Posts Tagged ‘mobile workers’
SAN FRANCISCO-Alternative workplace strategies are so en vogue, what with mobile workers a rising part of the distributed workforce. Virtual office space offers cost-effective answers. But coworking facilities are gaining momentum among some creative types. The six million-dollar question is–drum roll, please–would a virtual office or a coworking facility better serve your needs?
Although the coworking trend is making headlines in metros like New York and San Francisco, virtual office space is a time-tested alternative to traditional office space. Indeed, virtual offices space is a perfect fit for small business that doesn’t need access to a full-time office space and doesn’t like the idea of working side by side with potentially distracting strangers.
Coworking has its advantages, such as collaboration with other like-minded entrepreneurs. But virtual office space rises above both coworking and traditional offices by offering more privacy at a lower cost than either option. Virtual offices also give you access to virtual receptionists and virtual assistants—none of which share office space with you.
With virtual office space, you can essentially work from anywhere, including your home office, on the road, or in a meeting room associated with your virtual office provider. That means you get the best of all worlds: privacy when you need it and collaboration when you want it.
Sure, coworking is picking up steam for good reasons. It’s much less expensive than traditional office space and gives you a place to go when you need to break the haze of isolation. But virtual office space costs even less than a coworking facility and gives you the same opportunity to break the monotony of working from home by making available day offices and meeting rooms.
There is no one-size-fits-all solution when it comes to office space. Some prefer the traditional office, despite its high costs and long leases. Others prefer coworking, despite the open environment and potential distractions. But virtual office space is often the alternative of choice for entrepreneurs who want the flexibility to work in solitude without breaking the start-up bank.
NEW YORK-So you work in a virtual office … so how do you attend office parties? That’s what CNBC.com staff writer Cindy Perman wants to know—and she got me a little curious, too.
Perman asks the pointed question, “The Virtual Office Holiday Party—How Does That Work, Exactly?” She looks at the trend toward companies taking their office holiday party online, whether for financial or geographic reasons—or simply out of convenience.
In her article, Perman offers some answers: “First, you have to pick a time and date and invite a list of guests, just as you would for a regular party. And, while parties can and do take on a life of their own, it’s important for the organizers to have some sort of itinerary to keep the festivities moving.”
The article goes on to offer examples of gift exchanges that were planned in advance, a virtual whiteboard where folks share their holiday traditions along with live chat with explanations, cash gifts instead of food and drinks, and so on. Be sure to read Perman’s article for more ideas.
But you may have some ideas of your own. If your company has implemented alternative workplace strategies, if you have a distributed workforce with mobile workers and telecommuters who work from virtual offices, there’s no doubt that you’ve faced this issue of the virtual office party.
Sure, if your employees all live in the same city, you could go to a restaurant or rent a meeting room. But then the virtual office party is no longer virtual, is it. So, tell me … have you organized or attended a virtual office party? How did that work for you?
ATLANTA-Commercial real estate strategies are shifting. Alternative workplace strategies are the buzzwords moving forward. Telecommuting, virtual offices, workshifting, the mobile workforce. All of these elements are colliding in a perfect storm—and it’s changing the ways corporations use commercial real estate.
“Companies are focusing on two things: employee satisfaction, and productivity and teaming. They are increasingly looking at their office space to help them attract and retain the best talent,” Co-Star reports James B. King, principal of AREA Advisor, as saying.
King also pointed to salesforce.com as a futuristic company, calling it one of the most successful cloud-based computing firms today. He also used Microsoft, one of the largest companies in the world, and Google, one of the most innovative companies in the world, as examples.
“It’s all about empowering sales people to connect with customers digitally, but it wants its employees in the office at least two days a week, because it’s a new company and it’s still building its culture,” King says.
“Microsoft’s policy to get the best talent wherever they may be around the world. They have no problem with people working remotely, even teleworking from different countries. Google has a very different philosophy. It believes you never can tell when that next spark of genius will occur, that’s why they want you there with your colleagues in the Googleplex, even riding on their buses there and back.”
