Over the last couple of years (2020 and 2021 for readers reading this in the upcoming years), the COVID-19 pandemic has forced us to change the way we think about office spaces. Remote working has become extremely common, with some major businesses completely shifting towards a 100% remote workforce strategy.
Major businesses have begun disinvesting from expansive office spaces and are allowing the employees to work completely from the comfort of their homes.
But what happens to businesses that still need a physical mailing address? One centralized location to take client meetings, answer the calls, or even meet once in a while to collaborate?
This is where virtual office spaces come in.
What is a Virtual Office Space?
Virtual office space can be described as a space that provides businesses with a mailing address (often at premium locations), call answering services, meeting rooms, teleconferencing and other office-related services, targeted for businesses with a highly flexible-remote workforce.
This way, employees can continue to work from the comfort of their homes, the business has a physical address, and the employers can keep the office overheads down to the bare minimum.
To put it simply, businesses get all the benefits of having a “brick and mortar” office, without having to undergo the expenses of renting out an actual office space.
Virtual office spaces, as a concept, have been around for several decades now. However, with the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic, businesses around the world are discovering just how beneficial transitioning to a virtual office space can be.
In fact, a significant number of businesses are likely to continue with the “Virtual Office Space strategy”, even after the dangers of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic subside.
What are the many benefits that these businesses are gaining from, you ask? Let’s take a look at the many benefits of virtual office spaces.
Advantages of Virtual Office Spaces
Increase in employee appreciation
When we say appreciation, we mean the appreciation the employees have for you, your business and their fellow colleagues. Not only do they benefit tremendously from working from the comfort of their homes, but they also get to save tons of time and money on their daily commute to and from the office.
Apart from this, your employees are finally given the freedom to not be chained to their desks for 8-10 hours a day. They tend to move around, keeping themselves active, and reducing the adverse health effects sitting for long periods of time can have on their bodies.
Naturally, this leads to a decrease in employee turnover, and in turn, the cost you spend to replace the empty seats (pun intended).
Access to Worldwide Talent
Shifting to a virtual office space means you no longer have to worry about geographical constraints ever. Going remote allows you to recruit the creme-de-la-creme of the candidates, without having to worry about managing their accommodations, or other logistics involved (not to mention convincing them to move to your preferred location).
Brick and Mortar Office
The benefits of having a brick-and-mortar office are undeniable.
Whether it’s a premium address to boost your brand image in the eyes of potential clients, the requirement to have a mailing address for various reasons (especially in the eyes of law), or simply a place to meet with clients, or even with the team of employees from time to time, the benefits are undeniable.
Virtual office spaces allow you to do all this, and more.
Cost Savings
The cost of office real estate, the pains of constantly worrying about lease renewals, and negotiating fresh terms are quite literally in the past with virtual office spaces. Overheads will be reduced by a huge margin, without affecting your company’s image or visibility in the public eye.
In fact, with virtual office spaces, you can appear to be larger than you are to the public eye, at a fraction of the cost you’re used to paying for actual office spaces.
Flexibility
Virtual office spaces provide flexibility to not only your employees but you as a business owner, as well.
It allows you the flexibility to restructure the existing organizational hierarchy in terms of space allocation, promote free communication within the organization, hire across the globe, find clients across the globe, and most importantly, do all that, while still maintaining a work-life balance.
Virtual office spaces allow you the flexibility to think out of the box, as much as you like.
Ending Note
Of course, it goes without saying, virtual office spaces don’t work the same magic for every single business. Different businesses have different needs, and for most businesses, virtual office spaces might not cut it.
Some need people accumulated in a single location to get work done, while others need specialized equipment that is required to be shared with multiple team members, making virtual office spaces an impossible feat. For some businesses, Coworking spaces or managed office spaces might be the better alternative.
However, if you are looking to employ a 100% remote workforce strategy, it is definitely worth checking out a virtual office space for the many benefits it can offer.
