We are talking about smart working again, this new way of working that allows us to save time and improve quality of life. Some time is also called teleworking. But, are we sure we are talking about the same thing?

The idea of smart working has now become part of our daily work life, as before were commuting, business meetings or lunch with colleagues. Now parents, after dropping off their children to school (thanks goodness) don’t run to the office anymore, but they go home to connect to a call or follow up on work duties from a cafe.

We also hear a lot the term teleworking, or remote working, as a synonym of smart working. Even though both are about working outside the office, they are not the same thing. Let’s go through the main differences.

I’m staying home, I’m teleworking

Arriving time is also the starting time. Fixed meetings, in conference calls and all round availability. Respecting the timetable. Here are some elements that characterise teleworking.

The difference with the office? The lack of movements and the place where activities take place. In other words, with teleworking we follow the same “rules” at home as in the office, this way having to conciliate in the best way the working hours while at home, with our private lives. Which is not always easy as if you have to respect – uninterruptedly – the 8 hours of work during the day.

After the call I’m going to the gym, I’m smart working

The day is organised combining a time for private life and one for the work life. This is the true meaning of agile working, it sees a path of mutual participation and trust between the employer and the collaborators, and being able to have more freedom.

So, it is possible to conciliate our job with personal life and not the other way around, so that the employees are able to organise their time dedicating that necessary to work and being able to dedicate the same attention to the activities or needs that interests them. There will always be calls and scheduled working working hours for which availability needs to be granted, also to discuss with colleagues the advancements of ongoing projects. But here what really matters is meeting the objectives on the pre-established times.

In the office or remotely?

This year around 8 million Italian started using this way of working out of the office, without being watched. But in the end, what really matters are the facts and, paradoxically, from remote is more evident verifying the real contribution of each collaborators because, if one does not go on, it risks also stopping the work of others.

Not always attendance is a synonym of productivity: it is necessary to rethink priorities and give the right freedom and responsibilities to each collaborator. You need to count on a team that, if well motivated will be able to reach the goals independently wherever they may be or work from.

The tools to be successful

What we are certain of is that, in any case, it is necessary to give to the employees the tools that would aid the reaching of these business goals and foster the sharing of ideas and projects among colleagues.

This is why, SweetHive, is a lot more than just a collaborative platform: is a model of sharing thought to create a collaborative experience most suited to every organisation.

A way of sharing conveyed by contexts, so to have everything under control. With a solution appropriate to any kind of organisation, it creates a working community that makes the collaborative experience develop for everyone, wherever they may be.