Roll no.

77341065

Case Study

Working from Home

Working from home is an arrangement in which employees perform their usual job-related tasks
at home rather than in a central workplace, and do so for a regular portion of their work schedule,
using electronic media to communicate with others both inside and outside the organization.

Synergy Nepal is an engineering firm. Synergy has capability in various aspects of HVAC
engineering services, including taking D&C responsibility to partial engineering assignments like
Static & Camel heat Load Calculations. With over 60 full time employees, the Synergy Nepal have
been productively working from their homes for since the coronavirus pandemic occurs. All the
task are computer based so it would not impact the work. Company provide the
Necessary equipment and the remote access for the office works. Teams and zoom was use for the
office meeting twice a week to update the progress and the challenges during work.

Working from home is simply more productive. “The biggest driver of the pivot to a remote
workforce that’s currently underway in our market is that remote employees simply produce better
results than their traditional counterparts. While many critics of remote working used to assert that
letting employees work from home would drain them of their productive spirit. The working hours
outside of the office are vastly happier and more productive. There are the several plus point for
the individual and organization while working from home. Flexible work hours translates to more
productive hours when employees can choose to work at times in the day when they feel more
productive and motivated.
 Less stress. Workplace bullying, harassment and other work related stresses are much
alleviated in the home office environment.
 Less distractions. Offices can be noisy places with many distractions inside and out.
 Company giving workers more control over their personal lives and permitting them to
schedule their work-life balance accordingly, companies are making them happier and more
fulfilled as they enable Average Joes to become workplace superstars.
 Sick Leave – The employers suffer less from infections as they are not in an office
environment on a daily basis. And less infections means less sick leave expenses.
 Remote workers have more time to exercise and they tend to have healthier diet options
available. The benefits of having a healthy workforce are obvious and far-ranging, from
taking fewer sick days to maintaining concentration.
Cost Benefits for Employees
 The first and most obvious benefits include saving on fuel, transport, parking, vehicle
maintenance.
 One of our employees said that working in office, he used to spend on average Rs 150 per
day on lunch, Rs 50 for Tea/coffee and around Rs 50 on public transport. Wow, that’s more
that’s around Rs 250 per day or Rs.5500 per month! Preparing healthy food at home is far
more cost effective.

Other Benefits for Employees

 Time saved on commuting can be spent on extra work hours, leisure, socializing or on
chores.
 A flexible schedule is a no brainer. You can take breaks at any moment, feel no rush to hang
up on your family members when they call, and eat lunch at any weird time you want.
 Flexible work hours. Some of us are morning people, and some are night owls. Flexible
work hours allows you to choose when you work best.
 Healthier lifestyles – The employers suffer less from infections as they are not in an office
environment on a daily basis.
 Sick leave – If you or the kids are unwell, working from home allows you the flexibility to
do some or no work depending on your situation. You might have a mild flu that keeps you
from the office but still allows you to be semi productive at home.
 Improved work/life balance.
The benefits of working from home are clearly great for both employees and organizations
although it has many difficulties. We hope these changing times will encourage a shift from
traditional work practices to a more future savvy way that has many benefits on our health,
our environment, our productivity and for the organizations that provide our means to live a
happy and healthy lifestyle.

Questions:

1. What are the Organizational Tools to track the Employee Engagement in work?
2. What are the procedure on implementing a Remote Work Policy?
3. What are the challenges of the working from home?
4. Can the practice of Remote Work bring changes in behavior? Answer with justification.
Answers:

1. What are the Organizational Tools to track the Employee Engagement in work?

Synergy Nepal implement various tools to ensure employees are focused on their work.
Synergy use Time and Task software for managing hours worked. We use teamwork for
project, task and time keeping functionality.

 Where relevant, our staff quote estimated time for jobs and this allows us to manage
expenses and monitor productivity.
 Use an online learning platform policy sharing and training.
 Use technology like Skype for quick conversations, text messages, image and file sharing.
 Hold regular online meetings with video and screen share technology. Eg teams, Zoom

2. What are the procedure on implementing a Remote Work Policy?

Organizations should equip employees with the technology they need to do their job easily.

