How to Organize Remote Work in Dubai, UAE
Remote work as a form of employment was quite rare 20-30 years ago; very few businesses used this format in limited areas. But times are changing, and the pursuit of cutting expenses for employees (indeed, remote work can significantly reduce company expenses) has contributed to the fact that remote working has become a popular trend. Besides, the growth of this segment was facilitated by the development of information technologies, an increase in the e-commerce share in world-wide trade, total computerization, and other factors.
The definition of remote work in general terms can be represented as follows: Remote work or telecommuting (this includes freelance when there is no single employer, and a freelancer is a private entrepreneur) is a form of employment in which an employer and an employee (customer and contractor in case of freelance) are located at a considerable distance, transmit and receive specifications, job results and payment, using the Internet, telephone, fax and other means of communication.
According to FlexJobs study, which they have conducted in the US, the remote work or (Telecommuting) sector of the US has grown by 159% over the past 12 years! Impressive, right? Besides, 80% of employers surveyed their plans to increase the flexibility of employee working hours, while 90% of working Americans would like to have a flexible work schedule. This means that the trend will continue shortly.
Not only sales representatives, insurance agents, web designers, and copywriters work remotely today; it has long gone beyond the narrow circle of these specialists. Worldwide corporations such as IBM, Dell, AT&T, and others are already actively working with remote teams; this is a mainstream trend now. In addition to popular professions in the field of programming, design, marketing, trade, and architecture, you can find the work of a doctor, writer, and even dance, yoga, or fitness instructor, etc.
Working remotely – pros and cons
Let's consider the benefits and drawbacks of this work form for both an employer and an employee.
Benefits of teleworking for an employer
Most often, remote employees like this form of work; they feel more comfortable in their comfort zones; they can work at any time and any place. Employees satisfied with their jobs will stay with their companies longer, thereby reducing staff turnover.
An employer saves on such expenses as office rent and working equipment. As a result, a company spends less to do the same work. The money saved this way can be spent on development, lowering the cost of the finished product (which means improving competitive positions), motivating employees, etc.
An employee must live in the same city as an employer. There is no such restriction now. A company can hire any specialist from any country in the world, and there is no need to pay extra money for relocation.
Benefits of remote work for an employee
The main advantage for an employee is freedom. You choose any place to work, the most convenient environment for you to be more productive, and change this place as soon as you are tired of it. This situation is impossible in any office. Besides, working remotely, you can develop your professional skills with various online education courses.
Remote work means zero expenses and time for relocation to get to your workplace. This time and money can be spent much more productively. For example, for more work, study, development, or even additional rest.
From a geographical point of view, a specialist who lives in a small town is limited when looking for a suitable job. But not now, since you can get a job in almost any company, including abroad. That is, a person receives a satisfying job, living in a native town. Ability to spend more time with family. Now you can carry and pick up children from school, take care of parents, etc. With this form of work, an employee can solve any domestic issues faster and easier and get less distracted by them.
More freedom in personal life. A remote employee gets less stress from work and a team than colleagues sitting in an office. A workday is more balanced between work and personal life. Greater satisfaction often means higher productivity.
Drawbacks of remote work
But, it is worth noting that remote work is not an ideal solution to all problems. There are several drawbacks, as in any other business.
In most cases a specialist who works remotely rarely communicates with a supervisor and colleagues, that is, they often face a lack of feedback and the following negative consequence: employees do not always receive an assessment of their work on time, and this slows down professional growth and makes it difficult to master new competencies. Besides, the lack of professional communication is another drawback of remote working: an employee sometimes lacks useful information. However, if you pay due attention to the issue of communication in teams, these shortcomings can be minimized.
Lack of feedback and professional communication negatively affects the career growth of a specialist. Surely, you can find a variety of ways to sidestep the limitations of remote work, but let's face it – it’s almost impossible to lead a corporation remotely. You can’t become a president of a company working at home.
In some cases, to organize a workplace, it will be necessary to spend your funds: buy a modern computer or other equipment that you may need, provide constant access to the Internet, etc. Moreover, in some regions, the quality of the Internet is far from ideal; you can’t even make a regular video call on Skype. But, these problems can be solved.
Lack of self-organization. Yes, not all people can establish their work process on their own. Some people need a boss who will “stand on their backs” and say what to do. In any case, remote working requires high self-discipline and personal responsibility and therefore is not suitable for everyone.
