New Infographic: Keys to Telecommuting Happiness

Click for infographic

Undoubtedly the Cloud has made it easier than ever for people to achieve a work/life balance through telecommuting happiness.

Without the morning drive and battles with rush hour traffic, many workers find themselves happier working out of their home.  The feeling is under-scored by a survey last year by Staples finding that Telecommuters are Happier & Healthier. 

See also: Cloud Telecommuting Collaboration

Still, the inherent nature of having geographic barriers can often be a struggle over time, but we can offer some sage advice on how you can help lead your staff to that ultimate nirvana we call telecommuting happiness.

Home Offices & Telecommuting Happiness

Despite all of the hubbub about our emerging ‘work anytime/anywhere’ paradigm, home offices can often feel lonesome, and sometimes work falls to the wayside because of the lack of satisfaction telecommuters receive by working in an office or with a group of people. When this happens, work quality and productivity may suffer.

To avoid seeing your telecommuting staff working while feeling distant and dispassionate about helping your business thrive, here are four ways you can unleash their telecommuting happiness with your company, even from a distance.

• Stay social with cloud collaboration products – Telecommuting has its benefits, but it can also be a lonesome environment. With cloud collaboration products, such as chat, online-based workrooms and document sharing tools, you can keep your telecommuters in the loop and maintain the connectivity they need to feel a part of the team. When your telecommuters feel integrated into your company, they are happier working for your business.

• Provide office furniture to incent higher productivity – Telecommuters love working out of their home, but they still desire a place in their house that resembles an office. Working off a cluttered kitchen table is no way to inspire creativity and boost productivity, let alone happiness. Achieving and ergonomic computer setup while sitting at a kitchen table is very difficult. After a long day at the table, a person’s eyes, neck, back, and/or wrists may remind them of this fact. If you have full time telecommuters, give them office furniture to keep them happier while working for you. Go the extra mile and provide them with modern office furniture, such as a stand up desk or ergonomic accessories. With ergonomic office furniture your telecommuters can stay healthier while on the job and feel more energized and productive working for you.

• Hold frequent face-to-face meetings – Although many employees love the option of working in their pajamas, nothing beats face to face meetings. Bring your team together as often as you can. With web cameras and cloud based video conferencing systems such as WebEx and GoToMeeting, face to face connections are easier than ever. When people meet on camera instead of only through email, you create stronger connections and allow telecommuters to feel more like they are a part of the team, helping keep them happy working for you.

• Use cloud-hosted applications – As the benefits to the cloud continue to advance, more companies are turning toward cloud-based applications as a way to work with telecommuters. Financial applications hosted on the Cloud, such as Intuit Quickbooks and Sage, and business applications like Microsoft Office, Excel, ACT!, and  over 200 more, help telecommuters do their job effectively. When telecommuters are able to work better with people around the globe, collaboration becomes more efficient and the job of the telecommuter is more enjoyable. For companies wanting to make the job of a telecommuter easier and give them the tools needed to be productive, cloud-hosted applications are the answer.

Telecommuting has its distinct advantages, but nurturing the telecommuting happiness of people who work outside of the office is just as crucial as keeping your in-office employees happy and engaged. With these tips, you can help inspire creativity and productivity among your telecommuters.

——
Kimberly Crossland uses cloud based products to communicate with clients from her home office. To boost her telecommuting happiness, she designed her home office with a desk treadmill and standing desk. Follow Kimberly on Twitter.

… ..Infographic Source: Global Workplace Analytics