Working Remotely

[Audio] Working Remotely Benefits, Challenges and Solutions.

[Audio] In this modern technological society that we live in, the way we work has been revolutionized. Persons who are used to working for their money in an office can now work from the comfort of their own home, this is called working remotely. However, much like everything in life there are challenges and thankfully they can be solved by innovative thinkers like the members of Team 59. The aim of our presentation is to outline the benefits, challenges and solutions to working remotely. To do this we will be focusing on two main areas of business, Management and Marketing..

[Audio] Management is the act of bringing people together to achieve goals and objectives with the resources at hand. Human resources, financial resources, technological resources, and natural resources are all types of resources. Management directs the process of developing, maintaining, and allocating those resources. The company or organization then employs these resources to achieve its objectives in an effective and efficient manner. The four main aspects of Management are: Leading, Organizing, Planning and Controlling..

[Audio] Cost effective-It is a lot more cost effective to have person working from home because there are less charges on utilities, maintenance, cleaning and office supplies. Employees usually must provide their own equipment to work remotely with so there would be less technology costs. Better recruitment-The workforce would need to be revamped to have persons who are more skilled and experience. This would also mean that skilled candidates would also be easier to find because you can employ persons to world from all over the globe when working remotely. It would also mean that money can be saved on training for personnel since you are hiring skilled workers. Less HR issues-There will be no HR issues between workers because there will be very little to no interaction. Most issues start within an office space, e.g., Susan gets angry with another coworker because they drink most of the coffee and don't make more. There is less tension between workers so there will be less stress on the HR department..

[Audio] More flexible schedule-Employees would have a more flexible work schedule. Employees can create a day plan to accommodate all the various activities and tasks they might have while still centering it around their work. It would make their job seem less rigorous because they would have family time and other free time. This also allows persons to have a better work/life balance. Increased work quality and productivity-A better standard of work could be produced because employees can be able to do their work whenever feel the most creative and find themselves in the best mental state to do work. If they do their work within a timeframe that suits their colleagues. This would lead to greater productivity within the business. Choice of ideal work location-Employees can also choose the location where they want to do their work. In most cases, it would be some place that is peaceful and quiet. This would allow persons to work in complete silence and produce their best work possible..

[Audio] Communication- With remote working, communicating with the employees has drift away from the traditional face to face method to a more technological side of communication. Various communication mediums such as email, video meet software and instant messaging applications are utilized to communicate with employees however the medium is only as good as the users. If the individual is new to the software, they may face issues utilizing it to its full capacity and also due to other factors such as possible connectivity issues, technological barriers and lack of emotions via messaging, information may not be communicated effectively. In addition, some employers may live in regions with time zone different to their employees so holding video meetings may not be the best means of communication. Breakdown in Structure- Employers can't supervise and overwatch the daily operations of the employees like they would have been to in physical workspace. This could lead to decrease in productivity as the employees aren't as pressured by the presence of management to get tasks done quickly and efficiently in the manner or way, they may want these tasks to be carried out (they control is now limited). Security- With remote work all data is transferred online and most of the work is done via the internet. As a result, both the employers' and the employees' personal data along with the company's confidential information are at risk of exposure, theft or even being lost due to computer malfunctions, viruses, and hackers. The employers are then tasked with finding ways in which they can prevent these risks and maintain the security of the precious data..

[Audio] Purchasing required technology-In some cases the employer doesn't provide the employees with the necessary devices needed to carry out day to day operations. The responsibility of attaining such devices is then left with the employees and these devices may be very expensive depending on the type of work it is required to carry out on a daily basis so the employee must do proper research before purchasing the device. In addition, they may be required to purchase subscriptions or licenses for specific software that they may need to carry out day-to-day work. Distractions at home-When working at home they are various distractions persons may encounter as opposed to working in an office environment. When you're at home there is various distractions such as television, vehicular movements, noise from neighbors, unexpected guest to your home ( family members, friends, etc.), your kids playing in the background and much more. Due to this the worker can easily lose focus on the task at hand so it is very important that they find ways to deal with these distractions so they can carry out their daily tasks. Inability to carry out daily task due to technological interference-When working at home there is the possibility of unforeseen technological interferences occurring which is out of the employees control. This could lead to the inability to carry out daily task and meet goals set out by management. Some of these interferences include random power outages, internet connectivity issues, device malfunctions and many more..

[Audio] The employers should try to experiment and introduce various software that can help make communication with workers easier and they should also ask for feedback and make the worker more involve in decision making so that the work is done efficiently and on the other hands the workers should take courses and try to do research on the software being utilized to get a better understanding of how it works and to build the necessary skills required to effectively utilize the software. They should also try to maintain the structure and the hierarchy of the business and to do this they should also look to utilize software that allows the day-to-day operations of the workers to be monitored by the employers ensuring the task is done quickly and, in a manner, deemed suitable by the employers. They should also ensure all confidential data and the personal information of the workers are kept safe the employers could implement policies in which only certain people only workers of a certain level can access these precious data and they could do presentations informing the employees how to safely use the internet and how to prevent security breaches on the internet ( passwords, antiviruses etc.)..

