5 Problems Solved by Virtual Offices During COVID-19

As we all know, the threat of COVID-19 is still looming, and going outside of your home still poses dangers to one’s health. That said, a lot of businesses adapted to working from home to make their employees safe from the pandemic. 

If you are a business owner who adapted to the skeletal workforce system but is looking to see the benefits of having a virtual office, then you're in the right place.

Virtual offices create an opportunity to have people work from their homes, which reduces the dangers posed by the pandemic, have more flexible work hours, and be more productive. 

So how would a virtual office work? What benefits does it offer to you as a business owner? And what problems will it solve during the pandemic?

Reduced Work Hours due to Long Commutes

Of course, because you are working from home, your employees would not have any reason to be late. This will extend their work hours a little bit and increase their productivity throughout the day because of reducing stress from commuting. Just imagine yourself squeezing your frame against the people you ride with on buses or trains, the long hours in the morning, and the rush that you feel to avoid getting late.

Now imagine doing that every day. The stress that comes with everyday commuting would negatively affect employees' productivity, which will result in your company's lower performance.

Not only that, but since they wouldn't have to use their cars to work anymore, their carbon footprint would be significantly reduced. With that in mind, you can finally say that your company is environment friendly. The dangers that the pandemic poses can also be avoided entirely since you won't have to contact other people besides your family members.

With the world’s state right now, as a business person, you have to feel secure, especially in health and finance. And with the COVID-19 spread can be anywhere, online transactions are the best thing to do instead of commuting to your local banks to apply for a loan. Hence, Coronavirus Emergency Loan is one of the popular types of online loan right now; you can have your application for it in your homes without a hassle.  

Productivity Problems

If your company is dealing with reduced productivity among its employees for some time now because of adapting to a skeletal workforce, maybe it's time for you to send them home to work in a virtual office. Working from home is less stressful than working in an actual office, and most office workers tend to finish their work during their downtime. 

If you present an opportunity for your employees to work in their homes, their work hours would be more manageable, increasing their happiness.

With happiness comes productivity because of the flexible work hours. Along with having to work without any distractions and nuisances that a traditional office space brings, your employees would be more focused on doing their jobs. Naturally, this will also decrease your employee turnover because of the less stress and increased productivity offered by a virtual office.

Problems with Scaling

If you're looking to scale your business but are having problems due to a limited resource pool and employee turnover, creating a virtual office would undoubtedly help you with that problem. Having a virtual office is a lot like having an administrative staff manage most of the work regarding scaling. 

Several of the services that virtual offices offer are phone answering, email forwarding, reception, meeting scheduling, etc. No matter how big you want to grow your business, having access to these services can significantly diminish most of the problems that come with scaling.

Instead of hiring a group of employees to have your administrative work done when scaling your business, which is hard to do during the pandemic, a virtual office can do that for you. It takes away most of the menial tasks for you to have more time to work on something else. This way, you can scale your business stress-free during the pandemic.

Less Resource Intensive

Many businesses have either closed down or adapted to a work from the home system due to the pandemic. While this itself is a problem, it might be a silver lining for you. With actual office space, you have to account for the bills that come with it, like electricity bills, rental fees, water bills, etc. Imagine if you can altogether remove all of those and spend the money on scaling, your employees, etc.

Virtual offices can do just that. Since virtual offices don't require a space as it's completely virtual, you won't have to spend money on the bills and fees that come with an actual office space. This will, in turn, make more room for spending on more important matters. Not only that, but your employees become responsible for some of the technology they use during their work, given that they have the resources themselves. 

What does this mean? This means that your employees will be the ones who will upgrade the tools that they use for work without the company's money. Of course, your employees not using the tech the company provides can pose concerns like not monitoring your employees' activity and employee training.

Talent Pool

Having a virtual office means that you can hire any talent regardless of their location. This means that it will be easier for your company to find new people since it doesn't require them to go to your company's premises and risk contamination. Not only that, but you could also expand your team without relocating to a bigger office space since the office is virtual and only requires them to work from home.

As you consider the problems solved by virtual offices in the pandemic, you also need to consider what you need out of a virtual office. If you want to prioritize your employees' safety while retaining their productivity, then having a virtual office is the right decision for you.

About Kiaria Larson

Kiaria Larson is a seasoned web content writer whose interests extend to financial analysis, business and finance. When not working, she spends her time reading her favorite classic novels.