Thanks to new methods and innovative tools, Swiss teleworking has become the new divide of the moment! Armed with several supporting advantages for both managers and employees, this way of working gives access to new horizons, particularly in terms of economy. This opportunity is mainly due to the emergence of the Internet. But before embarking on the beaten track, it is essential to understand how it works. Take stock!
Teleworking: origins and significance
Also known as “remote work”, teleworking is defined as a professional activity carried out remotely from the place where the result of the work is expected. The concept is quite different from the ordinary work that takes place on the premises of a company. In other words, teleworking can be done from home or from any workspace outside the company. It is therefore similar to offshoring, the dematerialization of the workspace as well as the use of information technologies.
With the advent and persistence of Covid-19, the government wants to be more and more rigorous: the practice of teleworking is essential to limit the spread of the virus. If the concept has been on the rise since the arrival of the pandemic, it is clear that it has already been practiced since the 1950s for the benefit of different professions.
The idea of working remotely has taken shape in the tertiary sector which has seen a strong increase over time and which now represents more than 75 % of the economy in 2020.
The different modes of teleworking
To clear up the confusion and allow employees to find the right balance, legislation obliges every employer to adopt the form of telework that is best suited to their activity. Thus, managers who wish to turn to telework on an ad hoc or continuous basis will have the choice between:
- Total teleworking during which the employee is completely on his own, working entirely remotely, and most of the time, from his home. In this case, trips to company offices are not necessary, unless there are ad hoc needs (team meetings, events, etc.).
- Partial teleworking, which consists of distributing hours and working time between employees. The latter can then alternate working hours at home and office hours. This form necessarily depends on the needs of each company knowing that there are works that can be managed remotely and others that must be carried out on the premises.
- “Nomadic” teleworking, the operation of which is reserved for workers who have to move regularly from one place to another to carry out their missions? In this way, the employee performs his duties remotely only when traveling. On the other hand, if he is on site, an office is reserved for him on the premises of the company.
- Teleworking in a satellite office, a trend in which the employee has the possibility of working in external offices such as coworking spaces.
The basics for organizing teleworking in a company
The watchwords being flexibility and a relationship of trust, teleworking is nevertheless linked to legal modalities which involve both managers and their employees. This implies, among other things, compliance with cost regulations which force the company to make the necessary resources available to employees. In addition to this condition, the law also insists on taking out accident insurance, health protection as well as security and confidentiality rules.
If these standards are respected, the progress of teleworking depends on an organization specific to each company. At this stage, it is now a question of working methods, the most widely used of which is agile management. Agility comes down to adopting a state of mind that promotes communication, initiative and employee motivation. This operation sets aside the hierarchy and promotes exchanges through which teamwork, decision making, creativity and process improvement through feedback are the priorities.
Finally, companies must deploy efficient tools to cover remote exchanges. Management Tools (Asana, Microsoft
Project, Trello, Monday, etc.), communication tools (Slack, Teams, Zoom, Skype, etc.) and collaborative spaces (Google Workspace, Microsoft Office 365, etc.) are essential to maintain organization and productivity.
