The hybrid work model was first introduced into the market by Google and later on a lot of companies have been able to adapt to the model. The Hybrid model is considered to be more effective in regards to the output for a company and various other advantages added to it. In this article let’s look at the top companies that have adapted to the hybrid work model and also why your company would think of moving forward with a hybrid model.
The CEO of Google and Alphabet, Sundar Pichai had announced that the company will adapt to a new working model where the employees can work from the office as well as from anywhere during a particular week. 60% of the employees are expected to report to the office occasionally and the rest will be given the freedom to work from home.
Amazon
Amazon which is one of the largest e-commerce firms in the United States has announced a remote working policy for its employees. The company has conveyed that the employees whose position allows them to work from home will be able to work remotely from June 2021.
The company has around 92,000 employees around the globe. Some of the remote jobs in the company are Customer, Service associate, Economist-Advertisement Finance, Customer Support Associate.
Atlassian
Atlassian is an Australian based software company having its headquarters in Sydney. The company develops software products, software development teams and other project managers. It was founded in the year 2002 and is a public limited company.
The company has around 6117 employees and has been informed that the employees will be able to work from home forever. The recent remote jobs of the company are Content Designer, Product Marketing Manager, GTM.
American Express
American Express is a multinational financial service company. It was founded in the year 1850 and has its headquarters located in New York. The company has a worldwide presence and provides services in the fields such as Finance, Insurance and Travel. Some of the products of the company include Charge Cards, Credit Cards, Corporate banking and Traveler’s cheque.
The company has more than 63,000 employees and has announced that the employees would be able to continue their remote working model through the Labor Day -2021. Some of the recent jobs for work from home include Manager-corporate communications and Global Supply chain management, Real time analyst and Business analyst.
Coinbase
Coinbase is an American based company that operates a cryptocurrency exchange platform. The company is a remote first company and does not have an official headquarters. The company has allowed most of its employees to work remotely and has conveyed that after the pandemic those who wish to return to the office can and the rest of the employees can work from home.
Some of the recent jobs for work from home include social media manager, Group product marketing manager, training lead, client service. The company has more than 1000 employees.
Facebook is an US based social media platform that was founded in the year 2004 and has daily active users of more than 2 billion. They have a worldwide service and the platform is available in around 11 languages. Facebook is one of the largest social media platforms.
The company has conveyed that it would allow almost 50% of its employees to work remotely forever. Some of the recent remote jobs are Technical program manager, a Product designer.
Microsoft
Microsoft is an US based software company and also a multinational technology corporation. The company was founded in the year 1975 and has its headquarters located in New Mexico, United States. The company offers products which involve personal computers, computer software and consumer electronics.
The company has conveyed that their employees are allowed to work from home for an approx. of 50% of their work week and even the managers are given the liberty to approve remote work for the employees.
Infosys
Infosys is an Indian based multinational tech company that was founded in the year 1981 and has its headquarters in Bangalore, India. The company is into the IT services and IT consulting industry and is the second largest IT consulting company in India. The company has more than 2 lakh employees.
Infosys has conveyed that they would let around 33 % to 50 % of their workforce to continue work from home forever. Some of the recent remote jobs of the company include Underwriting Manager, Post Closer Process associate.
Why should your company choose the Hybrid work model?
The hybrid work model provides a freedom of choice and flexibility to the employees. It is considered to be a more effective, sound and a realistic approach towards remote jobs. This reduces the control over an individual’s life by being able to avoid the day to day problems such as transportation of the employees, time to log off or log in, the collaboration of the employees, etc.
This model also acts as an advantage for the working women as they will be able to continue their employment and their career and not to quit their careers in between.
It was also found that in the long term the productivity will be much more higher for work from home model as the employees are given the freedom to choose the surroundings and the place which makes it more convenient and comfortable for them.
Conclusion
The hybrid work model has a lot of advantages and helps the company as well as the employees benefitting them equally. This model is expected to become much more common and to be an important part of the corporate world in the near future.
FAQ
What is hybrid workplace model?
The hybrid workplace model is a type of model that combines remote working and in-office working where some or all employees have the freedom to choose where and when they work, dividing their time between working from home and working from a office.
Is hybrid work the future of work?
As per the executives of the top companies the hybrid model in which employees work both remotely and in the office will become far more common.
Is it better to work at home or in an office?
Studies have shown that Work from home has increased productivity of employees also it cuts down the time it takes to travel to the office.
After facing the brunt of the pandemic in 2020, many businesses are quickly adopting remote working strategies for their companies. Gone are the days when people spent 8-10 hours working in an office. In fact, it is estimated that 70% of the global workforce works from home at least once a week.
A mobile workforce has become the new standard for many employers and businesses out there, as the impact is turning out to be a positive one resulting in better communication, flexibility, and team collaboration.
However, the wrong technology can negate the benefits of a mobile workforce can achieve. Team collaboration, a smooth workflow, access to digital fines, and other work-related functions need to be easy, intuitive, and most importantly secure. The technology also needs to be compatible across multiple platforms, from phones and tablets to desktops and laptops.
ShareDocView enables users to have their own branding
Now with ShareDocView, you can finally get all the analytics you wanted, and more
Gain control over the docs you send after attaching it to an email
You can still edit documents after you send them to your clients
Get analytics like which slides have been read and the duration of the reading
Collect email leads from new visitors for further outreach
ShareDocView is an analytics software for your documents. You can easily set it up with your Google or LinkedIn account and it works with PDF, Word, and PowerPoint documents.
It helps you get notifications when someone looks at your documents, and will also collect email leads. You can add your own company’s logo and branding.
ShareDocView- Features
No attachments
You don’t have to wait to add large attachments anymore. You can share links like videos on YouTube, and upload documents.
No software required
As it is a cloud-based product, you don’t have to download or install any software on your device. Access ShareDocView from any device via your browser.
Update Docs
You can now update documents or edit them as you like even after you send them to your client.
ShareDocView – Dashboard
Document analytics
Know the pages that were viewed by your team or client, and how long they were viewed. You can also follow up with your leads after you know if a document has been viewed or not
Team organization
Create a data room for you team where they can store their team files and documents. Your team members will have access to files and know which documents can be shared.
Control
With ShareDocView you can keep your documents private and generate request access when required. Make it a public document by removing the access control anytime you wish.
Branding
You can easily add your own brand, watermark or logo.
ShareDocView is for everyone that has to work remotely or has to manage a remote working team. It informs you and your team about a project and allows you to derive data from the documents you share with your colleagues or leads.
ShareDocView sends you detailed reports and notifications of who viewed your document and for how long. You can also update these documents anytime from the cloud even after they have been shared. You can also either give or remove access to a specific document by adding or deleting a link.
Remote working has become the latest trend in corporate culture. More and more companies are adopting remote practices and to do that they need to build a knowledge base.
For instance, in remote work, you can no longer depend on being able to interact with your departments physically in case of a situation. So it becomes very important that companies that hire remote working employees have a centralized database of knowledge. This lowers risk and dependency on individuals since you can no longer communicate with them in person.
A knowledgebase makes it easier for new employees to get up to speed and provide a consistent response to customers.
So does this mean every company has a knowledge base? Unfortunately, the answer is no. Many companies try to skip this step because they think they’re too busy to create one.
