This is the first of a 2 part series on the problems of Remote Work.
Remote work is a working style that allows people to work outside of a traditional office environment. It is based on the concept that work does not need to be done in a specific place to be executed successfully.
I have analyzed the state of remote work by breaking it down by the stakeholders, identifying different phases of those stakeholders and then listing out the problems faced by them in that phase. The problems are accompanied by startups, which are trying to solve them. Additionally, problems with no existing solutions are highlighted as RFS (Request for Startups).
The key stakeholders in “Remote Work” Ecosystem are the employees and employers/companies. This article will focus on problems faced by employees.
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Employees
Phase I - New to remote work
1. What is Remote work ?
For most people the word “job” is synonymous with 9-5 and an office building. Traditional jobs are known to have started since the existence of institutions (kingdoms, farms and factories) and thus our brains are wired to naturally associate jobs with a particular/specific location. However with the changing nature of jobs and better communication tools, work is breaking the synonymy with a specific location.
Increasingly today’s jobs don’t require a person to work from a specific location and at a specific time. Rise of Remote Work is thus inevitable. But this creates new questions and curiosity when transitioning to Remote Work from a new job.
Buffer’s Open Blog, provides an in-depth guide to someone new to remote work and answers common questions around it.
2. Finding remote work
Niche job boards are mushrooming because they are effective in catering to specific markets. RemoteVerse has its own list of job boards. The prominent ones are :
| Startup | Problem |
|---|---|
| Remote work jobs across different categories. | |
| Remote work jobs across different categories. | |
| Hand-picked remote jobs, updated daily |
After looking at a couple of remote jobs, some common questions which immediately come up include :
- Is the team completely distributed ?
- Can I work remotely from anywhere ?
- Is there any work overlap required ?
- What timings does the company operate in ? (UTC + 5 - UTC + 13)
- Are there any company annual retreats ? Vacation policy ?
- Health Coverage plans ? Professional development allowance ?
Phase II - Managing Remote work
1. Finding a coworking space
| Startup | Problem |
|---|---|
| Find great places to work from remotely in every city. | |
| Find A Coworking Space Near You. | |
| Access pass to a network of coworking spaces around the world. |
2. Remote work tools
The key to successfully managing remote work is better processes and tools. These include Time tracking tools, project management tools, video conferencing tools etc.
| Startup | Problem |
|---|---|
| Schedule meetings without the back-and-forth emails. | |
| Video-First virtual workspace for remote teams that fosters real-time collaboration and strengthens company culture. | |
| Team knowledge base, collaborate on documents, track projects. | |
| Planning, scheduling, task management & time tracking seamlessly integrated. | |
| Video calling, content sharing, and chat | |
| Slack like alternative for making your conversations organized. | |
| Team knowledge base with app integrations. | |
| Boards, lists, and cards to organize and prioritize your projects. | |
| Knowledge Base straight from your Slack conversations. |
3. Social Aspect :
4. Legal and Others :
Now that you know what remote work is and the great flexibility it beholds, its time to think about the responsible stuff. Remote work has a lot of small companies and not all of them are able to help their employees with the legal formalities as its very difficult and expensive to hire dedicated staff for these services.
| Startup | Problem |
|---|---|
| Offering your employees personalized benefits. | |
| Remote work jobs across different categories. | |
| Managing mental health. Stress reduction tools and coached programs. |
Tweet or DM me @Gautam__Jain to let me know the problem you are facing or solving in the Remote Work ecosystem.