[Audio] Marketing refers to the activities that a company engages in to promote the purchase or sale of their product or service. These activities include market research, advertising, selling, financing, pricing, service management, and the distribution of the company's goods or services. There are key factors that are used in the marketing process of a good or service. These crucial factors are taken into account when marketing an item and are referred to as the 4Ps of marketing: Product, Price, Place and Promotion..

[Audio] Marketing Geography- With online marketing and the various social media platforms available for use as marketing tools, companies can now reach consumers and different audiences from various areas and regions better than before. This results in a wider consumer base and higher levels of attraction to the company's product than ever before which can lead to increase profits for the company. Reduces overall operating costs-The cost of promotions can be reduced severely as online and social promotions will require little to no asset expenses ( example: Pitch tents, speakers, microphones etc.). It also reduces the cost of a failed marketing promotion which allows a company to feel more comfortable and confident in utilizing different marketing strategies. Marketing isn't limited- With online marketing the company isn't limited to the in-person marketing barriers. The market promotion campaigns can now run 24/7 at a cheaper cost as radio stations, newspaper and television ads may be fairly expensive and do not run 24/7..

[Audio] Brand Ideas-Marketing officers who predominantly do their work on social media can observe other brands and ideas and attempt to modify those ideas and apply them to their own company. Flexibility of working hours-Having persons in the comfort of their home, they are able to become more flexible for project meetings and discussing different marketing plans and ideas as they can be just 'a click away'. Increased Creativity amongst employees-The online environment will undoubtedly increase the need for employees to produce new and improved ideas and marketing strategies that may not have been necessary or applicable in past environments. Different online research methods such as Twitter Voting Poles can be used to get information from a particular audience in a quick and timely manner..

[Audio] Lack of Engagement from Target Audience- In light of all the challenges which can be present during remote working, employees may still be able to meet expectations and complete tasks which are given to them. However, seeing that most marketing strategies in this environment will be centered around online promotional strategies, it can become difficult to engage an audience through this method as they may see it as just another online promotion. In comparison to in-person promotions, it can become difficult for online marketing strategies to truly stand out. Too much ads- Companies tend to flood their target audiences unintentionally when marketing products or services online. It becomes annoying to the target audience and thus causes them not to pay attention to the ad. This will make the ad lose its purpose and become obsolete. Low sales despite high traffic- Although person will see the content on the live feeds on their various social media platforms they may not be interested in the product or service being promoted. This then becomes an issue to the companies as their product is getting a lot of engagement on the platforms and despite this generating little to no revenue..

[Audio] Online Distractions- If a marketing officer's tasks mainly involve the use of social media, it can become very easy for them to wander away from their tasks and start delving into other personal social media interests. Especially in a remote environment, employees can often end up wasting away precious working hours on social media not relating directly to the objectives of the business. Challenges creating captivating new content- Mental blocks may occur because there are limited variations of promotions you can do for a particular product. Since there is more tension due to higher competition from the opposing brands, employees may end up creating advertisements and promotions that lack innovation because they are trying to meet a deadline. This can have a negative long-term effect on productivity. Issues in managing social accounts- Employees might be instructed to create multiple business accounts on all of the various social media platforms. It would be done with the intention of getting more brand exposure, but it could lead to employees not being able to maintain all the accounts. As a result, there are a lot of dormant social media accounts that aren't updated..

[Audio] Firstly, the employers should try to single out a specific target audience by looking at things such as demographics and consumer behaviors so they would know which audiences is best and more likely to purchase the products and once this is done the employees should try to look at ways in which they can create ad campaigns that would grasps these consumers attention and persuade them to buy(who you are create the ad for, what type of medium is most effective to capture said audience) . To deal with the overload of ads, management could put in place various policies to moderate the frequency of ads being published and also the amount of active ad campaigns you can have at the same time. They should also make sure that all ads are concise and to the point. When using ad campaigns, they could utilize various promotion strategies such as discounts, BOGO sales and much more to generate sales from the high traffic they may be receiving as consumers are more inclined to buy products when they get a bargain for their money which also minimizes the high competition as your product would be in high demand..

[Audio] To conclude, working remotely is the future of business operations in this technological age and whether you like it or not, one must adjust to the societal norms and evolve their way of thinking in order to move forward in the business world. Working remotely has many challenges, however, most if not all theses challenges have various solutions and fixes to make the remote working experience more efficient. In comparison, they are also many benefits so overall working remotely has a greater positive impact on the workings of a business..