Kbee extends Google Drive to create a professional knowledgebase that will work for you and your employees. Your team can always find the answers they’re looking for without depending n someone else. In addition, your customers can also find the answer to their queries through this database.
All you need to do is provide all the content relevant to your company and employees on Docs. Kbee does the rest of the work for you by storing and publishing your content in a searchable space, which can be accessed by you, your employees, and customers.
Kbee Dashboard
Kbee will reflect whatever changes and edits you make to your content so that you can use your Google Drive as a Help Center, Wiki, or a Knowledgebase.
Use powerful text search across all of your content so your users can find the answers they’re looking for as quickly as possible. No one has to spend more time digging through Drive for relevant information.
Collaborate seamlessly
Extend Google Drive into a professional database without compromising on the collaboration and authoring experience. Articles can be created, amended and published directly from Google Drive. You and your team can update your knowledge base without learning a new system entirely.
Kbee allows you to collaborate with your team and customers
Keep things secure
Ensure that your content is accessible to relevant people, organizations and groups by using Kbee’s out-of-box access management tools. These management tools let you share information with your employees and customers securely.
Align with your brand
Make your database look and feel like an extension of your brand by customizing the logo, domain, layout, theme, and color.
Do more with Google Drive
You basically have the ability to create and transform Google Drive folders into a searchable database for all the relevant parties with Kbee. To do this, you simply need to create a Google Drive and Kbee will publish the articles directly to your knowledge base.
Kbee – Pricing
$0 Freebie Plan (1-Year Free Pro Access)
$0/yearly
Features
1 Admin User
3 Spaces (Separate Knowledge Bases)
30 Articles
Unlimited Viewers (Page Views)
Unlimited Article Authors
Advanced Search
Basic Analytics
Codeblocks
Customizable Themes
Embeddable Image & Video Support
Custom Domain
Hide from Search Engines
Password-Protection/Secured Access
One-Year Access To The Software For Free
One-Year Upgrades/Updates Of All The Above Features
Absolutely. Kbee can use a pre-existing Google Drive folder and automatically turn content in that folder into a functional site.
Can I use Kbee for an internal Knowledge Base?
Yes! You can use Kbee for your internal knowledge base. You can easily lock down your Kbee space so it is only accessible by your team, company, or individuals you choose.
Does Kbee support videos?
Yes. Simply add a YouTube link into your article on Google Docs and Kbee will render the video on your knowledge base
Does Kbee support custom domains?
Kbee supports custom domains on the pro and business tiers
Does Kbee optimize my content for SEO?
Kbee is fully optimized for SEO. Kbee automatically generates meta tags, sitemaps, and robots.txt. Articles are statically built and served from a CDN optimized for search engines.
What should I do after my Free 1-Year Pro plan expires?
After your Free 1-Year Pro Plan expires, you can upgrade to any of the future plans at Kbee at the best available discount, excluding any enterprise plans.
Conclusion
Kbee is simple to use, looks good, and it’s easy to search and combine all of the access controls you have set up for your Google Drive. Kbee’s search uses Algolia AI, a search engine that specifically shows you relevant content instead of hundreds of search hits.
Another unique feature of Kbee is that it has good value. It has a single monthly charge rather than per user.
Kbee is an excellent example of the simple yet innovative initiative that is being driven by remote working practices. So sign up for Kbee now!
The secret of a successful company is the team that works effortlessly for it. And the secret to having teams that are dedicated to your company is how happy they are at the workplace.
For most people, a workplace is no place for fun. But what if I told you that a little bit of fun can work wonders for your team and company.
If you’re wondering how to, read below to find out.
The latest trend for all companies worldwide, post COVID-19 is that they have shifted towards remote working. Many people realized that they can do the same work staying at home and that they didn’t need to go to an office every day.
This realization has drastically changed the work culture. Unlike before, people cant socialize with their teams outside of work and this might lessen their productivity as a team.
What you need is for your company and employees is that even if they’re working remotely, they must be able to engage with each other outside of work.
This is why you need Trivia…
Trivia weekly challenges dashboard
With Trivia’s suite of games, your employees can socialize and have fun with each other. This will not only strengthen their engagement with each other but also be more productive at work.
Also, you wouldn’t even have to google for games or visit different websites, as Trivia can be integrated into your Slack and Microsoft workspaces.
Build morale and engagement of your remote working teams with Trivia’s suite of quizzes and games right inside the Microsoft & Slack workspace. Compete with your colleagues in real-time challenges, top quiz leaderboards, and earn bragging rights. Just like you would do in an office.
Trivia is simple and easy to deploy with numerous quizzes, puzzles, and games.
Seamless Integration – Start a Trivia poll, puzzle, and more with your team no matter where you are, and directly on your Microsoft and Slack teams.
Multiple game types – You cant play the same game everyday right? This is why Trivia has a suite of games of different genres so that you will never be bored.
Leaderboards – The biggest reason why people play games is to show off their skills. Now you can do the same with your team if you reach the top of the leaderboards.
Trivia leaderboards and rankings
How to use Trivia on Slack –
Follow these simple steps to boost engagement and team morale
Add Trivia to Slack by searching and installing for free on Slack.
Play games to your heart’s content with a plethora of games that Trivia offers.
Bring your team together by enjoying and competing in quizzes, Game of Gotcha, word puzzles, and many more.
To get started with –
🌶 For a (Un)Popular Opinion poll, submit the command ‘/trivia opinion’
✍🏻For a Custom Quiz you have created, submit the command ‘/trivia custom’
🧐For a Game of Gotcha, submit the command ‘/trivia gotcha’
🔡For a Word Puzzle, submit the command ‘/trivia puzzle’
🎉For a Trivia quiz, submit the command ‘/trivia’
Alternatively, you can start a Trivia Game from the Shortcuts (⚡️) inside Slack.
If you need help to get started,
submit the command ‘/Trivia help’ in a channel where the Trivia app is added, or
submit the command ‘help’ in the messages tab of the Trivia app in Slack.
How to use Trivia on Microsoft –
🌶 For a (Un)Popular Opinion poll, submit the command ‘@Trivia opinion’
✍🏻 For a Custom Quiz you have created, submit the command ‘@Trivia custom’
🧐For a Game of Gotcha, submit the command ‘@Trivia gotcha’
🔡 For a Word Puzzle, submit the command ‘@Trivia puzzle’
🎉 For a Trivia quiz, submit the command ‘@Trivia trivia’
If you need help to get started,
submit the command ‘@Trivia help’ in a channel where the Trivia app is added, or
submit the command ‘help’ in the Messages tab of the Trivia app in Microsoft Teams.
Use 28,000+ questions available across 30 categories in MCQ format
Word Puzzles
Solve more than 10000+ puzzles
Rearrange alphabets to make meaningful words
(Un)Popular Opinions
A collection of causal controversial opinions that will definitely improve team engagement.
Gotcha!
MCQ’s with a twist
The best engaging Trivia game
It helps not only to know the correct answers but also to fool others with wrong answers.
Is there a limit for the number of quizzes one can conduct after a purchase?
No, there is no limit on the number of quizzes that can be conducted.
Can there be multiple winners in a quiz?
Yes! As long as your team answers the same number of questions correctly.
