remote working and sme's does working remotely boost or inhibit the productivity of small...
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Remote Working and SMEs:A study into the working preferences of small businesses in North America
Foreword
Hello!
Welcome to 'Remote Working and SME's: A Study into the Working Preferences of Small Businesses in North America'.
When we recently surveyed 275 small businesses across North America, we asked them in-depth questions about their preferred working habits. Here are just a few of the interesting facts we discovered:
The majority of small businesses in North America work remotely on a regular basisMany believe that working in this way improves quality-of-lifeMost participants would rather work from home when working on creative tasks
Plus, we also got an insight into what SMEs believe would improve remote working models.
Here we take a closer look at how the working preferences of SMEs and how these habits impact their business. We think you'll find the results interesting...
Stefanie NeylandCopywriting and Communications Manager
Overview
81% of small businesses work remotely.
81 per cent of small businesses surveyed either work remotely, or employ others who work remotely
19 per cent of small businesses surveyed don't work remotely
Number of SME's That Work Remotely
Remote working
93% of small businesses work remotely at least once per week
Number of Days Per Week Spent Working Remotely
38 per cent of businesses surveyed work remotely all the time
14 per cent of businesses surveyed work remotely 3 – 4 times per week
30 per cent of businesses surveyed work remotely 1 – 2 times per week
7 per cent of businesses surveyed never work remotely
Productivity
56% of small businesses think remote working increases productivity.
56 per cent of small businesses believe remote working increases productivity
24 per cent don't believe remote working increases productivity
20 per cent aren't sure whether it does or not
Percentage of businesses that think working remotely increases productivity
Quality of Life
88% of small businesses think remote working improves quality of life.
Number of SME's That Believe Working Remotely Improves Quality of Life
88 per cent of businesses surveyed think working remotely improves quality of life
12 per cent of those surveyed don't believe it does
Preferences
53% of small businesses prefer working from home.
Percentage of SME's That Prefer Working From Home
53 per cent of businesses surveyed prefer working from home
39 per cent of businesses surveyed prefer working at an office
8 per cent prefer working elsewhere (coffee shops, outdoors, etc.)
Creativity
60% of small businesses prefer working from home when working on on creative tasks.
60 per cent of businesses surveyed prefer working on creative tasks at home.
25 per cent prefer working on creative tasks in an office environment.
15 per cent prefer working elsewhere (such as a coffee shop, outdoors, etc.)
Where businesses prefer to work on creative tasks
Logical Tasks
44% of small businesses would rather work at an office when doing logical or repetitive tasks.
44 per cent of small businesses prefer working on logical tasks in an office environment.
49 per cent prefer working on logical or repetitive tasks at home.
7 per cent prefer working elsewhere (such as a coffee shop, outdoors, etc.)
Where businesses prefer to work on logical tasks
Advantages
71% of small businesses think the best thing about working remotely is the savings they make.
Less stress
Improves well being
Helps achieve work-life balance
Improves productivity
Saves on costs
Increases efficiency
Helps with employee retention
50% 60% 70% 80%
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ore
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ore
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%
The advantages of working remotely for small businesses surveyed:
Disadvantages
56% of small businesses think the lack of team spirit is the biggest disadvantage of working remotely.
Trust and accountability
Security
Lack of team spirit
Equipment
30% 40% 50% 60%
The disadvantages of working remotely for small businesses surveyed:
*Par
ticip
ants
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le to
sel
ect m
ore
than
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ion,
so
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ges
may
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ore
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100
%
Improvements
Small businesses believe a daily or weekly progress report and a weekly face-to-face meeting would help remote business models.
Daily update call
Daily or weekly progress report
Weekly face-to-face meeting
Monthly face-to-face meeting
Weekly team conference call
Regular team face-to-face meeting
20% 30% 40% 50%
The most effective measures small businesses feel would improve remote business models:
Summary
Key findings:
1. A majority of North American small businesses work remotely.
2. They believe working remotely improves quality of life.
3. They miss the sense of team spirit that working in an office brings.
About BizLaunch
Over the past eight years we've become North America's most trusted small business advisors. We've worked with Fortune 500 companies to improve their brand presence with over 100,000 entrepreneurs by providing high quality webinars, seminars, marketing content and training. We understand entrepreneurs because we are entrepreneurs. Bizlaunch Founder & CEO, Andrew Patricio, has started seven businesses, authored two books, and is an internationally recognized small business expert who has delivered over 100 key note speeches across the globe. But our small business expertise doesn't end there. Everyone from our content developers to our presenters know what it’s like to start, run and grow a business—because they've done it themselves.