of course, many other countries provide similar services.

Travel agencies & remote work programs

Travel agencies create very juicy offers to attract remote workers. Of course, many people miss the outdoors, their vacations, and their travels. When you really miss how everything used to be, an advertisement that says, "Take your job from the office to Portugal, Colombia, Japan, Guatemala, Mexico, Indonesia..." will look quite irresistible and appealing. Well, let's be honest, it seems like paradise. Remote year travel agency offers these particular advertisements. This agency also offers programs to help remote employees adjust to a new way of living. It provides transportation, accommodation, excursions, and other services to make remote employees feel welcome and comfortable. It sounds like a life-changing experience. Work & travel is one of the Remote year travel agency programs specifically designed for remote workers.

Travel agencies provide remote employees with the opportunity to work remotely while participating in a life-changing experience.

And, of course, WorkTime remote employee monitoring software is here and ready to help. WorkTime not only helps employers run their businesses and projects smoothly, but it also helps employees stay motivated, engaged, and productive. Why? Working in an office and working remotely is not the same thing. With WorkTime you can effectively monitor remote employees as it records the real situation regarding when remote employees work, their computer activities, idle times, the reasons for distractions, and other metrics.

WorkTime assists employers in keeping their businesses successful. It also helps employees stay engaged and productive. Try WorkTime remote employee monitoring software to see for yourself!

Working from home is a challenge

Picture this, starting today. You have to work remotely from your home. You've never done anything like this before. How do you think it'll go? To be honest, it is a lot different than working in the office. According to Forbes, employees who work remotely are simply unprepared to work remotely or work from home: "Nearly 20% of workers are making a go of it from the living room. 28.5% are working from the master bedroom. A majority (56%) were unable to bring equipment from their employer to work from home. A third admit to personally purchasing equipment to help them work remotely during COVID-19. The average spend on home office equipment was $194."

Working from home and working in the office is very different.

Some things become easier when you work from home, such as commuting. You no longer have to waste time in traffic. You are not required to dress in your office clothes. You've probably seen those funny memes where people who work from home dress up in office-friendly tops but the lower half of their bodies are dressed in sports pants. This is more than enough for online meetings. When working from home, you can wear more comfortable clothing. But still, there are loads of challenges associated with remote work.

Work from home means no commuting and wearing comfortable clothing, which is a good thing. However, there are loads of challenges.

Challenge 1. Self-motivation

When working from home, you need to motivate yourself and keep up your working pace. Many people maintain the same working pace as they do in the office environment. In the office, there's your manager, your coworkers, and the deadlines to contend with. In an office setting, you communicate with your coworkers, and your manager watches you. All of these things help to keep your productivity high. You maintain a higher working speed, and you perform better. But when you work from home, you are on your own, and there is no one to assist you with this. No one to discuss work with except for the online meetings. After all, we are human, and we are social creatures. We all need to communicate with other people, to some extent. Isolation from society is not the best for us. I doubt Robinson Crusoe could have stayed in such good shape after 25 years on that deserted island alone. Who knows, perhaps his self-motivation skills were exceptional.

Challenge 1. When working remotely or from home, you need to be able to motivate yourself to maintain a good working speed.

WorkTime remote employee monitoring software records exactly how much time employees spend idle or unproductive. This statistic is very helpful since many employees don't realize how much time they waste. When you use WorkTime to monitor remote employees, you get this data automatically every day.

Challenge 2. Self-energizing

You need to maintain your energy levels. When you work from the office, your days begin with a morning shower, exercise, putting on work clothes, saying goodbye to your family, and then driving or taking the subway. It gets you pumped and makes a difference, believe it or not. When you work from home, you have to stick to your morning routine regardless of environmental demands (at least keep exercising, take a shower, and dress up). At home, it is actually very easy to skip these. And you will notice a difference after a few weeks. Skipping these activities gives you a sense of monotony, among other things.

Challenge 2. When working remotely or from home, you need to keep yourself energized on your own, without any demand from the environment.