What data do I have to share with the Trivia app? Is it safe to install it on my channels?
Trivia only collects info to run games and quizzes. Details that are collected are team name, Admin details, and user names. The data is retained as long as you are a customer. All PII data is deleted once you cancel the plan.
Conclusion
“Use it every day! Games are up in seconds, and it fires up my brain for the rest of the day. Great for connecting with coworkers and taking a break from the regular workflow.” – Igor Lenterman. Intern, Science
Trivia is one of the best engagement building apps there is, especially for teams who work far away from each other.
Being a teenager in the Covid times is the most frustrating thing ever. We get it, all your plans of earning and being financially free were masked due to the pandemic. However, let’s get real, things have been going a bit easier than the beginning of the year and nows the time to get back on track.
If you’re a teenager or an adult looking for an internship or a job and are aiming to outdo your own expectations here’s a personalized list of work from home job search portals that helped us get satisfactory jobs.
Work from home job search portals are not as easy as they sound. Currently, Millions of people are applying on all of the job search portals available on the internet no matter which language, crowd, or country they cater and for you to stand apart it’s extremely important for you to have a well-drafted resume. You can use several tools to draft a classy resume that makes your recruiter call you. Use tools like Canva or Google docs’s simple templates.
If you’re looking for getting experience and an internship for your side expenses, Internshala is perfect for you. Its recommended for teenagers who are stepping into the real world. Internshala also helps you draft a resume and uses that resume to suggest recruiters.
You can personally choose your preferences and chat with recruiters. Having a good fresher resume will eventually get you amazing opportunities to start out. Internshala is an amazing place for you to start your journey and explore more things that might interest you. The website also offers paid courses in case you’re interested to expand your skillset.
Benefits Of Remote Working
Naukri.com
Draft resume, give your keyword preferences and that’s another quality work from home job search portal for you, only if you’re willing to work hard. Alright so, Naukri.com is also an amazing job portal for serious jobs. The website recommends you jobs according to the keyword that you set. Here though, you have to upload your own drafted resume and just fill in your personal details.
The job portal displays your search appearances and recruiter actions taken on your profile. The job portal allows you to save or star mark the jobs you like and apply to them at your own convenience. The work from home job search portal notifies you if a recruiter wishes to connect with you. You can also view his/her past referrals and you can connect with them.
Linkedin.
Facebook for Professionals. That’s Linkedin for you in a nutshell. Having a LinkedIn profile is quite necessary these days. It keeps a professional record of you and helps you grow each day. You can follow your friends, relatives, teachers and even your idols and be in touch with them professionally.
Pro-tip, if you’re a beginner optimize your Linkedin the best you can since most employers will definitely ask for your Linkedin profile link, and leaving the space empty is a straight no. You can save alerts for your favorite companies and preferred job options. Recruiters to connect with potential employees on Linkedin.
Glassdoor
Glassdoor is one such work from home job search portal that values transparency, quality employees appreciate when they’re looking for potential employers. Glassdoor helps you get satisfactory information about the company’s ratings, salaries.
Amazingly, the website also sheds light on a company’s hiring process. Sign up for Glassdoor’s emails to get daily updates about jobs that are suitable for you to get financially free.
FlexJobs is a popular work from home job portal. The website requires you to get a membership to keep your resume in the highlights. The membership can be easily purchased on a weekly, monthly, and yearly basis.
Flex jobs does flex the number of days since the posting of the job so that you can be well acquainted with your time of submission. Having one of the largest databases, Flex jobs cater to people searching for part-time and full-time jobs seeking audience. Unlimited access to the website costs $14.95 a month however, fresh members can get a discounted price.
Industries That Work From Home
Remote.co
Sara Sutton, the founder and CEO of Flex jobs also founded Remote. co. Remote. co focus its attention solely on work from home opportunities and doesn’t show much need for locations or telecommunication as the jobs simply work from home, jobs which have no need for your physical presence. Data entry, teaching, healthcare etc are some jobs that are made easy to find on remote. co. One can add personalized listings on the job search portal according to difficulty and pay levels.
We Work Remotely
With more than 2.5 million monthly visitors, We Work Remotely claims to be one of the largest job search portals in the world. Unlike some work from home job portals, We Work Remotely is referred by high-end companies such as Google, Amazon, and Basecamp.
This site doesn’t have a fancy interface and that makes searching convenient for remote jobs. The site also provides a number of work resources which include a list of companies and a job title of the top 100 remote companies which are currently hiring.
Elance and oDesk merged together to form the work from home job portal called Upwork. Both the parent websites were quite famous in the freelancing arena. Now, Upwork claims itself to be the world’s largest freelance talent marketplace. Freelancers looking for jobs at Upwork create profiles which highlight their skillset and experience along with their portfolios and job history.
Upwork connects clients and freelancers by allowing the clients to post job listings ie. the type of work they want to be done. They can view freelancer’s profiles and choose a freelancer that they think will get their work done. Freelancers here can work online and get paid once the commission is done without any offline communication.
Fiverr
If you’re a freelancer, this website should be your go-to. If you looking out to build your portfolio or starting out to gain some experience and earn while doing so Fiverr can be great for you! Most jobs or assignments on Fiverr cost around 5$ or in increments of 5$.
Fiverr is an absolute banger work from home job portal as it helps you meet potential clients from literally all fields. Here, the potential clients might post several jobs with the title “Edit my food advertisement” if you’re an editor looking for editing gigs your freelancer version would say “Will edit a food advertisement”. This work from home job portal focuses more on gigs and freelancing.
What does Augmented Reality actually mean and what is it used for? It is a widespread technology, so does a question pop up? How does it work? confused about all this, here’s an article which will clear all of your doubts about AR and AR remote work. So, without further ado let’s dive right into Augmented Reality.
AR is the special technology where it instructs your device to be helpful throughout your day by letting you experience digital content in the similar way you experience the world. It lets you search things visually and virtually, simply by pointing your camera at them.
It comfortably puts your answers exactly where your questions are by overlaying visual, immersive content on top of your real world. Did you know that NASA made use of AR for the first time for flying the X-38 by utilizing the special AR dashboard for navigation in 1999? Well, that’s the power of AR.
Augmentedreality is readily available and being used in innumerable ways including as Snapchat lenses.
In applications that help you search for your car in a crowded parking lot.
The biggest successful examples of AR are Google Maps, Google SkyMap and the game Pokemon Go.
The U.S. Army uses AR to train to train the candidates digitally.
Disney designed a technology in which it makes the characters in the coloring books as 3D characters.
Customers who have shop frequently online feel reassured that if a product is suitable or not, does it look better or not and they are satisfied with it before they even add it to their basket. It makes them less likely to return the item when it arrives. 43% of shoppers speculate that AR would help them make a better business deals.
Importance Of AR In Future
There is always a future of something that is important to the human kind. The success of the technology will never wear off.
Augmented Reality In Every Corner Of The World
Creation of new technology offers new opportunities for a huge amount of markets and commercial enterprises, among them Insurance, real estate, healthcare, retail, and manufacturing.
AR in Education brings unlimited possibilities for teaching and learning process.
Technology gives entirely real psychological and physical experiences and help us get authentically virtual feel that can be implemented.