What is your company’s philosophy? Do you believe in flex time? Telecommuting from virtual offices? Working remotely from coworking facilities? Alternative workplace strategies come in all shapes and sizes. Davinci Virtual Office Solutions can help you tailor virtual office solutions for the specific needs of your entrepreneurial organization.
If you work in the medical office field, you are working on one of the most virtual office friendly industries today. So says a new survey from FlexJobs.
The Flexible Job Index data for October 2011 lists medical and health as the top career field with the most available telecommuting, part-time, freelance and other flexible job listings. Here is a list of the top five career fields in terms of virtual office friendliness:
- Medical & Health (8.0% increase)
- Computer & IT (5.9% increase)
- Sales (5.5% increase)
- Web & Software Development (5.2% increase)
- Administrative (5.1% increase)
“We are feeling positive about the growth in the job postings for these professional fields,” Sara Sutton Fell, CEO of FlexJobs shared. “Generally, companies tend to start slowing their hiring process down as the holidays approach, but we’re thankfully not seeing that trend yet.”
In terms of job category growth, these career fields had the most dramatic increases in available postings in October are call center (31%), data entry (27.4%), and bilingual (19.9%). What’s more, entry-Level jobs were up 26.5 percent and manager positions are up 17 percent. This growth may be attributable to the upcoming holiday shopping season.
At the same time, there’s also been a decline in some industries. That means if you are a virtual office user trying to find freelance or telecommuting work in these industries, it’s getting tougher:
- Internet & E-commerce (38.14% decrease)
- Bus Development (18.70% decrease)
- Nonprofit & Philanthropy (16.97% decrease)
- Education & Training (13.79% decrease)
- Insurance (12.29% decrease)
“We are surprised to see e-commerce jobs go down,” says Fell. “It will be interesting to see if those available positions pick up again this month in preparation for holiday online shopping.”
You can learn more about medical office jobs in this YouTube video:
New Ways of Working has released the results of its latest benchmarking survey that examines how leading organizations around the world implement, manage, and profit from alternative workplace practices, settings, and locations. The survey offers a better understanding of why and how organizations are employing alternative workplaces.
New Ways of Working defines Alternative Workplace as the combination of nontraditional work practices, settings, and locations that supplement or replace traditional offices. Alternative Workplace practices include mobile work inside and outside the office, hoteling, work from home (telecommuting), and work from third party places, among others. Virtual offices are part and parcel of the mix.
“The study confirms many of the trends picked up in the previous benchmarking study. Organizations are still adopting AW at a rapid pace, but the shift towards informal programs and more employee-related values signal that they believe that employees, given the necessary technology, can make the best choice of how, when and where to work,” says Joe Ouye, co-founder of New Ways to Work. “The danger is that important changes of work policies and practices may be overlooked.”
Here are some of the major findings from the survey:
- Alternative workplaces continue to be adopted at a rapid pace, but there is a surprising rise in the number of informal, ad-hoc implementations versus more formal programs.
- In 2011, 32 percent of the surveyed organizations have informal programs, compared to only 18 percent in 2009.
- Perhaps consistent with the rise of more informal programs, organizations are engaging with groups more directly and supporting them with social Web sites.
- Organizations continue to shrink the percentage of employees with assigned seats (down to 66% from 76% a couple years ago), and consistently, also increase the use of mobile work settings.
- As expected with the continuing economic pessimism, cost savings and related space savings are still driving alternative workplace programs. The top three barriers to these programs remain organizational, managerial, and staff concerns over change, however, the levels of concern are dropping, with managerial concerns dropping the most.
- The perceived value of the alternative workplace programs is consistent with their drivers, with cost savings as the top perceived value, but there is significantly more focus on employee related values, such as work/life balance, attraction and retention, and satisfaction.
Check out this video on alternative workplace strategies:
Young professionals want more than a good job. They want to use social media, mobile devices, and the Internet more freely in the workplace—and they want flexible work hours.
In fact, they want all of this so much that these factors are strong enough to influence their job choice—sometimes more than salary. So says an international study from Cisco’s latest Connected World Technology Report.
The report highlight’s the younger generation workforce’s demand to work remotely with more flexibility in their choice of devices. This demand illustrates the importance of the relationship between the Internet, workforce culture, and companies’ competitive advantages, and surprisingly indicates that traditional methods of attracting and retaining young employees may be less important as the ‘Millennial’ generation comprises more of the workforce.
