More and more businesses are seeing the benefits of a virtual workplace. Often, it can save the organization money because there isn’t a need for physical office space but it also appeals to employees because it gives them the flexibility to work from anywhere they want. In recent years, the number of American employees working remotely has been on the rise and new technology has made this easier than ever. A virtual work environment can be great for companies because there are much lower overhead costs and employees can cut down on commute time and increase productivity. Furthermore, a virtual environment gives companies access to employees all over the world. If you made the decision to transition from a traditional office to a virtual environment, consider these tips to help you get off to a strong start.
Communicate with Employees
Before moving employees to a virtual office, organizations must clearly communicate their reasons for making this transition. You will want to communicate what led to the transition and exactly what this transition will look like to employees. You also want to inform employees of when you will be making this transition and what they can expect.
Set Clear Guidelines and Expectations
It is important that you share the expectations, benefits, and logistics with your team up front. Without a strict set of guidelines, you run the risk of employees not performing their duties. Be sure that employees are clear about your rules for working remotely and make sure they have clear goals in place so they know exactly how to meet your expectations.
Consider Hybrid Virtual Offices
Not everyone will be thrilled about the idea of working from home. For some workers, this can be a challenge due to pets, children, and roommates. In other instances, employees may prefer to work in an office environment. Furthermore, there might be times when in-person meetings are necessary of employers need to engage personally to accomplish a task.Thus, businesses should consider having a small office equipped with a meeting room and a few individual work stations. This gives employees the option to come into an office and it also provides a meeting space when in-person meetings are necessary.
Shared, Collaborative Work-space
Virtual workers need to be able to communicate, collaborate, and share ideas with their colleagues all in one place. This helps them to work synonymously with one another to ensure that tasks are completed on time. Shared work-space tools like Confluence,Slack, Basecamp, and Uberconference are an absolute must in a virtual work environment. These tools make team communication attainable.
Video Conferencing Services
One thing is certain when you transition from a traditional office to a virtual work environment: there will be fewer face-to-face meetings. This means there will need to be some way to communicate with colleagues and clients who are located all over the country. Video conferencing services make it possible to conduct meetings with people from any remote location. A few examples of video conferencing services include Zoom, GoToMeeting, and Google Hangouts.