You can always surprise your customers with something new and easier methods to shop.
GPS mobile apps with AR can rightly show tourist routes and directions to desirable destinations, translate the signs on the street, giving an additional advantage.
A chance to create something unique and thereby to express one’s individuality is way more engaging than standard media content.
Future of AR
How Does Augmented Reality Work?
Computer vision or camera understands what is in the physical world around the user from the content of the camera feed which it continues to grasp.
This allows the application to show digital content relevant to what the user is looking at.
This digital content is then displayed in a practical way, so much so that it looks part of the real world – this is called rendering.
AR Remote Work Analysis
Considering the fact of the situation which we all are aware of, we have to consider AR Remote work. Even before the COVID-19 crisis, researchers were trying to bring this technology in our comfort zones.
Almost the entire world is bound by their houses, working from home and trying new things to keep the businesses keep going.
Remote work Augmented Reality is here to stay and will more than ever become an integral part of the way we work.
The numbers are increasing year by year for working remotely. 75% of current employees say they plan to work remotely or from home for the rest of their career.
The statistics shows how much significant it is to adapt technologies for every person as it is the only way now to rely on.
Providing remote assistance to a customer can be tedious over a chat, email or phone call. Sometimes, the helpers don’t understand the actual issue. But this could be solved by combining live video streaming with augmented reality.
Researchers can work with each other through AR on the analysis of the Business with all the fancy visual demonstration than the auditory communication.
The biggest use of AR which proves beneficial for the customers and the Organization too is the revised version of Customer Service, mostly Technical Support.
Guiding the customers step by step with the problem they are entangled with.
Trainers have also started using AR to explain the trainees, interns and the students. Learning can be done in the most efficient and demonstrative way.
AR remote work as it happens, helps technicians/engineers gain immediate access to remote experts when it is needed, solve the problems in the service processes, quickly execute repairs and even communicate with customers. For example, they can use AR to locate the address prior to a dispatch or follow up after a visit.
The technology allows employees to confirm, record and add data to CRM systems, gather proof of identity, validate coupons, or see evidence of damaged goods prior to authorizing returns.
These Service giants have adapted to remote work with AR. Vodafone is one the Organizations is harnessing remote assistance AR to better support their customers.
Delivery Organisations
AR identifies what one can see, while the GPS helps put in position on the map. Ultimately, Maps AR helps get around that problem of not knowing which way to walk because the AR can then point in the right direction so you’re heading the right way.
Insurance and Financial Institutions
With AR remote work assistance, as customers can easily gain clarity on billing, invoice inquiries and personal pin inquiries, with the agent sharing their view and pointing where necessary. Agents can use it to validate customer identities, or gather specific visual evidence or proof for disputes.
Travel Companies
Some Travel companies have step their foot in AR technology. It helps them explore new places, venues and many more interesting and suitable facts about them.
Movie Companies
Movie Companies are innovatively implementing AR technology to improve theatre experiences and attract larger audiences.
The future of meetings, training sessions and daily work of the Organization could drastically and rapidly change with AR helping companies become more energy-efficient. Manufacturers, Researchers and more will find innovative ways to make people more productive in the face of an aging populace. All of these tools will help the expanding of acceptance and capabilities of AR a bit further.
Most virtual reality (VR) interaction takes place via a motion controller, but most headset-based augmented reality (AR) devices utilize a combination of gaze and hand tracking for interaction. When you set out to design your augmented reality app, you will need to consider how the user will interact with objects.
What is the difference between VR and AR?
Virtual reality (VR) implies a complete immersion experience that shuts out the physical world. Whereas Augmented reality (AR) adds digital elements to a live view often by using the camera on a smartphone.
Is AR and VR the future?
“Augmented, Mixed and Virtual Reality 2020-2030: Forecasts, Markets, and Technologies” covers one of the key markets of the future. VR, MR, and AR are products are used in many different settings, for example for day-to-day workflow management and on production lines. Hence, AR and VR is definitely the future of technology.
What is AR in simple words?
AR is the special technology where it instructs your device to be helpful throughout your day by letting you experience digital content in a similar way you experience the world. It lets you search for things visually and virtually, simply by pointing your camera at them.
How exactly does Augmented Reality work?
Computer vision or camera understands what is in the physical world around the user from the content of the camera feed which it continues to grasp. This allows the application to show digital content relevant to what the user is looking at.
Remote working and work-from-home is a convenient trend that’s gaining traction since the global pandemic has struck all our lives. Many tech companies like adobe, and Facebook have gone WFH at least till June of 2021. Twitter and Square has announce Work From Home Forever Option.
It’s high time for employers to learn different ways to keep your remote employees engaged motivated and happy. This includes activities such as fostering personal connections and gamifying the team work, encouraging wellness programs and celebrating your workers to keep their spirit high!
We spoke with top executives from 15 companies across the country, speaking up and endorsing their views on how they are keeping up the employee engagement and well-being. So here we present different ways to to take care your “family” remotely.
Khushboo Solanki – Founder, Zero Gravity Communications
While technology and product companies could easily swift into work from home creative fields where the output comes from interaction and stimulating discussion with different creative disciplines.
We used to do Monday morning team meetings. There used to be a quick presentation on last week’s issues and problems team-based while working from. We also made sure we discuss mental health and keep everyone’s spirit high since WFH can be demotivating at times.
We aren’t working remotely now, but we are working with all safety protocols in place. We are testing the team every week to make sure everyone‘s health is in check. There is proper health guidelines maintain from our management side.
Companies are trying many innovative ways to keep their employees motivated and in good humour in these trying times. Employee engagement activities like Town Halls, where people discuss the developments happening in the company and share information work as good breakout sessions.
A comprehensive and consistent internal communication strategy ensures that there is a flow of information all along and helps keep employees engaged. Several organisations are also using innovative rewards and recognition policies to appreciate the hard work that teams are putting in. Trainings are being organised to upskill/reskill employees – that has a higher signaling value
The pandemic has been hard on every individual, especially on those working in digital agencies as we work with hard deadlines. As a company, we have taken a policy to put employees well being first. We started more employee happiness initiatives. The primary one being giving off to everyone every alternate Friday! We have started other initiatives as well such as no meeting Friday, weekly fun catchups where we just chit chat, sing and talk for an hour over a video call. We have a lunch break and tea break where no meetings can be scheduled across the organization.
We started being very mindful of taking aggressive deadlines. Overall, this pandemic has taught us to become employee-centric and become policies that are employee-friendly.
The one thing that we figured is that the pandemic may lead to reduction in work performance and that is why right from the beginning we made sure that the weekly routines for all the employees are not focused only on the tactical work like accomplishing the concrete plans one need to execute. Rather half of the week we made sure that all the employees focused on adaptive performance, where there was no plan to follow, but instead, one is free to experiment and focus on problem-solving. Like on Monday a performance cycle meeting for the team was held that covered the result of the previous week, the commitments of the present week and what areas to experiment on to improve the performance. From Tuesday-Thursday we make sure that we have at least one individual meeting with each of the team members. By which we motivate them, help them focus on tackle challenges that are a slight stretch.
