Many people see remote work as an incredible opportunity. And they are right to do so. No more rushing to the office in the morning. No more sitting in a room where there is always a lack of sunlight. Instead, you get to be flexible and choose your own location to work from. You also get at least an extra hour in the morning to sleep in. Your spouse, your kids, or your pets get to spend more time with you. Additionally, you save money on office attire, especially if you have a dress code. These are some of the advantages of remote work that make it very attractive to a lot of people.
Remote work: the other side of the coin
One can go on and on about different advantages of remote work. Unfortunately, there is always the other side of the coin. Some difficulties that we face in home office are the following:
The boundaries of the workday are blurred.
It can get difficult to completely distract yourself from household chores.
Boring routine of constantly staring at the computer screen.
Lack of visual representation and change of scenery.
Importance of visual representation
Who are visual learners?
A lot of people out there claim to be “visual learners”. People of this psychotype have a well-developed visual memory. They perceive the world mainly in visual images, and they better digest information presented to them visually – in the form of an image, a video, a graph, or a map.
How does visualization work?
Visualization helps us to perceive information more effectively. A few seconds are enough for a person to understand the meaning of a sign or advertising image. The same thing goes for maps – have you ever tried to explain someone a location of that cute coffee shop that you discovered using words? You most likely either gave up and pulled up a map on your phone, unless the person you were talking to did that first.
Maps as a visual representation tool
“Oh, I know where it is!” – the words that we say or hear a few seconds after the location has been pinpointed on a map. Our brain already contains a lot of visual information, and together with the new information we receive, it’s easier to put it together and remember it for the future. This proves the effectiveness of maps and visual representation as a whole.
Navigating
Planning routes
Determining next actions
Inspiring a will to travel and learn about other countries
In addition, a map is a universal language that can be understood by a representative of any nationality.
Map Pro app for Microsoft Teams
Map Pro app for Microsoft Teams from Witivio is a simple tool that helps save locations and plan trips all in one place. It is a great solution for those who are tired of dealing with shared Word and Excel documents for keeping track of different addresses.
Maps in general are a good visual representation of data. During remote work, our eyes get really tired of all the numbers and spreadsheets, whereas a map can simplify complicated or hard-to-explain information, such as distance between places or their exact location. Map Pro for Teams does just that – all without having to switch to a different application or open a map in the browser.
Most likely, working remotely is going to stay with us for a long time – and it's time for us to adapt. Companies that have chosen a remote format and corporate mobility as their long-term strategy gain profit, reduce costs, and significantly increase the efficiency of business processes. Those companies that closed their offices during the coronavirus outbreak may realize that they benefit from it – and no longer want to go back to the traditional business model.
In the fight against social stress caused by isolation from the team and the feeling of drowning in a bunch of text documents, better communication tools like Map Pro for Microsoft Teams will definitely help.