The company should ensure:

 Ensure employees are equipped with discipline and clear instructions, tasks and goals.
 Implement a team mentality to ensure employees remain engaged with their team based
goals. Be clear about timeframes and status updates and that you have a system in place to
measure productivity.
 Make sure workers have adequate devices and software to work with.
 Ensure staff are clear about who to contact for help eg IT dept for software assistance,
Admin for timesheets.

3. What are the challenges of the working from home?

The following are the challenges of working from home.

1. Managing Your Own Schedule & Time

The concept of “normal business hours” remains in use all across the globe because it works as
an efficient time management tool. When you have set hours, you know when you’re supposed to
work and when you’re free to pursue other interests or spend time with your family. You can make
plans days, weeks, or months in advance because you know when you’re going to be working.
Without that structure, many at-home workers find themselves in big trouble. They sleep in, they
procrastinate, and they tell themselves they’ll knock it out later on. Suddenly, they look at the
clock and realize their kids come home from school soon — and they didn’t do what they’d
intended to do. That leaves them with a choice: work through the evening or just procrastinate
further. Many conventional employees complain about the structure of a regular schedule. But it
actually serves them far better than they realize.

2. Blurred Line between Personal & Professional Life

On the other side of the coin, when you work from home, you no longer have a clear geographic
division between workspace and personal space. Ideally, your home is a place of relaxation, safety,
and security. It’s a place where you subconsciously slip into a calm, easygoing state of mind,
putting the stresses of the workday behind you. Working from home punches a hole right through
that neat mental division. Many telecommuters complain they feel like they’re never off the job.
They always feel a compulsion to check email or get “just one last thing done.”

3. Distractions

Even if you decide on a set schedule and have a dedicated space to work, actually staying
productive during your working hours can prove challenging if you’re working from home.
Surrounded by your personal belongings and reminders of chores, it’s hard to focus. Distractions
like your TV, books, and the laundry start calling to you. Despite planning to work until 12:30
before breaking for lunch, you find an excuse to break early. If your family members also happen
to be home, they don’t hesitate to interrupt you at every opportunity. It’s one of the many reasons
I avoid working from my home — to remove those distractions and keep a firm barrier between
my work life and home life.

4. Reduced Supervision & Direction

People love to gripe about their bosses. But bosses serve a crucial purpose, providing direction and
supervision. They not only tell you what you need to do, but they give you feedback about your
progress on it. When you work from home, you tend to get less supervision and direction. Your
boss (or clients, as the case may be) typically doesn’t give you as much guidance — guidance
many remote employees desperately need to stay on track.

5. Communication & Coordination Challenges

It’s hard enough to hold productive in-person meetings to coordinate different team members’
efforts to remain aligned. When everyone works from home, it becomes all the harder to stay on
the same page. Human beings rely on nonverbal communication when they speak. But emails,
phone calls, and even video calls remove much of the nuance from how we communicate. Just
think back to the last time someone misinterpreted an email or text message you sent for a quick
example.
This problem is so inherent in virtual businesses that an entire industry has sprung up to solve it.
Team collaboration and communication tools like Slack exist specifically to make it easier for
companies to stay in touch and stay organized.

4. Can the practice of Remote Work bring changes in behavior?

Work from home saves the travel time to the office which can be spent on extra work
hours, leisure, socializing or on chores. The first and most obvious benefits include saving
on fuel, transport, parking, vehicle maintenance. Such things make the individuals satisfied
with job. Some of the advantage of work from home are as follows which motivated to
work extra works.

 saving you money - save on start-up costs, as you do not need to buy or rent business
premises
 saving you time - save time that would be spent on looking for suitable business property
 more flexibility - avoid becoming tied into long term tenancy agreements
 family commitments - arrange work around family commitments
 help from family - for example they may help you with filing or general administration
tasks
 minimize travelling time - save on time and money spent travelling to work
 less distractions - avoid the noise and distractions of the workplace