Maren Hogan

Before the onset of COVID-19, Red Branch employees already enjoyed a mixed schedule of working in-office and remotely. In mid-March, when the situation began to look increasingly dire, Red Branch took immediate action and became a fully-remote company. But we didn’t sacrifice our culture. We still see our coworkers during daily pod check-ins and standups, and maintain our Eatin’ Meetin’ whether it be every Friday or every Friday of campaign week to decompress, play games, and update each other on any changes or news in our lives (albeit few and far between during COVID).

The RBM train keeps moving even in uncertain times, and productivity hasn’t suffered. Turns out — this isn’t only true for The Branchers — a new survey reveals an increase in work from home productivity and trust among employees. Read on for more:

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Survey Conducted by ClickMeeting states 59% enjoy remote work, whereas 23% of people miss working in an office.

The team at ClickMeeting, the software-free, video conferencing and webinar solution, has researched the state of the nation’s psyche as we continue to work and learn remotely, with some interesting insights. During the pandemic, there has been a huge surge in online events taking place with a whopping 375% increase in online events each week and a 560% increase in online audience sizes since the start of the pandemic. In fact, in March alone, the number of webinars organized on ClickMeeting reached nearly a quarter million.

Remote Work

Employers around the world are straddling a bridge between yesterday, when most employees were physically present at work, and tomorrow, when a vaccine or effective treatment will open the possibility of safe return to the traditional workplace. Yet even when that happens, remote work will have earned a permanent place in the employment mix, the study reveals.

46% of respondents view the hybrid work model as an ideal working environment that increases productivity and trust among employees, whereas only 16% of respondents prefer an office environment.

This presents companies with two challenges: how to manage remote working conditions amid the uncertainty of today, and how to prepare for and optimize the hybrid working models of tomorrow, in which fully in-person and remote work will be two ends of a fluid spectrum of options.

The survey also revealed some interesting statistics about remote work:

59% enjoy remote work, whereas 23% of people miss working in an office.

The hybrid workforce (working partly at home, partly at the office) is an ideal model for 46% of the respondents. 33% vote for pure remote work and 16% prefer an office environment.

As much as 69% of people who took part in the survey expect compensation for using their personal Internet, furniture, or equipment, and 32% think that they should receive a higher salary for working at home.

Education

42% of those polled believe schools still need to invest in the right equipment to be ready for teaching online, and 56% believe a combination of traditional and online classes is the best for students in the current climate.

81% of US residents are more than happy to take a test or exam online, showing that the nation is comfortable to embrace online learning. However, with 44% admitting it’s more challenging to learn in online classes, there’s certainly a large section of the country who’d prefer to return to traditional classrooms as soon as possible.

With the pandemic set to continue for at least the next school term, 31% of those surveyed think that schools should only continue online for the foreseeable future. 44% of respondents believe face to face teaching should be limited to the most necessary lectures.

For the entire state of the nation report, please see here.

This article was originally published on the Red Branch Media blog by Alison Wurth.