Challenge 3. Concentration

You're home, your family is around, and you still need to concentrate. There's a joke about working from home: you sit in front of your computer and try to concentrate. You are almost ready to work. All of a sudden, your sofa and your fridge walk into the room and say: "Hey! What are you doing here? Come join us!" And you can't resist… This is not even the biggest issue. Working from home during lockdowns is especially difficult for women. They do most of the housework, such as cooking, cleaning, and making sure everyone is okay. Their families expect them to be available at all times. Often, the family simply does not understand that mom has to work. Also, when the kids are learning from home, the woman's stress levels only increase further. Watching your children spend their days in front of computers, not playing outside with their friends, losing motivation, becoming depressed, and not participating in sports or art classes can be nerve-wracking. I've seen kids in Canada spend "learning" remotely month after month without any video or conversations with the teacher and classmates. It's a lot of pressure on the mother's shoulders, trust me. You want to help your kids, but you can't do much because of your work and home responsibilities, the new "stay-at- home" order, and so on. It is also a challenge for men. They really need to put in that concentration when they work. But family members may prevent them from doing so. Also, you're with family all the time because you can't go to the office. You spend the entire day at home together, and then your loved ones may begin to irritate you, especially if you do not have a separate working space. There are also other issues.

Challenge 3. When working remotely or working from home, both men and women, moms and dads, might have difficulty concentrating.

So, how can you maximize your productivity as you work from home? You need to stick to your work schedule and tell everyone not to disturb you when you work. A big "no". But, once you've finished your work, make time for your family and yourself. When working from home, self-organization and concentration are important.

When working remotely or from home, self-organization and the ability to concentrate are very important skills.

WorkTime remote employee monitoring software helps a lot when you work from home. Particularly if you have access to your monitoring reports or if your employer shares them with you. You can use it to see how much time you are actually active and productive, distracted or disorganized if your attendance is on time, and how much time you spend in online meetings. By the way, if you are prone to being overworked or working late hours, this can easily disrupt your sleep and cause you to exhaust yourself because work is always there when working remotely or from home.

Employers can easily prevent remote employees from becoming overworked and exhausted if using employee monitoring.

WorkTime helps employers with managing their remote and work-from-home employees. Employers can learn a lot about how their employees perform when they work remotely or from home using WorkTime. Based on the monitored data, you can show monitoring reports to your employees, talk with them, or change the working process.

WorkTime helps both employers and employees during remote work or work from home.

Back to the office after remote work. When?

If you're thinking of allowing your employees to work from home or remotely from a foreign country, there are numerous factors to consider. And one of them is: will you call your employees back to the office if the situation changes? This question might arise as a result of the change in the company’s plans. According to data from The National Post, companies such as Microsoft, Apple, and Amazon have delayed plans to bring employees back to the office. At the same time, the number of businesses that returned to the office in the U.S. increased between January and July 2021. The coronavirus statistics and the work-from-home/remote work productivity statistics explain the opposite choices. According to the same article from The National Post, “Innovation — and productivity — would suffer if remote work became permanent for most employees”. So, employers are looking to strike a balance in the current situation. They want their employees to maintain their creativity and continue to come up with business-growing ideas. They also want to ensure that their employees are as productive as possible. And, data has shown that employee productivity is higher in the long run when they work in the office rather than remotely or from home.

So, when will we go back to the office? This depends on the industry and the current situation.

There is a good chance that some businesses will continue to work remotely permanently. However, if the industry requires an active exchange of knowledge and new ideas among employees, employers can consider bringing their employees from remote work back to the office as soon as possible. Also, younger people look for office jobs to gain as much knowledge as possible and advance their careers. If you decide to continue allowing your employees to work from home or a remote location, you can always keep productivity at a good level with WorkTime.

Monitor your remote workers with WorkTime & keep productivity at a good level!

Stay energized, motivated, engaged, and productive! Manage your remote employees effectively! Conquer the most popular remote work destinations with WorkTime, a remote work monitoring software! All the best from the WorkTime team :)