Along with that all the managers are asked to coordinate small group meetings in which their team members can collaborate on the week’s experiments and tackle problems together. And on Friday’s we focus on reflection. Help the employees showcase and gather input on the experiments of the week. Because It’s important for the employees to check in on each other’s motivation and progress. And as a leader, I feel it is really important to set the example by asking people how they are feeling: Where did they face struggle with their motivation, and where did they thrive?
Sumit Garg – Co-Founder, Luxury Ride
At Luxury Ride, we believe our employees are our pillars, we stand with them and they are our extended family. At Luxury Ride, we want our employees to be financially stable and be high on morale and thus there are no salary cuts or layoffs of employees. We have introduced the Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP), promoted our employees, have given them incentives in cash.
We are organizing informal social connect session, emphasizing the need to balance family and household, online training on wellness, fitness, and learning sessions. We are also organizing various training programs for our employees which will add value to them both personally and professionally.
We believe in working together and combining all our strengths together as one. Amidst this pandemic we have continued to keep the morale and engagement of our employees high by keeping the communication game strong, formally & informally. Here is what we do for the same – Slack– Invested in an effective communication tool to connect with all on the same portal. Daily Scrum– To check with all the employees daily to do tasks and address the problem, if any. Virtual Celebration– Sending virtual cards for birthdays, anniversaries, new joinee or farewell along with calls with the team. Ice Breaking sessions to help new joinees open up to the team and make new friends. Flexible Work Timings– Each team has its own style of working and the main focus is only on the output. Mandatory Video ON calls at least twice a week to ensure teammates are more connected with visual contact.
Mr. Prasad Rajappan – Founder & CEO, ZingHR
Often, employees work beyond their shift timing, they are ignoring the fact that it will ultimately affect their physical and mental well-being which indirectly affects the business outcomes of the enterprises and also the health of the employees. The employees need emotional connect in tough times which we are all going through right now.
Many of our client organizations are reaching out to us to enable HR Tech tools like Online Surveys to understand the pulse of the employees, their wellbeing and engagement level, timesheets to track the daily activities, help-desk management through which any employee can reach out to the respective departments in the organization for urgent needs, mobile- learning to ensure contactless knowledge and information dissemination with Multilingual mobile-based Learning.
A critical virtue that will beat the Work-From-Home fatigue is Ownership. Topline lays huge emphasis on this capability in its resources. We train our employees to build ownership from the time of their induction with periodic reviews and goal setting. It hugely takes away the stress of micro-management faced by over 40% of managers in most other companies.
For the Emotional Quotient, we ensure our resources are sensitized and practice empathy. We break up the goals to give ourselves shorter snackable targets to keep the efficiency and momentum high. Each achievement and development are celebrated together as it boosts team’s morale, creates belongingness and raises the spirits. Our team is our strength and with them, our vision and mission to become a global organization strengthen even more.
Normally, the employees might feel zoned out or they may start feeling isolated and may lose their interest in work. Moreover, the pandemic is still not over, so this is the time when they will need counseling the most. Many organizations have started to realize the importance of having a corporate wellness program in the workplace. These initiatives are specifically designed to help the employees or staff members to take a break from their sedentary lifestyle and set their foot into a healthier lifestyle. Asking for feedback is another way to increase employee engagement in the workplace. However, it is a two-way process. Feedbacks should be given by both employers and employees. This way, the employees may feel that their opinions matter and it plays an important role in the company.
Pankit Desai – Co-founder and CEO, Sequretek
While we at Sequretek, ensure that communication within the organization is frequent, transparent and consistent, Zoom fatigue is very real. We make sure that meetings don’t overlap with employees’ personal days and timings, with a dedicated login and logout time. There have been other communications from our HR around safety and security, reinforcing the message of maintaining hygiene and staying safe.
A daily state of affairs newsletter is shared by our COO, that basically sheds light on the current Covid-19 situation: how things are getting impacted, what are the things we should be watching out for, what opportunities hackers would use, the scenarios to look out for, basically keeping our employees abreast with information but backed from a data perspective than rumours.
There is no doubt that difficult times and interacting with your team and keeping them engaged can help ease some tension and boost morale. There are a number of ways for the companies to engage with their employees.
The first thing to do would be to prune the grapevine. And the best way to stop rumors from spreading is to be transparent and update your team about the challenges that the organization is facing. Rumors often start whenever there is lack of communication. The organizations need to inform their employees about the safety measures they’re putting in place to reassure their teams that their safety would not be compromised. Any policy or workflow changes should also be conveyed at the earliest.
The second thing to do would be to not get embroiled too much into the tragedy of current scenario. Obviously, the employers need to acknowledge the present – which does seem gloomy – but they should look beyond it and make their team visualize the same. As devastating as Covid-19 has been, much like all other natural disasters, it would eventually pass away, and those who are preparing for the future – for the new normal – would have a competitive edge over others, who are only looking to survive. Also, by placing a bigger goal for the organization, the employers can motivate their teams and usher in a much-needed wave of positivity.
Finally, the normal that will come after the pandemic subsides would be a new normal and instead of trying to revert to the old way, it would be prudent to adapt to the new. Adapting though is easier said than done. This is why business owners must take their employees into confidence, make them feel like an integral part of the business and encourage them to devise strategies for the new normal. Thus, you will be able to create a way for the employees to collaborate, create and contribute to the change”.
Shivani Sanwal – HR Business Partner, Moglix
Lack of community belongingness is a significant downside of working remotely. Human resource leaders are leveraging technology to re-imagine their internal communication strategy, stay plugged into business, and check on employees’ general wellbeing.
Many enterprises have hired psychologists to address people’s woes and facilitate online counseling sessions for employees to seek expert assistance on emotional wellbeing. Moreover, people managers are encouraging employees to share their psychological issues without worrying about social taboos and ensuring that employees do not have to suffer silently.
Dr Malini Saba –Founder,Saba Group&Anannke Foundations
Dr Malini Saba, Founder & Chairman,Saba Group & Anannke Foundations
As our employees began working from home, we implemented a systematic approach for their engagement that has eight pillars – occupational, social, physical, intellectual, spiritual, environmental, financial and emotional. These pillars are aimed at the holistic development of our employees – both at a professional and personal level.
Our employees have been happier working from home & have yielded better results as they save commute time & get to spend more time with their families. We conduct sessions remotely and focus on the specific requirements of the individuals, the first 10-15 minutes of a virtual meeting is discussing business and then we have Leadership sessions, Motivational talks on self-care and parenting, moderate discussions, book summaries, psychological counselling etc. Teams connect over a cup of coffee, play Online games, bring pets & children during video calls, share picture streams, celebrate birthdays & festivals and more. These conversations have seemed very effective in preventing potential burnout, isolation and boost discipline among our employees.
Rashi Agarwal – Co-founder and CBO, ZYPP Electric Mobility
Zypp has given the option to work from home till December 2020 to function areas like Tech, Finance and Marketing. Zypp has got all its team insured for any kind of health concerns including Covid-19 too.
Also, to know the pulse of the team, Zypp is using eNPS and SSK surveys to understand the employees’ requirements and act on it.
We also work on some remote team-building activities through google meets to keep teams motivated remotely. We are also working on KPI’s and job scorecards to give better direction and action plan to teams to get better productivity. Also, we have a monthly way of celebrating happiness either via party or cake cutting, and all hand events rewarding the best performer too from time to time.
