Having a workspace makes a massive difference in the productivity of employees of a business. Having a peaceful and efficient workplace produces productivity and effectiveness that heavily impacts many things, such as freeing more time to do other tasks. However, many companies have been transitioning from on-site offices to remote offices due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This lets them and other organizations proceed and continue their operations beyond the grave situation the world has locked in.
Nowadays, working from home is becoming more apparent in any working industry. The increasing value of the internet and technology makes remote working feasible. CEOs and organizations’ executives can now receive the same quality and amount of work from their employees without physical interaction and meetings. Hiring talented workers from other parts of the world, regardless of time zones, is now possible due to remote working. At the same time, both the employers and the employees gain the privilege of setting the work boundaries they need. It is highly predictable that work-from-home setup will continue despite the disappearance of the pandemic in the future.
Definitions and explanations
Traditional Work Spaces
Traditional Work Spaces refer to the physical and private offices of businesses and companies. These are the private headquarters or buildings owned by the company where the employees work on a schedule and continue the business operations. In addition, traditional workspaces can have multiple physical locations if the company or businesses have many branches located in different places. These physical offices house different teams or departments of an organization and where everything related to work occurs. Employee interactions, meetings, appointments, and day-to-day work all happen in traditional offices.
There are still business owners, employers, and workers who prefer working on-site in their company’s office. Traditional offices set a working atmosphere because it usually radiates professionalism and work focus. It also helps set motivation for work because workers get to interact with one another and allow physical collaboration. Offices often give the employees cubicles that are completely furnished to enable them to work comfortably. It provides privacy and lets everyone focus on their work in the company.
Remote Work
Remote work is the newest type of working environment in any industry. It allows employees to work in their respective homes at their own pace and preferred environment. It is not exclusively a work-from-home setup as remote work can be done outside the home — may it be from a vacation spot, out of the town, or out of the country. It remains the same for the business owners or leaders because remote work allows them to receive the outputs of their employees from other places without spending so much hassle. The key concept of this modern working setup is the ability of people to do the same work they’re doing on-site at their place and convenience. It gives off the privacy and ambiance that everyone needs while doing it with the utmost comfort.
Remote workers get to enjoy setting up the ideal home office they can use to work. Other companies even let their employees operate asynchronously and only require them to submit the needed works at the end of a particular schedule. In remote work, meetings are held online and sometimes go only twice a week. Employers communicate with their employees through chat, email, or sometimes on an online platform where everything related to work is stored, conducted, and submitted. Consequently, remote employees have fewer interactions and familiarity due to the nature of remote work.
Differences between traditional workspaces and remote work
The five key points of difference between traditional workspaces and remote work have been listed below:
1. Meaning
A traditional workspace is a place or office with a physical location, usually in the headquarter or building owned by the company where employees work. On the other hand, remote work is the modern setup where employees work remotely in their home offices.
2. Nature
All work happens physically and on-site such as meetings, appointments, collaborations, and interactions between workers in the traditional workspace. All workers, including the business leaders, have to physically transport and go to their company building to meet and start the job. Meanwhile, remote work saves everyone from transportation as work can be done through their residence. Appointments, meetings, and collaboration are done, submitted, and organized online.
3. Convenience
Remote work offers more convenience on the part of the employees as working from their respective homes allows them to work and at the same time attend to the chores they must do outside of being an employee. Traditional workspace demands focus solely on work and require the presence of the workers at the site.
4. Flexibility
Remote work proves to be more flexible because of online platforms to communicate with other workers, submit a work output, and collaborate with the whole team or department. It also has time flexibility because multiple tasks can be completed at home, and there’s no need to physically report and show yourself to the office. However, traditional work can be flexible when an inquiry about the job requires meeting other colleagues or leaders.
5. Atmosphere
When it comes to professionalism, the traditional workspace can perfectly set the mood for working and allows employees and other workers to focus. Private workspaces set the professional ambiance needed in businesses and companies. Remote work is susceptible to distractions reasons why remote employees often do remote work hacks to maintain their attention to work.
Conclusion
Traditional workspace is a private office of companies for their employees, while remote work is a working environment where workers can work at their home office. Both provide productivity and can effectively add value for both employees and leaders. However, these two work set-ups can be different in nature, convenience, flexibility, cost and atmosphere for both parties. Depending on the preferences of the workers and the situation, one can choose a traditional workspace or remote work to continue their work or business activity.
