Many businesses are moving toward a virtual type of work environment. By doing this, they can cut down on rent fees, office equipment, and commuting costs. The majority of employees actually prefer to work from home, cutting out commute costs entirely. The increase in employee satisfaction often results in an increase in work productivity and the virtual office is a win win for everyone. However, there are some parts of a traditional work office that cannot be achieved in the remote setting. Fortunately, the growing number of remote employees is forcing business professionals to solve these problems.
Inability to work on teams
Remote work environments are perfect for those that complete work tasks on their own. However, it can be difficult for industries that require some level of teamwork. Different office solutions have already begun to solve this problem. There are a variety of remote team communication platforms. In addition to Email and messaging chat, team members can directly view and make changes to coworker?s projects. For larger groups, web discussions or virtual meeting rooms are the perfect solution. Approximately 67% of professionals agree that working remotely is productive. Find these productive individuals the ability to work together and you will be left with extremely productive teams.
Lack of furnished offices
When choosing a physical office space, you probably look for a space that can accommodate both employees and customers. You also look for something that can store all of your business products and office solutions, including computers, printers, and fax machines. Fully furnished offices can be beneficial in some industries. If your type of business requires furnished offices, it might be necessary to provide these items to your employees in their home offices. For example, if you require that they have a separate landline with specific head phones, it can be beneficial to provide them with these tools. Even after providing these tools to your remote employees, you will still find significant cost savings with the lack of rent. Nearly 6 out of 10 employers identify cost savings as a significant benefit to telecommuting.
No physical meeting rooms
A lack of meeting rooms can also be a concern to those who primarily work virtually. Although employees can meet virtually, over internet based chat rooms, this is not always the best option for new clients or customers. If your business relies on new client meetings, you can still find physical meeting rooms locally. You can rent them by the hour and you can arrange them near the potential client?s home city. Some clients and customers, however, will find virtual meetings perfectly acceptable.
Lack of tracking abilities
Many employers with in office employees track their work productivity simply by if they showed up to the office or not. It turns out that this is actually not a great measurement of productivity among employees. Employers that have yet to move to virtual offices worry about how often their workers will actually complete their work tasks. In today?s technological world, however, you can implement a tracking process that tracks completed tasks or calls. Additionally, studies show that employees working in a remote environment are actually more motivated.
Sun Microsystem found that employees working at home use 60% of the time they would have spent commuting actually doing work. It is also possible that you will see an increase in completed work tasks, especially when employees are measured on the number of tasks, rather than the number of hours spent working. Most employees today would rather get paid by the type and quality of work they complete and not the number of house they clock. The best virtual office setting allows this new working thought pattern to succeed.
Physical, furnished offices are becoming a thing of the past. More and more employees are moving their offices to their homes. They are chatting virtually and completing work tasks from their home office. This new working model offers many benefits, both to the employee and to the employer. As new problems arise, they are instantly solved. You can now experience virtual teamwork, meeting rooms, and even tracking software for your virtual employees.