Whether your employees telecommute occasionally or permanently, there are both advantages and disadvantages to this type of work culture. For those companies struggling with building a team with specific skill sets, a distributed workforce can help solve this issue. On the other hand, some companies prefer to keep staff on site to enhance collaboration and creativity via direct person-to-person interaction. These pros and cons may give you better insight and help you decide if remote work is right for your business.

• Drive Employee Productivity

Giving employees the freedom to set their own hours helps to increase productivity. Not everyone is their most productive during typical work hours. Some prefer getting an early start while others need a leisurely morning. However, some boundaries must be set as some workers are not as self-motivated to work without some type of management.

• Retain Knowledge & Investment

Sometimes key players wish to move to other locations in the world. For example, if your employee’s spouse receives a great opportunity in a new location and thus the whole family is moving to support the opportunity, you could be losing a wealth of knowledge and investment. By utilizing a work-from-home policy, you may retain that valuable worker while allowing them to maintain their home-life.

• Ensure Diversity

Being able to successfully organize and put a distributed team in place takes hard work from both the company and the worker. This effort is rewarded with a diverse work team with differing opinions, viewpoints, and work styles which feed into a more creative group for solving problems and connecting with customers.

• Open Up Potential Security Issues

When you have employees working remotely, security may be overlooked, making the company vulnerable to cybercriminals .Neglecting this step can be catastrophic for the business and customers alike. Luckily, there are many ways to secure your data and protect your business, including cloud solutions to make remote work easier.

• Attract More Talent

While most would prefer employees to work on site, the remote option is available in order to attract employees who may go elsewhere. Remote work has its advantages, and companies provide the necessary tools to keep workers connected, but there are also distinct benefits of face-to-face interaction in the office that cannot be achieved remotely.

• Allow Improved Focus With Fewer Distractions

There can be a number of distractions when working remotely, but employees can usually figure out where and what works best for them. However, remote workers usually perform better than those who work in the office because meetings and common, shared office interruptions were omitted. They are able to collaborate with colleagues over video, chat, and project management software and are held accountable for their productivity.

• Lose The Interaction Effect

Sometimes it is easier to speak in person rather than complicating things with back and forth messaging. As convenient as technology can be, some people need the face-to-face interaction. In addition, working from home may blur the line between your work and home life.

• Expand Geographic Limitations

You are no longer limited to your local talent pool if you allow remote workers. Those companies with distributed workforces tend to have a larger pool of quality workers and talent.

• Build a Strong Culture

Starting with a strong company culture will lessen the impact on productivity when environments change from in office to remote work. Starting from the top, executives must ensure all employees are included in all activities (ex. all-hands meetings, events, parties).

• Improve Record Keeping

Because workers are split up and may be in different time zones, the need to transcribe all discussions is high. By keeping record of communications, you are enabling your workers to keep up with happenings and you are affording your business an easy way of pulling up information as needed.

• Weaken Communication

Because remote employees often have flexible hours, it can be difficult for spontaneous meetings. Also, when meetings are conducted over video rather than in person, it is hard to gauge reactions without seeing complete body language.

• Endanger Efficiency, Synergy, & Collaboration

When the idea of a distributed team came about, a main concern was whether or not the work would get done. Time showed that yes, the work could be done. The potential downfall was the lack of collaboration and synergy within the team, which could negatively affect employee enthusiasm.

• Enhance Innovation

With the right technology and tools, a well-designed distributed workplace could become a breeding ground for innovation and highly productive work.

All things considered, is a distributed workforce right for you? Share your thoughts and experiences with us on Facebook, Google+, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Pinterest.

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Tags: advantages and disadvantages, Distributed Workforce, remote team for your business, work culture