Put on a load of washing between stints of work. Be there when your child is sick or you need to call out the plumber. Working from home has plenty of advantages for employees and freelancers, but it can also benefit employers and end clients. At Stoquart, we’ve been successfully using teleworking as part of our work concept for over 10 years. With the right rules in place, we’ve provided our employees and teams across the world with just the freedom they need to work efficiently and happily. By offering the option of working from home, we support employees who may have difficulties with travelling or important appointments that require them to be at home. However, the best working space remains the office. In order to allow our staff to combine their families and careers to best effect, we’ve created a framework and the opportunity for both. What do our employees make of it all? They’re delighted!
Home or office? Being there in person remains important at work
Do you need to take the whole day off simply because someone’s coming round to read the meter? Those days are long over for one of our employees in Prague. Together with a handful of translators in France, she is one of the few Stoquart employees who work exclusively from home. However, these are absolute exceptions. Most of Stoquart’s translators work predominantly in the office. After all, for all the advantages of undisturbed, concentrated work at home, there’s no substitute for personal communication. Of course, pressing questions can still be answered via email and information can be passed on electronically. Yet personal exchange between colleagues remains hugely important, as is having a laugh together or a chat while getting a coffee. After all, that’s what makes for satisfying work: knowing that you’re part of a team of people who it’s fun to talk to, work with and graft away at a project together with.
Greater freedom and better quality of life – planning work from home on a case-by-case basis
As we’re already old hands at teleworking, our entire corporate concept is geared towards providing the utmost flexibility. This means that our employees are able to work from home more than usual if their family needs them there. At the same time, working solely from our office isn’t a problem, either. The important thing is that we coordinate with one another, so that we can plan things in good time, and ensure that our teleworkers stay in contact with us. We’ve created a technical framework around this very purpose. Every employee has access to our secure virtual private network (VPN) when they work from home. Ultimately, work carried out from home should be just as straightforward and efficient as it is in the company office. And it should be enjoyable, too.
Peace and concentration – working from home requires discipline
It goes without saying that, when at home, there’s a great temptation to sprawl on your sofa with your laptop, still in your pyjamas. The thing is, that kind of attitude will rarely lead to satisfactory results. That’s why we give our teleworkers tips for working at home. Of course, they also have to ‘deliver’. Fixed meetings and deadlines make it easier for employees who work from home to stay on track. Especially at the beginning, it’s all too tempting to just give the windows a quick clean or leaf through that magazine lying on the table. Working from home requires the utmost discipline. But once you get the hang of it, you’re on to a real winner, as being there allows you to concentrate 100% and really immerse yourself in your task. The work produced by our translators who work from home speaks for itself. That’s why we’re continuing to focus on a combination or teleworking and office work, not to mention happy employees in successful teams.
A win-win for work-life balance – how working from home benefits everyone
Just cutting down on commuting frees up valuable time for living your life and experiencing less stress. While we do have employees who like to travel into the office every day, the fact remains that traffic, particularly in large cities, is a huge source of stress these days. Time, meanwhile, is the greatest gift that we can give to our employees, who after all are people that we appreciate as part of our team, and who we enjoy working with.
Summary:
The risks and opportunities of working from home: what you need to know for the perfect home-work balance
Whether you’re an employer or a teleworker, it’s worth bearing the following risks and opportunities in mind. We are convinced that a combination of working from home and being at the office in person creates the perfect balance on both sides. Our secret to successful working from home is based on precisely this balance!
Risks:
- lack of discipline
- too far from work
- loss of social contacts
- less team spirit
- insufficient communication in the long run
Opportunities:
- work flexibly
- more time for your family
- less stress
- greater concentration
- quieter surroundings for thinking and working
What are your experiences of working from home? What are the advantages of being a teleworker, or what benefits do you see as an employer? Drop us a line in the comments below.
