The work-from-home movement brings forth several challenges, especially for SMEs and start-ups, which may lack the technology infrastructure and/or adaptability to the remote working procedures.

The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has created a crisis of epic proportions, impacting millions worldwide. Major cities are under lockdown, flights are suspended and international borders remain closed as the deadly virus continues to spread rapidly. The contagion has severely affected businesses across verticals, besides claiming the lives of a large number of people. In India, the scenario is no different. With the government imposing stringent social distancing measures to break the chain of infection, most companies have adopted a work-from-home model to continue operations. Industry estimates suggest that as many as two-thirds of the 4.3 million ITBPO workforce in the country are working from home to offer uninterrupted services amid the national lockdown.

The concept of remote working is far from novel. In fact, it has been quite popular among creative professionals, gig workers, and freelancers. The COVID-19 outbreak has now necessitated its large-scale implantation, regardless of the industry and sector an organization operates in. The benefits of remote work have been discussed extensively, including the scope for higher productivity and improved employee morale, but it may not be a viable option in the long run. The work-from-home movement brings forth several challenges, especially for SMEs and start-ups, which may lack the technology infrastructure and/or adaptability to the remote working procedures.

With no proper propagation of company values and cultures, appropriate protocols in place to deal with the crisis, and little to no exposure to remote working tools and applications, companies can find it hard to adapt to the new situation. There are other factors to consider as well – the trustworthiness of employees, their ability to learn new skills and the company’s overall business objectives. In this regard, here follow the key challenges faced by an organization when it moves to a remote working model.

Communication barriers to team collaboration

What gets affected the most is team collaboration as transparency reduces significantly in the beginning and employees don’t have the familiar face-to-face access to their colleagues. This often leads to confusion, distrust and even conflicts within a team. At office premises, people can participate in face-to-face discussions, in-person meetings and informal brainstorming sessions over coffee breaks. In a work-from-home setting, whereas, achieving a similar level of engagement is not easy. Of course, the workflow is bound to get somewhat affected when employees are remotely working, but online platforms like Webex, Slack and Workplace can help bridge the communication gap to a great extent.

Poor employee engagement

Organizations face difficulty in maintaining company culture as people tend to lose the sense of common identity, especially if they have been employed recently. This leads to lower employee engagement and eventually a higher attrition rate. Also, distractions at home lead to procrastinating employees who sooner or later end up in a vicious cycle of low morale, as the peer influence factor disappears. To deal with such issues, companies can conduct virtual induction sessions as well as training programs to personally guide new joiners who struggle to acclimatize with a remote working environment.

Technology hiccups

This challenge is more specific to companies outside metros and Tier-II cities, and employees from low-income households. In addition to broader problems such as internet outages, application crashes, and broadband network limitations, it’s important to remember that not everyone has a

dedicated electronic device and/or stable internet at home to work with. The lack of robust technology infrastructure can disrupt not only individual performances but the overall business cycles as well. In that case, companies must streamline their applications at both the macro and micro level to ensure that every employee has access to all the tools they need to meet their deliverables. This may include the distribution of laptops/computers to employees, providing broadband access and offering reimbursement for internet usage for office work.

Security concerns

Research shows that remote workers are more prone to data theft and other kinds of malware attacks. That’s because many employees prefer to use their personal laptops which typically don’t offer enterprise-grade security. While they connect their inadequately protected laptops to the enterprise network, those employees may be unknowingly enabling a cyber-security risk that can jeopardize the entire organization’s safety. Given this scenario, it’s crucial for companies to deploy the right firewall, endpoint verification, and VPN tunnels, thereby allowing employees to work on their own devices from home without the risk of third-party data breach incidents and ransomware attacks.

Work-from-home, if implemented strategically, can result in cost savings, productivity gains, and ultimately a more efficient workforce. It offers flexibility, better work-life balance and a sense of autonomy among employees. While the advantages are many, tackling the above-mentioned challenges should be a priority for companies to facilitate a smooth transition to remote working. Scheduling virtual meetings with fixed intervals, setting up and training employees with project management tools and communication platforms, and having data security systems in place and plugging every endpoint with verification checks, creating feedback loops, introducing an end-to-end virtual onboarding process – steps like these are imperative to successfully implement WFH policies.

Disclaimer: The views expressed in the article above are those of the authors' and do not necessarily represent or reflect the views of this publishing house