What to Do When the Gig Economy Is Not the Right Fit for Your Project

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With the gig economy growing, hiring remote workers has never been more popular. It’s convenient, it’s affordable, and it often takes that pesky factor of location out of the mix when you’re trying to find the perfect person.

Some job roles, however, will benefit from being tackled in-person, even if it’s possible to do the work remotely. We discovered this firsthand at Transcription Outsourcing, which is why we extended our offerings to in-person transcription work instead of just being sent a digital file.

There are some sacrifices you make when you choose to hire remote workers or agencies. Let’s take a look at what’s at stake for you.

1. Meaning Is Never Lost in an Email

Have you ever gotten an email that seemed massively passive aggressive or even a little rude, but then talked to the person on the phone or in person and realized that it came across all wrong? Maybe one person was in a hurry and had to reply shortly, and that was that.

A lot can be left up for interpretation when you’re relying on email or live-chat options like Slack, and that can directly negatively impact work productivity.

Working together in person will help everyone stay on the same page, and if someone has a question up front, they’re more likely to address it then instead of stewing over what it means for two hours.

2. Relationship Building is Easier

We like to say that “business isn’t personal.” That couldn’t be less true.

We all prefer working with people that we know, like, and trust, whether that includes employees, freelancers, or third-party agencies. Establishing relationships is an important part of a strong working environment, and it almost always yields a better product as a result.

When you’re working remotely, relationship building is naturally more challenging, and trust can be harder to form. Though some pleasantries will be exchanged, small talk is kept to more of a minimum and most of the conversation will be to-the-point about what needs to be accomplished.

3. There’s Less Waiting

If you had a giant, important, anxiety-inducing question, would you rather wait on an email for two days or walk over to the person you’re working with and have it cleared up in about two minutes?

In-person communication will speed things up significantly. A conversation that takes two minutes could take several hours or longer while you wait for confirmation or clarification from multiple parties who are trying to tackle different things.

Working together in person will also reduce a lot of potential for technology issues. You can cut out those “Hey, Jane, are you still here? Jane? Jane?” caused by issues including everything from the internet to the chat platform to those new headphones you’re testing out. Anyone who has been on a call-in conference call will understand how valuable this benefit is.

4. The Security Benefits Matter

Confidentiality is important in business, and the more you can handle in person, the less exposed to security risks you may be. Online relationships, after all, require that every stage of the project and all communication happens over the internet, making it more susceptible to security risks.

This matters for all businesses, but it’s a particular concern for those who have more need for high security and confidentiality.

At Transcription Outsourcing, we knew that certain businesses had higher security and confidentiality needs than others and would benefit from onsite confidential services, so we launched onsite transcription for these cases.

Organizations like banks or financial institutions, for example, require a high degree of both security and confidentiality, and sharing too much information online could open them and their consumers up to security risks. You also have call centers who are dealing with sensitive information or expensive contract negotiation meetings that must be kept private, and everything from high-profile legal cases or documentary notes should be kept away from intentionally prying eyes.

Remote workers are convenient, but sometimes long-distance work doesn’t cut it. There are several significant benefits that you can only truly achieve by working with someone in-person, and losing them is a steep cost to pay for sheer convenience. If the job role you have in mind would take an enormous hit by losing any of the above advantages of in-person work, consider finding the right person locally instead.

Guest Author: Benjamin Walker