Virtual offices are fast becoming a popular way to avoid the need to set up a physical headquarters for your employees. In the past, and perhaps still currently, trust was a major roadblock for business owners.
It’s a hard decision to allow your employees to work remotely via a virtual headquarters, rather than being front-and-center in a traditional business setting. The biggest fear being that productivity will be diminished, putting the future of a company at risk.
The plain and simple truth is that a virtual headquarters will actually boost productivity and increase employee satisfaction rates. Here are 8 ways a virtual headquarters will improve you and your team’s productivity.
1. No commute
Australians spend a whopping average 80 minutes commuting to work. Workers in the United States spend slightly less at around 75 minutes commute time. The average Canadian spends 30 minutes getting to work in the morning. The fact is, there’s a lot of people out there who’re frustrated they have to spend so much time getting to work.
Virtual HQ services offered by companies like VirtualHeadquarters.com.au eliminate the need to commute to work in order to be close to your team. The office is located in the cloud, using collaboration tools that can keep the doors open 24/7, allowing for better work-life balance for all involved.
2. Less in-fighting and similar issues
Arguments are a given in any human relationship. They’re inevitable, but when employees are stuffed into an office together, problems will arise more often than not. Someone gets hungry and steals another person’s lunch when nobody’s looking. Then, there’s the issue of office supplies and other amenities being misplaced, used without permission, etc. Not to mention the array of personality conflicts that can arise just because one person doesn’t like the sound of their coworker tapping on their desk or how they walk.
A virtual office eliminates this problem because everyone can work in their own space, while communicating as needed.
3. Employees can use the tools they feel most comfortable with
Another cool perk of virtual headquarters that boosts productivity is that everyone on the team can use their own tools. They can work at home on their desktop PC, or in a Starbucks on their laptop, etc. Productivity immediately goes up when a virtual office is put into place where employees can congregate remotely, yet work with their own tools, from their own preferred location.
The added benefit for employers with small, medium, or large teams to manage is that there’s also no need to provide and maintain expensive technology.
4. No need to be in a set location for meetings
Meetings are a breeze when a virtual office is used by freelancers and their clients, or SMEs and corporations to take care of meetings. Meetings can be held anywhere and include employees and contractors from all areas of the globe, without the need for expensive infrastructure and IT staff.
Virtual offices eliminate the need for commuting to meetings, renting conference rooms, and RSVP’ing, and the time involved with each.
5. Limitless flexibility for team members to work on their own preferred schedule
The trouble with traditional work atmospheres is finding talent that can work on the same schedule. This isn’t just an issue for people who prefer working through the day versus the night, or vice versa. Virtual staff can sign in via a virtual office, catch up on instructions and pertinent news, then immediately get right to work.
A virtual office eliminates this issue, allowing for productivity to flourish. Also, more inbuilt flexibility allows for employers to more carefully select talent that can offer the most bang for buck, regardless of location.
6. Easier availability with key team players
A big issue that gets in the way of productivity is when key players can’t find a way to get together for a face-to-face. Skype and other chat tools are still notoriously buggy, and security can also be a concern, too. A virtual office is a consistent place for everyone to meet and greet easily, without fear of malfunctioning chat software getting in the way.
This way, managers and other team members have immediate access to each other and can ask questions/gain feedback flawlessly, eliminating the lag time that exists in traditional offices or corporations with multiple locations.
7. Time zones are zero issue with a virtual office
Time zones are never an issue when working through a virtual office. Time zone conflicts limit productivity due to a number of factors, including disconnect from management, and inability for specific talent to work side-by-side to stay on the same page.
A virtual office typically provides the collaboration tools needed to work together flawlessly, while also providing physical facilities for team members located in different locations to meet and iron out work-related details.
8. Virtual offices offer several physical office locations to members
Best, most virtual office providers allow limited access to physical facilities throughout the globe, meaning on-the-road employees can congregate in a professional environment with all the office amenities they need to get business taken care of efficiently.
Every provider is different, but most will offer a variety of locations in a set area, such as a country or state, or global options for teams that travel all over.
Conclusion
Virtual offices can definitely offer a level of improved productivity and cost savings that traditional brick-and-mortar options cannot. If you’ve ever considered adding a virtual office, or shifting your traditional business to a more modern, realistic business environment for on-the-go productivity, there’s never been a better time to get started.