Results: what you think about remote working

Last week was the first of our quick’n dirty industry check ins. Fast and furious surveys guaranteed to take less than 5 minutes (infact this one took less than 2 minutes).

Thanks to those who took the time to add their voice to the mix… here’s what we found about remote working.

Firstly, the figures

We shared on LinkedIn, Facebook and our newsletter database and received just over 175 replies in 10 days. Many came with extensive, additional notes. 🙏

Statistically surveys should have 200 to be deemed accurate. 100 is deemed acceptable.
Ours is upper middle.
Perhaps the next one is open for longer?

The big picture: what most think about remote working

When asked: are you more productive working from home? 64% said yes.

78% of employees
80% of solo operators
33% of business owners with between 2-5 employees
26% of business owners with between 6-10 employees
54% of business owners with over 11+ employees

thought they were more productive working remotely.

What’s interesting is the decrease in the middle cohort (business owners employing 2-10 employees).

A whopping 96% of business owners with between 2-5 employees and 80% of those with 6-10 employees said they work where they are most productive. (Later in the article we show that’s not remotely.)
58% of business owners employing 2-5 people and 27% of business owners with 6-10 employees never work remotely.

When asked what were the top 3 things impacting their choice

66% of all employees said it was more time efficient – not having to travel to/from the studio.
Only 22% said remote-work days were employer regulated. That leaves 78% of all employees free to choose where they work. That’s interesting.

Insight

In our experience, the decrease in numbers of business owners who employ between 2 and 10 employees working remotely is mostly likely because of their lack of middle-management. Creative business owners managing this size studio/agency are often hands-on, working with their team. Face-to-face collaboration is valuable.

Business owners with 11+ employees usually have middle management handling the day-to-day productive tasks. At this level, business owners are more likely to manage business strategy and development, making it easier for them to work remotely.

It is interesting that a vast majority of employees can choose where they work. This adds complexity to job descriptions and employment contracts.

When we asked: how many days do you work remotely compared to how many you would like to work remotely?

Interestingly, there was less than 4% difference in most of the figures, making it clear most employees, solo business owners and business owners who employ others, are happy with their remote working arrangements.

The largest difference was with employees.

4% of employees who work remotely full time said they would rather work from the studio more often

Talking specifically…

What employees think about remote working

Nearly 1 in 5 (19%) of all employees work remotely 5 days per week.
15% of these said that was their preference, meaning 4% would rather work from the studio more regularly.

28% worked remotely 2 days per week.
35% said they would prefer to work remotely 3 days per week.
9% work in the studio full time, while none said that was their preference.

Top 3 reasons impacting on choice

66% time – more efficient not having to travel to/from studio
48% productivity – I work where I am most productive
41% my mental/physical health

Insights

Our experience support these figures: employees like to work in a studio, but not fulltime.
3 days per week seems to be the sweet spot.
Employees like the flexibility of remote working and value the efficiency of less travel time.

77% of employees said they were more productive (as in effective) working remotely – worth saying that without any measurement or analysis, productive is a subjective term.

What solo business owners think

Anecdotally, solo business owners have the most flexibility to decide where to work. This survey supported that concept.

70% said they worked remotely (away from a studio) 5 days per week, and that was their preference. Only 7% worked from a studio fulltime.

Top 3 reasons impacting on choice

63% time – more efficient not having to travel to/from studio
60% space and preferences around my workspace
45% my mental/physical health

Insights

These figures make logical sense. If solo operators are not travelling to meet anyone in a studio – there’s little gain made for the effort. Efficiency seems to win out over mental/physical health aspects.

What business owners employing 2-5 people think

This is the largest contingency of people preferring to work from a studio.

58% of business owners employing 2-5 people never work remotely (and prefer it that way).
18% work remotely 5 days per week (and prefer it that way)

Top 3 reasons impacting on choice

96% productivity – I work where I am most productive
46% tasks – I choose where I work depending on what needs to be done
42% time – more efficient not having to travel to/from studio

Insights

A vast majority of this cohort (nearly 80%) either work remotely fulltime or not at all. Relatively few work 2 or 3 days per week. This is interesting, and may reflect the lack of middle-management.

It’s fair to assume studio infrastructure and methodology is probably set up for everyone (or no-one) to work remotely. That said, few of the respondents said they mandated work days.

What business owners employing 6-10 people think

Of those who responded, absolutely zero business owners employing 6-10 people work remotely either 5, 4 or 3 days per week.

40% worked remotely 2 days per week (although 30% prefer to)
33% worked remotely 1 day per week (although 40% would prefer to)
Nearly 1/3 of all didn’t work remotely at all, and preferred it.

Top 3 reasons impacting on choice

80% productivity – I work where I am most productive
53% time – more efficient not having to travel to/from studio
47% time – space and preferences around my workspace

Insights

Similar to business owners employing 2-5 employees, this cohort would not often include middle managers. They usually have a hands-on role in the studio/agency, directly interacting with the design team. They consider productivity as something that happens more in the studio (proven by the 73% choosing to work only 1-2 days per week remotely).

What business owners employing 11+ people think

Employing more than 11 people is a large studio by any standard – globally there are more studios employing less than 7 people than those employing more. A team of 12 is a multi-layered business, with employees of different skillsets and experience.

76% of business owners employing 11+ people work remotely 3 or more days per week
32% worked remotely 3 days per week
15% worked remotely 4 days per week and
38% of respondents worked remotely (and prefer to) 5 days per week.

Interestingly 15% never work remotely and prefer it that way.

Top 3 reasons impacting choice

92% productivity – I work where I am most productive
85% social – I like to choose how often I see my workmates
38% my mental/physical health

Insights

At this size, a middle management team would oversee the day-to-day operations of the studio/agency. The business owner’s role would include business strategy and development – tasks able to be done remotely. Literally working on the business not in the business

Take away

Most employees are getting to choose where they work.
Mid-sized studio owners tend to work more from the studio than remotely
Large size studio owners tend to work more remotely most likely because they have the middle-management support

So that’s a wrap for our first industry check-in. The aim was for a quick temperature-check of the industry and we got a positive response,with healthy numbers. We’re happy with the result and appreciate all who responded.

Yes, our questions could have been more explicit, especially for solo-operators who correctly questioned where is remote? We’ll work on that.

Results are still trickling in, so the learnings might be to further emphasis the timeline or keep it open for two rather than one week.

Want to discuss any of the above? Email Carol.

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Want more?

More information about new business and referrals:

1. 1. How clients find designers – insights from a UK survey
  2. The future of work from a home studio – global view
  3. Asking clients on what basis are you making this decision?

About Carol

After 30+ years running a design studio, I accumulated a pretty special network of fellow designers. One thing most have in common: a need for more information about the ‘business’ side of design. Most are impatient with any task competing for time spent doing what they love – designing so they wanted more info about how to work more efficiently and effectively.

Not me. I love that intersection between design and business. I built a career working with Ombudsman schemes, the Emergency Services sector and the Courts. My special power has always been an ability to use design to translate the difficult to understand or the unpalatable message.

I now use exactly the same skills with creative business owners. I translate the indigestible into bite-sized chunks of information. I share insights, introduce tools and embed processes to help others build confidence business decision-making skills. More confidence makes it easier to grasp opportunities. More confidence makes it easier to recognise a good client from the bad.

Outside DBC I have mentored with Womentor, AGDA and most recently with The Aunties.
And I’m a proud board member of Never Not Creative. Ask me about internships

Always happy to chat, I can be contacted here.

Our second site is designbusinessschool.com.au – Australia’s only business school for designers