In a recent IPA Pulse Survey, 41% of respondents noted that it is either very or somewhat likely that more than half of their staff will continue working remotely for the foreseeable future.
It seems, in other words, that many firms have found that the technological and logistical challenges that accompanied the sudden shift to working from home at the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic have mostly been met and overcome. But it’s also possible that firms are just trying to make the best of what remains a somewhat problematic situation.
Igloo Software, a digital workplace intranet solutions provider, recently conducted a survey about remote working that gauged the thoughts of 255 professionals working in the finance and accounting departments of their organizations, 29% of whom did not work remotely in any capacity in their current position and 81% of whom expected working from home to present challenges they never experienced when working in the office.
The survey’s findings show that some of those challenges have indeed manifested themselves as the pandemic forced companies to fully embrace remote work, many of them stemming from technology issues, including:
- 37% of financial professionals couldn’t access important documents or information remotely
- 47% reported having lost a piece of company technology or having had it stolen
- 58% have been overwhelmed by the amount of non-work-related messages sent by co-workers in a work-related communication tool while working remotely
- 65% are using communication/collaboration applications that are not approved by their company, generally because they either save time or are easier to use than company-approved options
While several of the above issues might arise for in-office workers as well, it’s clear that firms looking to move to a more remote workforce will have some kinks to work out in order to make sure things keep running smoothly in the weeks and months to come.