Mr. Dinesh Kumar TK – VP(HR), Aspire Systems
Our HR Partners and managers connect with Aspiriansregularly to discuss and resolve any concerns. The senior leadership team connects with managers to give regular updates and gain understanding about what is happening with the teams.
Due to the unprecedented lifestyle changes that have been thrust upon us now, it is natural to feel overwhelmed. Through our mental health and wellness initiative, MindSpa, our employees can reach out to our in-house counsellor when they require support and guidance. We also conduct Online yoga classes by partnering with a professional trainer.
As a trust-building measure, we have also taken steps to ensure Aspirians receive adequate care if they are affected by COVID-19 by supporting them with a leave of 10 days and providing them with an exclusive Covid insurance cover of 2 lakhs per head for the individual and their families.
Dinesh Kumar, Vice President at Aspire Systems
Conclusion
While working remotely has its fair share of benefits, like saving time and money commutes and encouraging better work-life balance, it also has some downsides. Because they’re not in the office with their team, remote workers often feel less engaged and connected to their company, which can hurt productivity and performance.
We hope the the above ideas will surely help you with for your own employee engagement programme.
Remote working has pulled up its sock over last years and there’s been a growth in working remotely. And now, Coronavirus has forced untold employees and teams to work from home arrangement, and is mandated to work from home is disorienting at best, and debilitating at worst. For employees who are fastening their new remote reality, they need to learn to adjust in remote working.
If you are a founder or a team leader, then you have to manage a remote team that should be employee focussed remote working.
Remember that transitioning to a remote environment, even if it’s temporary, is a process. You cannot copy an in-office environment and paste it into a remote work; that too from home one, and expect everyone to function as usual.
Remote Working
It can be hard to understand what other of your workers are currently going through when they are remotely working, especially when you haven’t worked remotely ever before. They are facing many problems like, that they might have looped out of normal office communication. However, that’s not the only limitation. Other challenges could be that they don’t have to deal with clients and some would have been just unplugging at the end of the day.
If we look into the insights, then it might help break through major issues while working remotely and support their team. What are the major challenges to remote teams? This has to get over with, to work efficiently.
Struggles with Remote working
Challenges of Managing A Remote Team
Having employees across multiple time zones
Lacking the right communication tools
Missing accountability systems
Failing to have clear roles and tasks
Remembering remote workers for promotions
Remote hiring is like rolling two fours
If we look at it imperatively, then the biggest challenge is how to manage the above-mentioned challenges. Effectively managing a remote team is a challenge for every manager. Keeping everyone in sync not only requires an extra effort but often cuts into valuable time.
Adjust in Remote Working
1. Establish A Structure
The dreaded routine becomes a lifesaver when the person you are working with is not sitting in the same building. Frequent check-ins and a transparent way of monitoring progress will take away at least part of the anxiety caused by a lack of personal interest.
2. Speed-Up Onboarding
You won’t be available all the time to answer questions and with the time you’ll realize the majority of the team stays the same. If so, try to solve underlying issues. Provide guidelines & checkpoints so clear work can be done with your help.
3. Recognize The Power Of CC
Keep everybody in the loop. In a remote environment, any form of alienation can easily invoke a sentiment of exclusion.
4. Put Emphasis On Result
Don’t mistake online presence for productivity. Sometimes people do have a habit to be a night owl and work hard, so they might not be able to give their full productivity in the day time. If the result is good, then don’t destroy that thing with your harsh behavior towards it.
5. Brainstorm Together
The usual tasks can be taken care of remotely, but to really get a creative discussion flowing, bring the team together.
Collaborate online and pool resources in one place. However, try to adjust the level of transparency so that it doesn’t clash with your coworkers’ work styles.
7. Make Yourself Available
The sheer number of communication channels leaves no excuse for being unavailable. Don’t play hide and seek, be clear how and when people can quickly reach you.
8. Match The Medium With The Message
Email might not be the perfect solution for a quick-paced back-and-worth conversation. Consider using chat or a video call.
9. Plan Absences In Advance
In the case of co-located teams, it’s easy to adjust to a surprise absence on the fly. It takes some more time and effort to reassign and coordinate remote work in the same situation.
10. Balance Communication
Ever shared a room with a coworker who defined the wrong side of the signal to noise ratio? While communication in a remote environment is paramount, omnipresent notifications are the bane of our digital age. Try to limit the number of distractions your colleagues will have to respond to.
Company’s Reviews On Remote Work
You Need the Right Tools
You need the right tools because remote working comes with risks and threats. The idea of doing work at home without exhaustive preparation would have seemed laughable a decade or two ago. But the power of cloud and automation has brought the prospect of remote working within reach for many organizations.
If your business is already working with a cloud-based solution, the transition to remote working should be relatively simple. (If you’re not so lucky, now might be a good time to start considering it.)
These tools help facilitate the practice of remote working:
Dynamics 365 Business Central (an accounting and ERP solution)
Office 365 Suite (in addition to documents and spreadsheets, Office also has Teams — a powerful collaboration tool)
Power Apps (lets you create your own applications with little or no code)
Azure Server Hosting (now includes virtual workstations, allowing you to use your workstations without being at your desk)
Power Automate (helps create workflows to streamline tasks and processes)
Forms (create online forms to collect data and get alerts)
It’s important to communicate with your team as you adjust, speak up about issues, offer solutions for communication gaps, seek advice on how others have carved out dedicated places of work within their home. Crowdsource advice from within your organization. Look for the opportunity in the midst of what will feel like a chaotic and destabilized situation.
Managing Remote Teams might be chaotic
Remote is a chance to rethink how you live and work, and though it may sound counterintuitive, unleashing your imagination to take advantage of your new working reality may lead to long-term efficiencies. You have to try and adapt a self-service and self-learning mentality because, in the end, this is how things are going to work effectively.
Who knew that remote working is going to be the new culture of working from home. Earlier, it was considered less of a job but as a customer service position at a below minimum wage. Now it’s a full-blown career. Managing remote working and remote teams is now a big responsibility. Here are remote working tips for employers where you can set up the path for your team’s success.
Technology- “The Need of The Hour” has proved as one of the best remote working tips during Covid-19, when the global economy is shutdown. It has made us capable to get our job done flexibly, so we try to adapt to this technology. Employees and employers are keeping up with the changing needs of the changing hour. Some major industires are also found promoting the culture of Remote Working.
What is Remote Working?
Remote working stands not just for the advantages related to the involvement of staff, their lower rotation, however the conjointly nice potential for development. This will ensure productive time while working remotely. It’s an open-end chance to redefine what cooperation between an organization and a worker really is. However, your teamwork depends a lot on them, and the way you gift them with priorities and goals will facilitate them so they can notice the most effective solutions.
The goals should be mutual, set, and nominative, because of this your team’s motivation to implement them won’t decrease as a result of they’ll recognize what they are nisus for. If individuals work along, aiming for one goal, they share responsibility for the project.
Remote Working
Remote working is additionally a chance for different ways that of accounting for work, not essentially for hours worked, except for results.
Remote working has pulled up its sock over last years and there’s been a growth in working remotely. If we see some trends then over the last 12 years, it has shown a growth of 159%. 91% growth in remote work over the last 10 years and a 44% growth in remote work over the last 5 years. Here is about some industries which have started promoting the new era of remote working.