Employees are expecting greater work flexibility. At least one in four employees (29%) globally said the absence of remote access would influence their job decisions, such as leaving companies sooner rather than later, slacking off, or declining job offers outright. This hints that companies needs to deploy alternative workplace strategies that allow telecommuting from virtual offices.
Three out of 10 students globally (29%) feel that once they begin working, it will be their right—more than a privilege—to be able to work remotely with a flexible schedule. Think about it. Virtual office technologies are more and more being considered a right more than a privilege. Although we’ve seen this with Gen X and Gen Y, the next generation of professionals are pushing the virtual office envelope.
Seven of 10 college students (70%) believe it is unnecessary to be in the office regularly, with the exception of an important meeting. In fact, one in four feel their productivity would increase if they were allowed to work from home or remotely. The global figures were mirrored by employees as well, with 69% believing office attendance was unnecessary on a regular basis. Younger professionals want to work from a virtual office. They want to be mobile.
The future of the workplace is coming upon us quickly. As these young professionals mature and become the leaders of corporations, they will drive virtual office technologies deeper into the enterprise. But until then, many will choose to work for companies that already are.
Check out this YouTube video on creating flexible workplaces:
There are many considerations in a multigenerational workforce—especially in workforces that are becoming more mobile and more distributed. With a alternative workplace strategies gaining momentum, this is a topic that demands attention.
Think about it: Is your boss younger than you? Are you communicating well with each other? How does the distributed workforce impact the multigenerational workplace mix?
A new survey from Pitney Bowes reveals that 20 percent of the 231 attendees at the Direct Marketing Association’s DMA: 2011 Conference & Exhibition are reporting to a younger supervisor. Especially in creative industries, this is probably not all that unusual. But the truth is most workforces have a mix of Baby Boomers who are about to retire, Generation Xers at the peak of their career and Millennials who are just starting out.
“Companies are working toward creating a more inclusive work environment. This means equitable messaging for all employees, regardless of how and where they work,” says Susan Johnson, vice president of Executive Succession and Diversity Strategies, Pitney Bowes Inc. “Effective diversity strategies now address regional, generational and even technological differences found throughout the workforce.”
Notice that Johnson mentioned “where they work” and “regional” differences. With the rose of telecommuting and mobile workers, these are notable issues indeed. When combined with multigenerational communication styles, it’s important to understand the unique characteristics of each age group and know how to motivate and communicate with mobile and telecommuting employees in virtual offices.
Pitney Bowes offers some tips for companies with multigenerational workforces. If you are a telecommuter, virtual office user, mobile worker or road warrior, these tips can help you communicate more effectively.
The first key is to emphasize the strengths of each generation and instill these values into the workplace:
Baby Boomers tend to thrive on individualism.
Gen Xers often are drawn to entrepreneurialism.
Millennials may have an affinity for teamwork.
Next, consider communications channel preferences:
Baby Boomers are most familiar and comfortable with email.
Generation X is flexible and savvy with most channels and technologies.
Millennials are constantly connected and turn first to text or instant message rather than talking.
“As companies master customer communications management, they should also apply this strategy with their own employees,” Johnson says. “Sending the right message in the right channel to each generation in this challenging economic environment may lead to increased productivity and morale.”
Check out this video on the multigenerational workforce:
Should you let employees work from home? That’s the subject of an article in USA Today. It’s a question that more and more companies are asking as the virtual office trend continues gaining momentum.
A reader named Amy asked USA Today columnist Steve Strauss, a lawyer, author and speaker who specializes in small business and entrepreneurship, the following question:
“I have an employee who has asked me if she can work from home a couple of days a week. I know that this is obviously the trend in business, but I don’t really like the idea. I like having my employees where I can see them. Am I wrong?”
How did Strauss answer? You can read the entire column for yourself, but I wanted to point out a few tidbits that are especially relevant to entrepreneurs, small businesses, and corporations exploring the viability of alternative workplace strategies.
