With so many countries across the world struck by the COVID-19 pandemic, most of the businesses have currently started working from home. While this is a good way to prevent a large number of individuals congregating in one area, there are also various challenges associated with this that can affect a business.
Working from Home is Challenging!
It sounds easy, but in reality, it isn’t so; working from home is challenging, indeed. Some of the most typical challenges are as follow.
1. Isolating Work and Family Life
A lot of us who are currently working from home find that the fundamental bit of leeway of a work-from-home business – to be close to family – can be a drawback too. Managing all of your daily family routines, while constantly making yourself available for work can be a wellspring of interruptions for your business. Rather than noting down important notes and messages, for instance, the huge bundle of laundry may tug at your concentration.
On the off chance that you have children, at that point, your work-from-home life turns out to be significantly more energy-consuming. Have a go at settling a significant negotiation via telephone with your client while your one-year-old kid sobs hysterically – in your home office! Experiencing this can really affect your productivity to a certain extent.
Given that both of your jobs are under one rooftop – being a spouse, for instance, and being a businessman – hope to encounter troubles in shuffling the requests of both home and business.
2. Insufficient Space
The setting-up of a home office is, to a lesser degree, an issue if your home is sufficiently large to offer additional room. Be that as it may, space turns into a worry on the off chance that you are living within relatively small quarters, for example, a loft with barely any space to save. While you can manage with a stopgap office in a calm corner of your bedroom, the perfect office space is one that gives you security and insurance for all your files and equipment.
3. Taking Care of Important Data
Office work often involves storing a lot of important and secretive information which, if leaked, can affect you and the business to a large extent. In such cases, if you are working from your home computer, it is essential that you amp up the security attached with it to ensure that the security of all your records is not compromised in any manner. However, suspending all operations due to a scare of a security breach is never a practical option. Hence, these changes need to be accommodated rather quickly to avoid disrupting the flow of work.
4. It Can Get Lonely
A huge benefit of working out of an office is the environment it provides. Such an environment where everybody around you is busy working, you will automatically feel motivated to work. However, in a home environment where there is so much constantly happening around you, the environment is not exactly the best option for getting a huge amount of work done. This is the case for only those of you who are living with your families, as there are a host of things waiting to distract you.
On the other hand, there are a significant number of individuals who are currently living alone, and have to work out of their homes. Most of these people will start getting lonely, as there is nobody physically present with them to carry out a conversation.
The productivity of an employee is expected to fall in both of the above situations. Preventing this fall in productivity and maintaining the motivation of all your employees can be a difficult task. This is a risk that your business should be prepared to handle when all of your operations shift to working from home.
Businesses Need to Take Action – Fast
Businesses have one of the most important decisions to make when it comes to this global pandemic, and one of them is taking the plunge to allow their employees to work from their respective homes.
With so many things already going on in your mind, most employers are in dire need of anything that could help make their lives easier. One such solution is the Virtual Receptionist, a typical service offered by most virtual office services.
Why Virtual Receptionists are Life Savers
Here are a few ways having a virtual receptionist can be beneficial to your business:
1. All of the Business Calls Are Always Answered
When a client goes to voice mail, the general tendency is to hang up the phone immediately. This can leave them with a negative impression of your business. Now you won’t have to worry about your receptionist who is working from home missing out on picking up a call because she was cooking or feeding the kids.
A virtual receptionist will ensure that all of these important business calls are immediately answered.
2. Amazing Customer Service
A virtual receptionist is programmed in such a manner, that it has all the important knowledge of the way your business functions. Thus, whenever a client calls up your business, the phone shall be answered by someone who is knowledgeable and efficient. In this way, the questions your client has will always be answered in a systematic manner, which leads to an increase in the trust they have in your company.
3. Better Management of Time
With a virtual receptionist in place, none of your employees or you will have to ever worry about a phone call being answered, or your clients facing any negative customer service. This way, all of you will be able to concentrate on your work better, as well as manage your time better.
In some cases, a virtual receptionist is available round the clock to answer any queries that a client may have. Hence, there is no concept of business hours, and a client can call your business at any point in time when they have any queries or trouble.
4. Build A Good Corporate Image
Having a good impression on your clients is of extreme importance in the corporate world. This is because, while there are various other methods used, a brand can also build a good image through the use of word of mouth.
If you can create a good image of your company in front of your existing clients, there is a high chance that they would recommend your name to other prospective clients as well.
Takeaway
Working at home – including running a business at home – is challenging for many of us. However, sooner or later, people will adapt – partly thanks to the available tools and solutions, like virtual receptionists, collaborations apps, and so on.
Hopefully the disruptions to the way we work will present more opportunities for business owners. What they need to do is to respond positively – or else.