Industries that work remotely
Why Remote Working Is the New Trend?
The comfort of being at home with flexible working hours
Set your own schedule of the day
Taking some days off for Self
Better time management
Less of stress and anxiety
Learn more skills at home
Benefits of Remte Working
The current global crisis has urged businesses to make it mandatory that their employees work from home. A significant adjustment is neededif you are a newb to working remotely. Because a bedroom can turn into a home office and taking conference calls half-dressed which is now your new formals. Tips to remote working for employees and employers can make things less stressful and more productive.
Remote Working Tips:
1. Maintain Regular Hours
Get up in the morning and the first thing in the mind is to set a schedule and stick to it, for god’s sake. Set up some guidelines because now you are working from home and sleep is going to hit you hard. You have to understand that working remotely means extending your day or starting early to compete with your side bench colleague. When it’s done, wrap up before you go to sleep; don’t leave it as a mess. Use remote tools like Rescue Time will help you track daily activities.
Rescue Time helps you keep in track of time
2. Designate A Workspace
Remember if you have to stay mentally focussed for longer hours so, designate a workspace. Make your guest room a new home office and keep it less of a disturbing place so you can focus more. You just have to work in a comfortable environment with the right equipment at home so you can be efficient and productive. During a video call, make sure you don’t have a distracting background or a noisy room.
3. Socialize With Team
Isolation and series of lockdowns have made us a great deal to connect with our friends and colleagues like earlier times. Don’t forget that the basic key to remote working is socializing more and more with your team. You do have to let your team talk about common interests, ideas and if possible, try meetups for people in the same region, and in-person retreats. Such interactions will let you keep connected and included in the team. These interactive experiences will let you be more proactive about nurturing relationships.
4. Set Rules With People in Your Space
Set some ground rules with other people at your home or who-so-ever you share your space with when you work. Because, whatever your excuse maybe you can’t let people service you just because you are working hard from home. Try and divide up domestic labor so that others at your place don’t get frustrated.
5. Schedule Some Breaks
Try scheduling some 20 minutes tea break and take some time off. Give yourself adequate time during the day and try not to be lethargic all day. Because working like a donkey whole day won’t bring success to you. It’s also not broken to your mind but also to some break to the processors of your PC/Laptops. A lunch hour and mini coffee/tea breaks can boost you up and re-energize you for the next work slot.
6. Use a VPN
Using a VPN which includes wi-fi at coworking spaces, libraries, cafes, airports which means a network that you actually don’t control. Using a VPN at home will let you access some important websites so which your company provides you with. In that case, try leaving your VPN connected as often as possible because it’s always better to have it on than not.
Buy a new sim or set up a phone number for official calls. It can be a free VoIP service, such as a Google Voice. A separate contact will let you keep up the work-life balance.
8. Spare Some Time For Physical And Creative Activities
Maintaining a safe social distance up to 6 feet, try to get out of your safe space for some fresh air. Move some hands and leg, do some Zumba which will eventuallyboost you up with energy. Believe me, exercising gives you a nice life with less stress. Run your creative minds and draw something, or just grab some colors fill in some drawings.
9. “Show Up” To Conferences And Be Detected
Certainly, you may participate in video conferences and conference calls, however, it is a smart plan to attend facultative conferences generally, too. Take care to talk up throughout the meeting thus everybody is aware of you are on the decision.
If your leader is lax concerning obtaining you in a very space with different staff, raise to possess associate annual or semi-annual trip in your contract. It might be for annual coming up with, training, or team building. Or, tack it onto another business event, like a yearly business meeting, near the conference, or workplace vacation party. DO not wait around for somebody to ask you to the workplace or a happening. Be proactive.
11. Take Sick Days
When you are sick, take the sick time you would like. If you have got sick days as a profit, they are a part of your compensation package. Not taking them once you want them is like abandonment cash. If you are a freelancer while not sick days, it is terribly straightforward to comprise the other time-is-money lure and check out to power through sicknesses.
12. Hunt For Coaching Opportunities
When you are not in an associate workplace together with your fellow staff, you would possibly miss out on coaching and skills development courses that square measure educated in the flesh. Your company may even forget to feature you to its on-line coaching courses. Additionally, to top-down coaching pushes, if there’s a course you would like for career development, raise if you’ll take it. Also, if you get enough advance notice of forthcoming coaching that is on-the-spot, it would be a decent time to request a visit to headquarters.
13. Overcommunicate
Working remotely needs you to overcommunicate. Tell everybody who has to realize your schedule and availability usually. once you end a project or vital task, say so. Overcommunicating does not essentially mean you have got to write down a five-paragraph essay to elucidate your every move, however, it will mean continuation of yourself.
14. Be Positive
Once you work remotely full-time, you want to be positive, to the purpose wherever it should want you are being excessively positive. Otherwise, you risk sounding sort of a jerk. It’s unfortunate however true. Thus, embrace the exclamation point! notice your favorite emoji :D. You are going to want them.
15. Cash in of Your Perks
Once you’ve worked in associate workplace full-time, it had been a struggle to seek out the time to pop one thing into the kitchen appliance that always. Operating remotely comes with distinctive perks. Cash all of them, you are it.
16. Do not be Too Arduous on Yourself
The most roaring remote staff have a name for being very disciplined. After all, it takes serious focus to induce a full-time workplace job done from associate unconventional house. Everybody lets their attention drift, generally. If you discover yourself operating one minute and booking flights for your forthcoming vacation successive, do not reprimand yourself gratingly. Instead, raise yourself whether or not folks in associate workplace settings do a similar issue. If the solution is affirmative, cut yourself some slack, then go back to figure.
17. Finish Your Day with a Routine
Just as you ought to begin your day with a routine, produce a habit that signals the shut of the workday. it would be a symptom off on a business electronic messaging apps, a night dog walks, or a 6 p.m. yoga class. You would possibly have an easy routine like motion down your laptop and turning on a favorite podcast. No matter what you select, make love systematically to mark the tip of operating hours.
There are many more countless advantages and tips of remote working but there’s more to remote working tips for the team. There are some remote team tools that will simplify the process to manage remote workers and teams to keep them productive and grow them professionally.
Tools for Remote Work
Top Remote Work Tools for Remote Teams
Zoom
Evernote
Google Drive
ProofHub
Basecamp
Dropbox
Instagantt
Troop Messenger
Slack
World Time Buddy
Timezone.io
10to8
Krisp
Todoist
Blink
Chimp or Champ
Kickidler
Teamwork
Hub staff
WooBoard
iDoneThis
LiveAgent
Time Doctor
Nextiva
Appear.in
Top Remote Work Tools for Teams
Remote work is additionally a chance for different ways that of accounting for work, not essentially for hours worked, except for results. The days once you need to sit within the workplace to complete the specified eight hours full-time area unit over, this conjointly offers a lot of opportunities for businesses that may optimize their prices. You do not have to be compelled to maintain a workplace, equipment, buy coffee, and look out of fruitful Thursdays. Simply invest in tools that facilitate on-line work, and their area unit a lot of and a lot of them of prime quality.
