A virtual office combines professional work with the blend of a home feel to gain working efficiencies in both forms. For many home-based professionals, skilled and semi-skilled workers who take up work on contract assignments and work to a fixed schedule in industry sectors like building and home construction, home maintenance, carpentry, plumbing, mechanical and electrical contractors, auto agencies etc, a virtual office that provides them the benefits of a professional image without the expenses involved in maintaining a conventional, high-cost office environment.
Besides the many benefits that virtual offices provide for businesses and companies on an operational level, there are many intangibles that can be gained. For e.g.
• Reduction in environmental impact – air-conditioning, electrical and electronics use increases carbon emissions
• Enabling of operating files and records through SaaS (software as a service) and cloud servers, thus saving stationery
• Reduction in daily commute to office location thus allowing more time for work
• Flexibility to match expenditure with fluctuations in revenue
• Advantage of low-cost expansion spread over long-term
• Fewer overheads in employee records maintenance, payroll expenditure, rentals, insurance etc.
• Increases in employee commitment, morale and productivity
• Improvement in employee recruitment and retention
• Decreases in sick and annual leaves
Of course, with the good there are some elements of the bad; it is rather easy to point out the advantages and benefits of a virtual office when compared to a serviced office space. Some of the perceived disadvantages of a virtual office arise mainly from the fact that is requires ‘telecommuting’ of employees through a virtual office.
• The flexibility in functioning from an assortment of locations can be sometimes less advantageous.
• Lack of a central office or base for employees to interact on a business level as communication problems from location to location may arise due to complete dependency on technology
• Not a good solution if employee interaction and meetings with associates on a daily basis is required in a physical office setup.
• Less to nil lack of social interaction between employees cannot contribute towards building a company’s image or branding; it can also create to poor communication and misunderstanding through non-verbal communication which is the case when people in an office setup do not interact face-to-face
• Working from a virtual environment can sometimes be a distraction and can lead to lack of motivation of self-discipline resulting in non-productive assets; on the other hand, for a highly motivated and independent individual, a virtual office can boost productivity.