Almost half of agents want their agencies' cultures to shift to one of increased remote work, found a poll by Goodlord.
The Goodlord team
Jul 20, 2020
Only 10% of lettings professionals want to go back to the office on a full-time basis at the end of the pandemic, found a recent poll conducted by Goodlord, which shows that many people have embraced the benefits of working from home during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Almost half of poll respondents - 47% - said that would prefer to work from the office only if there was increased flexibility to work from home, while a further 24% said they would prefer to work from home on a part-time basis and 20% said they would prefer to work from home full-time. Although the poll included only a small sample size, the results are likely to reflect shifting views to remote working all over the world as a result of an extended lockdown.
Forty-one percent of poll respondents said that they would like “their agency’s culture shift to a more remote working model” and a further 32% said that they had enjoyed working from home and “it had changed my perspective on remote working”. Twenty-two respondents said they had found working from home “hard at times, but it also had it’s benefits”. Only 5% of respondents said that they had “found it very difficult and they can't wait to get back to the office”.
Many respondents cited the benefits of working from home as being improved work-life balance, with the absence of a commute meaning more time to spend at home, while others cited more flexibility and a reduction in stress. “Not having to leave so early and get home after 7 has been life changing!” said one respondent. Nineteen percent of respondents cited the increased productivity due to a lack of distractions as being one of the key benefits of working from home.
However, the poll also identified several challenges to working from home, with 28% percent of respondents citing the lack of social interaction they would have had in an office environment as what they found most challenging about working from home, with many commenting that they felt “slightly disconnected from the hubbub of the office” and “not being able to socialise with colleagues”.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, 24% of respondents cited “interruptions from children” as being one of the biggest challenges about working from home, while access to the right information, tools, and having the visibility to get the job done was a struggle for 20% of respondents. Interestingly, only one respondent cited difficulty staying motivated.