“Any business that is not figuring out how to take advantage of the technology/work/Internet/mobile revolution in such a way that at least allows their employees to telecommute on occasion is blowing it,” Strauss writes. He listed several benefits to support his point, including attracting a better class of employees, fostering a more productive work environment, and saving money.
Strauss then offered Amy four tips to “loosen the grip” and allow her employee to telecommute at home from a virtual office:
- Start slowly
- Have specific deliverables
- Have them check in
- Have them be available
All good tips. Strauss offers explanations for each of those four points that are worth checking out. In the meantime, if you need to discuss alternative workplace strategies with a trusted partner, consider contracting Davinci Virtual Office Solutions.
Face time at the office isn’t what it used to be. Indeed, more companies are setting the state for the continued rise of the virtual office with alternative workplace strategies.
An Accountemps survey demonstrates how this trend is playing out in the financial services field. The survey reveals that one-third of Chief Financial Officers agree that remote work arrangements, such as telecommuting and working from satellite offices, have increased at their companies in the last three years. The survey questioned 1,400 CFOs across the United States.
“The prevalence of mobile technologies and wireless communication makes it easier for companies to support flexible work arrangements for their employees,” says Max Messmer, chairman of Accountemps and author of Human Resources Kit For Dummies.
“Although not all positions are suited to remote work arrangements, for those that are, this option can help give professionals more control over their schedules and aid in recruitment and retention efforts. Businesses that are considering remote work arrangements should set clear policies and establish specific productivity goals.”
Whether you are a virtual office worker or an employer relying on virtual office workers, here are some strategic tips from Accountemps:
1. Communication: Keep remote workers in the loop on the latest news about the department and company. Don’t rely solely on e=mail. Schedule regular calls and in-person meetings. Provide frequent status updates to the boss on key projects, and look for opportunities to interact with your manager and colleagues using virtual office technologies.
2. Resources: Ensure offsite employees have the necessary resources, including appropriate network access. If you are using your own computer and phone system, make sure your equipment is up-to-date. You should be as productive working remotely as you are in the office.
3. Planning: Establish expectations and guidelines at the outset so you can monitor the arrangement and adjust as necessary. Anticipate potential concerns your employer may have about an offsite work arrangement and be prepared to discuss how you plan to handle them.
4. Security: Work with your information technology personnel to set up the requisite security protocols. Ensure your computer and other equipment are safeguarded by the company against security threats.
5. Camaraderie: To ensure remote workers continue to feel connected to the group, include them in team activities and recognize their accomplishments in front of their colleagues. Try to join group activities, from offsite trainings to department celebrations, as much as possible. Seek input from coworkers when brainstorming, and volunteer to assist them when they need help.
NEW YORK-Business Insider this week just published a notable article entitled, “How Workshifting Is Changing the Way We Work.” The article relied on data from the recent iPass Mobile Workforce Report, which defines workshifting as “the ability to work when and where we want to.”
Another piece looked at the “Top 10 Reasons to Embrace Workshifting.” IT Business Edge published the article that looked at Citrix’s move to put GoToMeeting on the new Motorola Droid Bionic smartphone. The article states, “Simply put, workshifting is a strategy based on getting work done in the right place by the right people at the right time. This can take many forms—and deliver a wide range of business benefits. Business processes or entire departments can be moved to new locations to tap into a broader labor pool, including employees, contractors and outsourcing or offshoring providers, to improve productivity and customer service.”
What does this mean for you? If you work from a virtual office, you can workshift without the appearance of ever skipping a beat. Indeed, with virtual office solutions like live receptionists, live chat and virtual assistants, you can get work done in the right place at the right time by the right people.
Virtual offices and workshifting are synergistic. Although you don’t need a virtual office to workshift, you can be much more productive and present a more professional business image if you tap into virtual communications solutions. And although you don’t have to workshift just because you have a virtual office, chances are the productivity and freedom virtual offices offer will lead you to arrange your work schedule with enough flexibility to encourage greater work-life balance.
The bottom line: as workshifting rises, so will virtual offices. So if you are considering workshifting—or if you already are workshifting—consider how virtual office solutions can help you work smarter, faster and more efficiently whether you are at your home base in New York, on business in Miami or on vacation in Los Angeles.
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