Is working from home a great idea for the team? This can be a contentious issue at the moment. CoVid has changed the workplace and how we operate immeasurably and permanently. Here we’ll consider both the pros and cons.
The CoVid effect
For a few months back in 2020 we were banned from attending office workplaces and from being with other human beings in general. Remember the rule of 6 and the idea of visiting family members but having to meet at a distance in the garden? I also remember the Queen’s platinum jubilee and seeing people sat outside local houses in discrete family groups.
Working from home became a thing. It had already been fairly common for many people. External sales people I worked with frequently had a spare bedroom commandeered as their office. Field engineers too of course rarely visit the office. Like sales teams their bosses want them out with customers earning money. Having either group sat in the office costs money.
But CoVid was different. People of all levels : customer facing or not decamped to home. Unsurprisingly they’ve found they like it. A big benefit has to be that they no longer have the costs of travelling to work. Car running costs including servicing, replacement parts such as tyres and fuel of course are all expensive. Then there is the time too of course. It is now possible to drop the kids at school and still be back to the ‘home-office’ for 9. Many people have developed new hobbies or rekindled old ones with the extra time they have. A friend of mine gets up early and does a fitness workout each work day morning. He used to spend that time driving to his place of work in another town.
We’ve also all become familiar with online calls. it used to be the preserve of senior executives but now everyone has got to grips with Zoom and more latterly Teams. These online meetings save time. They are also considerably cheaper especially if you’re working across international borders.
Playing devil’s advocate here, this has all perhaps helped companies avoid having to give pay rises as employees are better off with lower costs. Admittedly this is negated by inflation hovering persistently around 10%.
So this is all good is it?
The strength of offices
I’m not sure it is all good. I notice that it is more difficult to get hold of people since CoVid. The phone may be answered by someone working from home who cannot therefore transfer you. Yes they’ll get someone to call back, but if you’re a customer that isn’t always convenient. In these days of online transactions and us getting used to doing things immediately having to wait can be a hassle. I’ve also heard many people talk about the role of training with new recruits. Especially if they’re young and not commercially experienced. You’ll no doubt have a plan for their induction. Consequently they will learn how to do the job. But as many of us know you learn just as much by working alongside Bob or Sarah who have been doing the job in excess of 10 years. You can’t teach experience.
Teamwork makes the dream work
There is also the function of the team. Working alongside other human beings all trying to achieve the same things as you is an empowering experience. You learn from each other. You learn about each other. Those water cooler moments (as often referred to by Americans) are important. They build cohesion and the glue / cement (whatever) that binds the team together. There may be no quantifiable benefit to chatting about last night’s TV, or the football or your dog-walking habits but there ARE important.
Hybrid working
Consequently what many organisations have evolved to is a hybrid way of working. Members of many teams have some days in the office and some working from home. This may seem like a reasonable compromise. It keeps each member of the team in touch with all their colleagues – albeit occasionally. It also gives them more time at home helping to keep their travel costs down.
Where will it all end?
Who knows what the eventual workplace will look like? However I think that it is important to make the business customer-focused. Not employee-focused. Of course people want to spend more time at home. And less time stuck in traffic jams, on the train / bus etc. That is completely understandable but it’s still not necessarily the best thing for the business and it’s customers. Ultimately the business MUST align itself to work with customers. What do they want? How do they want to interact with you? What is important to them?
Find these things out and ensure that they’ll embedded in your business process.
The role of training
Admittedly I’m slightly biased but training can be overlooked in this brave new world. You can set up online training. But what is your attention span like online? For me it’s probably about 30 minutes. I think part of it is that you know you can get away with looking at your phone, checking emails etc. I’d never dream of doing this in any form of face-to-face meeting or classroom environment as I would consider it rude!
We can and do offer online training. A course is split into many modules. You can have a look at To Market’s online training. However we are pleased that nearly all our clients are now keen to get back into the classroom. The core customer service and telemarketing masterclasses are run over 2 days on your premises. Yes it’s more hassle to travel and park and deliver courses onsite. And I also have to think about what I wear on the bottom half – not a consideration for online sessions. But I believe the courses are simply better. Better quality offering better learning outcomes for the participants.
If you are considering training and you’d like to discuss the best way of us delivering your programme drop us some details on our contact page.
Alternatively if you’re here to pick up some new ideas which will help with the effective running of your office based customer or telesales, telemarketing team have a wander around our blog for lots of development topics.
To Market provides in-house courses for office-based teams on the telephone throughout the Midlands. In Birmingham, Coventry, Leicester, Derby, Nottingham, Peterborough, Milton Keynes, Solihull, Lichfield, Warwick, Stratford, Leamington Spa, Northampton, Kettering, Corby, Wellingborough.