Today, Internet connections and business applications are making it easier than ever before to work from any location whether it’s in a home office, a diner or coffee shop, on your couch, or when traveling. However, remote work is about to be transformed due to 5G and its ability to form virtual reality (VR) for use in any place, according to an article from Quartz at Work. The way 5G works is through a system called XR, which is a combination of multiple virtual and mixed reality technologies.
By reading the following, you will learn about each of the topics below.
- The Benefits of Work from Home Policies
- How 5G Changes the Future of the Business World
- Seven Ways that 5G Networks will Transform Businesses
- How to Create an Appropriate Work from Home Policy
- The Statistics Surrounding Remote Work
- How Project Management Software Benefits Remote Workers
The Benefits of Work from Home Policies
As a manager, you will see that implementing work from home policies may be beneficial for your business and the success of your employees. You may find that your employees are more engaged and more productive when they work remotely, stated Quartz from Work.
Additionally, you may have less trouble with recruiting talent and lower staff turnover rates due to a work from home policy. This is because many employees are likely to stay longer at their jobs due to the flexibility of remote work.
In addition, when workers don’t need to come into the workplace, your company can save money on renting a large office. Employees can also cut their commuting costs and set their own schedules when working from home. In addition, businesses can lower their spending on infrastructure by reducing the reliance on hardware and software within the office.
By adopting work from home policies, your company will be less likely to lose your top talent to other organizations. This will keep your talent working for your business for years to come.
Now that we understand the benefits of work from home policies, it is vital to understand how fifth generation (5G) communication networks will impact the future of how companies are run.
How 5G Changes the Future of the Business World
You will learn that 5G communication networks can make a major impact on simplifying and enhancing the business world due to their quick communication response times, faster connection speeds, and general capacity. In addition, 5G networks will likely lead to a range of new and beneficial products and services for companies worldwide.
New opportunities tend to come about when wireless Internet connections become faster and cheaper. For example, the ability to use the Internet on mobile devices became a reality when communication networks went from 2G to 3G. Watching HD videos on smartphones also became a reality when things shifted from 3G to 4G.
It is expected that 5G communication networks will greatly change how, when, and where employees work. You’ll find that workers will be able to virtually visit any place they need to for their job. For example, imagine a manager from Florida virtually visiting a factory in India and being able to see, hear, or even smell a location halfway around the world.
Executives will be able to use avatars of themselves to speak with employees in any office worldwide. This may even change the healthcare industry as surgeons will be able to assist with operations in hospitals on the other side of the country by using using immersive 3D holograms to operate remotely.
Essentially, the way 5G and XR will change the future of the business world is by enabling various work processes to be completed virtually. You’ll find that jobs requiring the physical presence of a worker or the manipulation of equipment or machinery will become more possible to complete remotely with the use of 5G and XR technologies.
Seven Ways that 5G Networks will Transform Businesses
There are seven ways that fifth-generation technologies will transform the workplace and our notion of work as a whole. These include:
- The entire concept of a workplace will become more complex
- Experts and specialists will likely have multiple employers
- Working virtually will likely be as effective or even better than being in the workplace
- Companies with training programs for using new technologies will have better results
- Companies will need to create policies and cultures around virtual work spaces
- Businesses that develop the best value propositions for employees will succeed
- The number of abusive work environments and burnout may increase
Often, where we live has been associated with where we work. However, with the expansive technologies that 5G communication networks will bring, employees will be able to work from nearly any place even if their physical presence or physical tasks were previously required at their company.
This means that employees as well as executives will be able to live anywhere. Essentially, 5G and XR systems will bring the workplace to wherever employees are located.
In addition, specialists and experts including physicians may be employed by many workplaces around the globe with the use of 5G networks. Even executives may be able to work for multiple companies with the ability to be virtually present at meetings in two separate areas of the world. Lastly, more specialists are likely to become freelancers and work with multiple clients globally.
Working virtually will be as effective as in the office because new applications and technologies will provide employees with the data, diagnostics, and controls necessary to succeed. Retraining employees to utilize new systems, including block chain, robotics, artificial intelligence, and computing, will also lead to better results.
Best of all, training will become a possibility anywhere and anytime that workers are able to schedule. Since training will be simpler due to the new technologies, companies that help workers absorb the use of new technologies will likely perform better.
Since the exact place of work becomes less important over time, companies will need to create virtual cultures and develop policies that support virtual work environments. Since more employees will have the ability to work at multiple companies or for multiple clients, corporations will need to restructure the way they set up compensation and benefits packages.
Companies that provide their employees with more opportunities including the ability to work for multiple employers will be the ones to succeed. The factor to consider is how to properly structure employment contracts to gain the most out of high-performing workers.
However, since 5G and XR will enable workers to perform their duties anywhere and anytime, employers may be tempted to push their staff to work around the clock. This is even more true for people who work more than one job. This can lead to burnout and abusive work environments, so managers and employees will need to be more clear about their expectations in order to avoid burnout.
Now that you as the manager understand the benefits of remote work and how innovative technologies are changing the entire notion of the workplace, it is essential to for your company to create a work from home policy that focuses on security best practices.
How to Create an Appropriate Work from Home Policy
There are multiple factors to consider when developing a work from home policy. You’ll need to set out the tools that employees can use when working remotely and ensure that data is sent securely. Additionally, employees will be required to use secure Internet connections when it comes to completing work and accessing business data. Staff members working remotely will need to avoid public wireless connections.
Additionally, a remote work policy will need to include reasons for why workers are not in the office such as bad weather, family emergencies, geographical distances, parenting, and more. Companies will need to have a very strong password policy to avoid security breaches. In fact, one study found as many as 81 percent of company data breaches are related to weak passwords.
Some other key strategies that need to be considered when developing a work from home policy include:
- Separating company data from personal use or personal information in an employee’s computer when they are working remotely
- Adopting remote data wiping for all workers especially remote workers
- Implementing Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) for company communications
Lastly, it is beneficial to consider the statistics behind working remotely. This will give you a better understanding of the positives and negatives behind this work strategy.
The Statistics Surrounding Remote Work
You will find that there are both positives and negatives surrounding remote work. One report from Buffer found that 4o percent of remote workers believe having a flexible schedule is the biggest benefit of work from home policies. Additionally, 30 percent of survey respondents stated enjoying the ability to work from any location they wished. Also, 14 percent of workers stated that remote work allowed them to spend more time with their family.
On the other side of things, 22 percent of workers stated that remote work makes it difficult to have a healthy work/life balance. Also, 19 percent claimed that loneliness is an issue in their remote work. Lastly, 10 percent of people had difficulty with the distractions at home and 8 percent had problems with remaining motivated.
It will be up to each employer to consider the positives and negatives of remote work when deciding whether to employ such a system for their company. As new technologies continue to change, it is beneficial for employers who work with their team members remotely to consider the benefits of project management systems.
How Project Management Software Benefits Remote Workers
You will find that project management software such as Runrun.it tools can help remote workers by providing an efficient system to communicate and send documents from any location. The Runrun.it project management software platform is an excellent collaboration tool between team members that will keep everyone motivated and engaged. Additionally, this system ensures communication is transparent and the workflow is streamlined. Click here for a free trial to see if Runrun.it software is right for your business.
