We live in a global economy. Your company could be located in Los Angeles, your developers in India, and customers spread across the globe.
It is common to do business with clients, customers, and vendors worldwide. It is best if you think globally to remain competitive. The virtual office allows you to stay connected to your organization and gives you the tools to conduct business anywhere in the world.
What is a Virtual Office?
A virtual office is a work environment that utilizes technology to allow employees to work from remote locations. This includes working from home, at a coffee shop, or even on the go. A virtual office allows for more flexibility and can be a great way to promote work-life balance. It is an excellent way for businesses to remain agile and connected, even when their workforce is spread across the globe.
A virtual office combines off-site live communication and address services, allowing users to reduce traditional office costs while maintaining business professionalism.
There are many benefits of a virtual office, including:
- Cost savings. On average, remote workers can lower operating and real estate costs by $11k per employee. Additionally, they will personally save $4k by avoiding the costs of having to work in an office.
- Increase in employee retention, satisfaction, and work-life balance.
- Decrease in employee absenteeism and attrition.
- Possible increase in flexibility in work hours and workspace.
- Decrease in energy and fuel requirements for commuting.
- Expands the candidate pool. You can significantly diversify your candidate pool by including stay-at-home parents, millennials, military spouses, people with disabilities, and other candidates with excellent qualifications that meet your needs.
But some risks come along with a virtual office, like:
- Security concerns for staff working with sensitive information. When working with sensitive information, you must ensure that your data is secure. One option is to use a secure VPN connection, encrypt your data, and use secure file-sharing services.
- Isolation and loneliness. Working from home can be isolating, and you may miss the social interaction that comes with working in an office. To combat this, take breaks to step away from your work, take walks, and schedule time to interact with others.
- Distractions at home. It can be challenging to stay focused when working from home, as many distractions exist. To combat this, try to create a dedicated workspace, set regular work hours, and take breaks.
- Technology problems. When working remotely, you rely on technology to stay connected to your colleagues and customers. This can be challenging when technical difficulties arise. To combat this, ensure you have a backup plan, such as a backup internet connection or a backup office location.
- Less opportunity for collaboration. It’s hard to replicate the entrepreneurial efforts of face-to-face collaboration. You can try to combat this by using video conferencing, chat tools, and project management software.
- Possible increased cost to the employee for working from home. The employee may now have a higher internet cost or opt to move to another location with higher rent to gain a dedicated office.
A virtual office is a great way to promote work-life balance and remain agile and connected despite the risks. When done correctly, it can be an excellent way to do business.
The Hybrid Office
A hybrid office consists of remote staff and staff working from a centralized office—mixing the best of both options.
The pandemic has forced organizations to rapidly adopt new technologies and practices to enable their employees to work remotely. For many companies, this is the first time they have had to support an entirely remote workforce, and they are still trying to figure out what works best for their business.
Only 8% of remote employees are willing to return full-time to work after the pandemic, according to the Remote Work & Compensation Pulse Survey. While 48% of workers want to work from home permanently, the remaining 44% want to work from home part of the week.
The hybrid office is the best of both worlds since it allows staff members to choose where they are the most productive and work from there. Sometimes that might be in the office, and other times it might be from home or elsewhere. Some workers might always work in the office, but others might work from home a couple of days per week.
The Essentials of the Virtual Office
To work remotely, you must have some essentials in your virtual back office to succeed. Cloud technology will be the powerhouse of your virtual office. The cloud is a set of remote servers accessed over the internet. It allows you to store data, applications, and files on remote servers and access them from anywhere in the world.
You will need to choose the proper hardware and devices for working remotely. This might include a laptop, smartphone, tablet, and other devices that will allow you to stay connected to your colleagues and customers. The right software and platforms are essential for a successful virtual office. You will need to choose applications that allow you to communicate with your team, access files remotely, and collaborate on projects.
Some things you will need to be successful include:
- Communications to stay in contact.
- Remote access to your files and documents across all your devices.
- Security to keep your information private.
- Applications or Cloud services to support remote work.
- Collaboration tools to work with your team.
- Dedicated, private workspace with comfortable seating.
- Lightweight but powerful laptop.
- Fast, consistent, high-quality Internet access.
- Smartphone, which can be used as a hotspot.
- Good office chair, keyboard, and mouse.
- Minimum of two monitors
- Headset and webcam for video conferencing.
Tips For Working Remote
Here are some tips to help you be successful when working remotely:
- Write down your goals and objectives. Attempt to identify and resolve your biggest hurdles and roadblocks to be effective. Set work hours and daily limits. Generally, you will find yourself working more than 40 hours a week. Don’t forget to take a lunch break!
- Communicate regularly with your colleagues and clients on the status of projects and deliverables. Communication is key. Be available for social interaction with your colleagues. When meeting with staff or clients, have your camera on. Avoid multitasking and be engaged with the conversation.
- And lastly, track your time on projects, set milestones, and identify success metrics. Knowing how you spend your time will help you be more efficient and productive.
The Future of Work is Remote
The pandemic has forced organizations to rapidly adopt new technologies and practices to enable their employees to work remotely. For many companies, this is the first time they have had to support an entirely remote workforce, and they are still trying to figure it out.
The trend toward remote work is here to stay. A recent study by Gartner found that 82% of organizations plan to allow employees to work at least some time remotely, even after the pandemic ends.
Remote work is no longer a perk but a necessity for many companies. The question is no longer if remote work is possible but how to do it effectively.
Virtual offices are the future of work. They allow organizations to be agile, adapt to change, and attract and retain the best talent. Any organization can build a cutting-edge virtual office with the right tools and processes.
Do you have what it takes to work remotely?
If you are considering working remotely, you should consider a few things. First, consider your personal preferences and whether you prefer to work in an office or from home. There are pros and cons to both.
Second, look at your current job and see if it is possible to do it remotely. Not all jobs can be done remotely, but many can with creativity and flexibility.
Finally, consider the company you work for and whether they support remote work. Some companies are more flexible than others, and ensuring your employer is on board with the idea before making the switch is essential.
Learn more about building a virtual office by signing up our 3-part podcast series
Building A Cutting Edge Virtual Office – Part 1
1 Credit | Computer Science
Steve M. Yoss
$19
Building A Cutting Edge Virtual Office – Part 2
1 Credit | Computer Science
Steve M. Yoss
$19
Building A Cutting Edge Virtual Office – Part 3