To organize effective remote work of employees, some training and preliminary work will be necessary, both on the part of employees and employers, and there is such an opportunity now – remote work courses in Dubai, UAE.
Skills required to become an excellent remote employee
Undoubtedly, the need for self-organization, isolation, and a specific way of communication is not suitable for everyone. Not all of us like remote working process. Before submitting your CV to get a remote position, one must understand what qualities an applicant should have.
Remote workers should have excellent soft skills, namely the following ones:
Time management. Not counting professional skills, time management is probably the most valuable quality of a remote employee. Since a manager cannot directly control the work of a remote employee, this specialist must be able to manage work time in an uncontrolled environment. Remote employees must ensure themselves to comply with the deadlines and be available during working hours. There must be no additional control measures required for a leading manager to complete the tasks.
Communication. It may seem that working at home requires minimal communication skills with other people. In fact, in an office work format, it is much easier to play a passive role, communicating with colleagues, since you are close to them. As for remote work, team building options are limited, so if a person does not take the initiative to communicate and solve work issues, his/her work efficiency is reduced significantly.
Responsibility. The actions of remote employees must be clear; those who practice telecommuting must be able to take responsibility for their failures, be honest with managers and colleagues. This allows one to solve all the problems arising during the workflow effectively.
Ability to concentrate. Noisy neighbors, own children, and a whole bunch of other distraction factors will always distract you from work. You must be able to avoid them and reduce the time for breaks in work; otherwise, they will prevent you from remaining productive. To do this, you must find a quiet place, for example, a study, or a back yard. Without this skill, you will never get the desired level of productivity.
You may improve all of the above soft skills by yourself (you can find quite a lot of materials devoted to this issue on the Internet), but it will be much more useful to attend specialized courses, for example, this one.
What’s the difference between remote work and freelance?
We have already mentioned that the development of remote work goes in two parallel ways: remote work in some organization and freelance. Here are the main differences between these two options:
Remote work in an organization |
Freelance |
|
Official status |
A full-time employee who works outside the office |
Private entrepreneur, not a staff |
Work description |
An employee works for one company – an employer, like in the case of regular employment |
Freelancer works with projects and can take several projects from various customers at once |
Employment contract |
A typical employment contract between an employer and an employee, which defines the remote work process, includes vacation, insurance, etc. |
None, but there is an individual contract for a specific job |
So, as you see, there is a difference, and it is quite substantial. Which of these is better? It is up to you to decide.
Professions for Remote Work
Before applying for remote work, you should have an idea of the works that are often performed remotely. There are lots of positions in the field of analytics, research, and data entry in remote working. Besides, you can find tons of offers in the field of marketing related to advertising, sales, and service on the Internet. Graphic designers are also on-demand now. Customer service and business development areas are quite popular areas in remote work. Software development is also often carried out remotely. There are some other less popular specialties for remote working, but as time goes, their number grows. In the future, we will see the vacancies of remote neurosurgeons or biologists.
Remote work courses in Dubai
To organize remote work in a company, both a manager and an employee must get the appropriate skills and knowledge. Both of them will have to master the following:
- General principles and concepts of remote work, the list of tasks and issues that will need to be addressed during the process of preparing and conducting remote work.
- Principles of effective communication between team members, methods, and tools that will be required to provide it, including meetings, and group communications.
- Methods of maintaining high productivity and proper motivation approaches in setting goals and forming to-do lists.
- Ways to maintain a balance between work, leisure, self-development and personal life, and methods to overcome distractions.
In addition to this, a manager has to master the following:
- Approaches to setting up a workspace, developing rules for the interaction of all team members.
- Methods for resolving conflicts and disagreements in a remote mode.
- Approaches to evaluating the work of team members.
- Building culture in your remote team.
A remote work course is conducted both online and offline. Moreover, if you take such a course online, you will be able to try out methods and tools for remote work in the conditions maximally similar to real ones.
Besides, it’s important to note that both managers and employees should use the same system of rules, the same tools, the same principles, and concepts. Therefore, to organize remote work, one needs an integrated approach, for example, inhouse training for a whole team, or a specialized two-part remote work course (for managers and employees).
Here we have considered the main aspects of remote work: its advantages and disadvantages, tools, features, and best practices. As you can see, the remote work sector is becoming more and more popular; we can say that now this is the mainstream trend. We hope that our tips and guidelines will help you more easily and quickly get used to it and take advantage of all the benefits that this form of employment provides.