Not too long ago, maybe five or so years past, it used to be a vital part of life to make the commute to work, toil away for four hours, have lunch, toil away until the sun set, and drive back home just to do it again the next day. Work and office files were kept on separate hard drives and only accessible to people who worked at the office. Today, more and more companies are turning to services such as cloud computing and virtual offices in order to satisfy employees and cut down on costs.
Cloud computing allows people to enter onto a network and share files with each other. You can access your companies stock of Excel Spreadsheets and update them from the comfort of Starbucks instead of the fluorescent jungle of the office. Designers can create web sites and print ads from a laptop at home and then visit the office when they want to gain input from the creative director. Instead of relying on the office to be the creative hub of the workplace, your employees can perform from where they feel most comfortable.
Tech companies such as ad agencies, seo firms, and online self help courses (SelfHelpWorks) are the easiest for employees to have an excellent work and life balance. Because they have been working on the Internet since its inception, new advances in technology are only making it faster and more convenient to perform office tasks. Some professions like teaching, accounting, writing, and design will see radical advances in the way employees view their offices.
Worker happiness will soar from the lack of office related stress. Things like the daily commute will be a thing of the past because of the ability to work from home. This will also save workers a lot of money because of the rising prices of gasoline and car maintenance products. Office workers will be able to purchase cars with their own thoughts in mind instead of being comfortable on trips from the exurbs to the urban commerce centers.
One of the biggest announcements for the telecommuting and work from home industry has been Apple’s introduction of the iCloud. The company that changed the way we consume media and communicate with each other is now trying to revolutionize the way we conduct our business. Sure, there have been companies before Apple that have tried to market their cloud services, but Apple’s genius marketing, well-designed products, and easy to use interfaces will set them far apart from the competition.
Office politics will also disappear because employees won’t be hesitant to speak their minds. Instead of a single person holding all of the sway, your employees will be free to speak their minds and contribute opinions and ideas freely. A drama-free workplace is always the safest bet when it comes to work and a cloud computing system and work from home capabilities leaves all of the conflict and emotions at home where they belong.
You can even view the office as more of a social gathering place than a center to work from. In order to attract more talented and free-thinking people to your company, you can advertise the fun loving nature and laid back atmosphere of your office. Your place of work will be considered a haven for creativity instead of a drudge factory where people are trapped eight hours a day.