Remote
working has become the new norm around the world. The Covid-19 pandemic did not
give the app
developers in Kenya much of a choice. Working from home now is the only
sure way to stay safe and maintain monthly income.
Despite the
safety and convenience that remote working presents, it has its shortcomings.
You must have heard about poor collaboration and data security issues.
Employers
are slow in trusting remote workers. Distractions and network issues are also
mentioned often as challenges to effective remote working.
However,
some of the challenges that remote workers face are rarely mentioned. It is
almost as if remote workers are expected to find solutions on their own yet the
issues affect their performance.
Here are
some of the unusual challenges that our app developers have reported so far.
Loneliness
Remote
workers have tens of tools for collaboration with other team members. Video
calls are now cheap and readily available on many platforms.
Social media
platforms are good alternatives to stay connected to friends while working
remotely.
However,
none of these tools takes away the loneliness that comes with working from
home. The feeling is worse when you first transition from an office setting to
a home office.
For iOS developers
in Kenya loneliness is amplified when issues arise that only other
developers can understand. For instance, you cannot just talk to family members
about debugging.
The Covid-19
crisis has just made the loneliness worse with the calls for social distancing
and staying at home.
Even after
the crisis, remote workers still have to contend with the isolation associated
with working from home.
Resentment
Family is always
a welcome distraction when working from a home office. You can only control it
to a certain limit.
People
understand when you need a few hours to work. However, long hours of no
interaction every day in the home setting come with resentment.
In the world
of kids, parents being at home means playtime. The more parents say no the
more the kids resent them. Older kids may not show it but they feel the gap too.
Sometimes
parents feel guilty and abandon their work. However, the demands of the jobs
for workers such as Android developers in Kenya do not allow such compromise.
The
resentment affects the working parent or family member’s emotional health,
which may eventually affect their performance.
Finding the
balance between family and work is a tough call for remote workers.
Undefined working hours
When does
work end when working from home? Well, it is easy to say that one will log off
at a particular time.
Some
freelance app developers try to follow the 9 to5 work schedule. The schedule
works for a while until a tough project comes along.
Some
development projects take months, especially when developing customised apps.
The result
is developers working into the night on many occasions. Once the undefined
working hours start, it is hard to go back to a defined schedule.
The greatest
disadvantage of such an approach is the lack of balance between the work and
play.
Eventually,
the lack of balance shows in terms of slowed performance.
Conclusion
Remote working
maybe the new normal even after the Covid-19 crisis is over. All workers
including app developers must prepare for this reality and the challenges that
come with it. Knowing the challenges before taking the leap from the office to
remote working helps with the preparation.