A study 5 years ago showed a 13% increase in productivity once remotely working from home. The explanations expressed were the reduced range of breaks and leave. Not solely work from home, however, work from any place or a coworking place within the world is gaining a lot of votes. By giving staff a lot of freedom, limiting negative practices like micromanagement, we tend to enable individuals to grow and unharness their potential.
With bigger freedom comes bigger responsibility and with it even bigger worker involvement in what they are doing. this is often confirmed by the State of Remote Work 2019 report ready by the bird of Minerva Labs. per it, mobile staff with a thirteen higher likelihood will not wish to alter jobs for the subsequent five years. this is often one thing price finance in!
Remote Working Tips for teams can be hugely rewarding, but only if you keep your productivity up and maintain a healthy work-life balance which will eventually nurture your business relationships.
A virtual office is a service that enables employees and business owners to work remotely by providing a range of business functions accessible through the internet. The virtual office concept has become a popular workspace solution for freelancers and entrepreneurs who work from home but want a professional-sounding business address for their company. It gives business owners all the benefits of a physical office without the expense of renting an actual office. A virtual business address can help to add credibility to a business, which makes it easier to successfully attract clients.
A virtual office or virtual company refers to a company that may not have a fixed location yet functions as a unit to provide products and services to customers. It relies on the Internet heavily. Internet is used for document exchange, video conferencing for meetings and cell phones so employees can keep in touch. The office’s employees might work at home or in different cites and countries i.e. it involves working remotely.
Essentially, a virtual office is a service which provides a business owner with an office address and telephone number, communication and administration services, and access to meeting rooms, all without the need for physical office space.
Virtual Office Concept
A virtual office is part of the flexible workspace industry that provides businesses with any combination of services, space or technology, without those businesses having the capital expenses of owning or leasing a traditional physical office.
Due to the digital revolution, traditional working environment will never be the same. In many cases, work is no longer the place you go to, but rather the tools, skills, and devices you need to have to complete a task, no matter where your location is. Many startups, small firms, and solopreneurs(entrepreneur who works and runs their business alone) are discovering the benefits of virtual offices. For instance, it enables organisations to create and maintain a presence in a desirable location without the need to pay rent for an actual space.
A virtual office can be defined as various work environments that can be accessed with the help of Internet and computer technology. Technically, you and your team can work from any corner of the world as long as you have an Internet connection, an app or a collaboration or conference tool needed for your work, that gives the same ultimate result as any physical office.
The virtual office concept has a great scope in future. For instance, Covid-19 has made many employees unintentionally get used to work from home. This will give a great boost to the virtual offices in coming future.
History of Virtual Office
The virtual office concept has existed since the early 1980’s and has changed over the decades with technology. For example, a 1980’s virtual office included a fax service, now this has been replaced with a scan to email service, in which physical mail is scanned and emailed to the client. Even though virtual offices have been growing in popularity over the last few years, the idea has actually been around for several decades. There’s been an ongoing debate about who coined the term virtual office.
According to an article published in 1982 in Infoworlds, John Markoff, a journalist, first mentioned the term ‘virtual office. In the article, Markoff wrote that a virtual office would be built around a portable personal computer and local area network that would expand working horizons dramatically.Markoff also stated that in the future virtual offices, employees will no longer be constrained by computer equipment or geographic location. They would be free to travel or to interact with others while communicating information with right tools. The physical offices would not have the central importance it does today.
The first virtual offices were accurately installed in 1989 by Ralph Gregory in Boulder, Colorado. Ralph founded ‘The Virtual Office Inc’ because is first child was born and he wanted to be able to work from home and spend time with her.
Also in 1989, after taking a business trip to Belgium, English billionaire businessman Mark Dixon founded his company Regus that provided clients with executive suites at affordable prices. Though the company went bankrupt in 2003, it was able to turn things around in less a year after receiving financing from a business parent. It is now a huge global company, listed on the American stock market.
In 1990, the first Internet search engine was developed by McGill University. In 1991, the World Wide Web was released to the public. Also in the same year, the first webcam was developed at Cambridge University. In 1992, “Virtual Office” became a registered trademark for the first time when Richard Nissen registered the term with the UK’s Intellectual Property Office.
The first Symbian phone, the touchscreen Ericsson R380 Smartphone was released in 2000. It combined a PDA with a mobile phone. In 2003, Skype was released to the public as conferencing tool that allowed free IP-based communications using microphone, webcam and instant messaging to individual consumers. Thus, the virtual offices started actually after this.
In the last decade, trend of Virtual Office has increased due to Internet
How Virtual Office works?
If your work involves traveling to client locations or other places away from your home base, you should probably consider buying a laptop computer rather than a desktop system. With a laptop one can always have their files, documents with them. Instead of laptop, one can also use tablets, iPad, etc. as these are many lightweight models out there that are very powerful. Just make sure you get a good carrying case that has a shoulder strap and room for your hard copy documents. Similarly, printer, fax machine, scanner, and other necessary peripherals to make a while system.
These Virtual offices operate as one unit to serve customers though do not exist physically. This type of set up is getting popular especially with startups and small businesses. The creation of web-based office productivity software and services, such as videoconferencing has helped drive the growth in virtual offices.
A virtual office concept can also lead to greater productivity, as its services free workers from administrative tasks, as well as travel. Each employee can work from the location that is most convenient, and the business is not restricted to hiring employees who live locally.
First of all, it saves the cost needed for the office space. The monthly cost of a virtual office is far less than that of a traditional physical office. After all, it has none of the maintenance and staff costs. A virtual office solution saves on overheads, as there is no need to rent physical space, buy equipment and furniture, or hire a receptionist.
With a virtual office solution, business owners get an address within a reputable area code that is equivalent to a physical office so this reassures clients that the business is legitimate. A virtual office can also be secured via a month-to-month lease, so there is greater flexibility if a user’s business changes.
As virtual office provides a mailing address, telephone answering, and videoconferencing services. Therefore, even small business can appear larger than it is. This is the reason why, it is so useful for startups and small scale businesses. It requires less management than the physical offices.
Working from home while using a virtual office address saves time and money that would otherwise be spent on a daily travel. It helps employees save their energy which is wasted in travelling. This helps them focus on work with more creativity.
Teams working virtually typically have the benefit of flexibility of working. So employees get more free time and flexibility. This helps maintain work-life balance in a better way.
Disadvantages of a Virtual Office
Virtual connections lack the social interactivity of face-to-face contact. Some believe that a disadvantage to working from a virtual office is the lack of social interaction between employees. Because many nonverbal cues can be missed in emails, phone conversations and video conferences and also messages can easily be misinterpreted.
Coordinating meetings may prove difficult especially if employees are residing in different countries. So the scheduling a meeting might create a problem due to differences across several time zones. Finally, collaborations will lack spontaneity because they have to be planned precisely to coordinate schedules and time zones.
On the downside, a virtual office means no physical office space is available to work from on a daily basis. The service package you will get from a virtual office space may be a limited one. For example, many packages come with limited use of conference rooms or limited teleconferencing and videoconferencing services.
Another disadvantage of working from a from a virtual office is the distractions and sometimes lack of motivation. These can sometimes cause morale and productivity to decline. Hence, a person needs to have self-discipline and work best independently with little supervision.
Ashwini
