Virtual workplace

A virtual workplace is a workplace that is not located in any one physical space. It is usually in a network of several workplaces technologically connected (via a private network or the Internet) without regard to geographic boundaries. Employees are thus able to interact in a Collaborative Working Environment regardless of where they are located. A virtual workplace integrates hardware, people, and online processes.

History

As information technology began to play a greater role in the daily operations of organizations, virtual workplaces developed as an augmentation or alternative to traditional work environments of rooms, cubicles and office buildings.

Types of workplaces

Individual virtual workplaces vary in how they apply existing technology to facilitate team cooperation:

1. Telecommuting: the availability and use of communications technologies, such as the Internet, to work in an offsite location.

2. Hot desk environment: employees do not have individual desks but are rather each day allocated to a desk where they can access technology services including the Internet, email and computer network files. This is similar to "hotelling": recognizing that employees spend more time at clients' offices than at the employer's office, they are not assigned a permanent desk.

3. Virtual team: employees collaborate by working closely together and in regular contact, although physically located in different parts of the world.

Drivers

There are several factors that drive the interest in using virtual workplaces.

Office space and its cost

Office space has become a major expense for many organisations. One response has been to reduce the amount of space each employee occupies. Another is to increase the flexibility of the office’s layout and design. It is not easy to make the most of these approaches and keep employees happy—unless flexible work practices are also used.

Demographic change

There are more women in the workforce, more employees of other nationalities, increased participation from indigenous people and the average age of employees is increasing. These trends are forcing employers to rethink how they employ and manage staff and how they respond to employee interests and demands.

Fuel and energy costs

The costs of the energy needed to commute, live and work are increasing rapidly. Urban forms are expected to change as a result.

Benefits

Virtual workplaces are advantageous in an information age where technology is expanding rapidly and consumer needs are being met from around the world. A virtual workplace enables individuals to work from any place in the world at any time. This is convenient not only for the employee, but for the consumer as well. For an international organization it fits the need for excellent and timely customer service.

Virtual workplaces streamline systems from multiple facets of work into a single unified unit easily accessible by both the consumer and the employee. Decreasing costs as well as increasing efficiency, due to the single system, is an instantaneous advantage. A virtual workplace is easier for employees because it often reduces business travel, consolidates services, and assists in the communication process. Two examples of costs saved by IBM clients' virtual workplace implementation are:

A global technology organization reported savings of $54 million in the first year of integrating the virtual workplace concept into the organization.
An international financial organization estimated savings of over €270 million within five years

Productivity is crucial to any organization. With the implementation of a virtual workplace, productivity may be increased because employees are more focused on business-related projects with only one system to overview. Also, collaborating with team members is made easy with a virtual workplace. With the internet, projects can be completed with increased speed and effectiveness, resulting in saved time. Most important, the needs of consumers are being met with a virtual workplace since it is more convenient for employees to access organizations.

Virtual workplaces allow a company to reach more of its employees via meeting workspaces and virtual training sessions. A company may choose to send only a handful of regional managers to a conference it sponsors annually to receive training in a new product. It may then rely on the managers to pass that knowledge on to its employees. Having a virtual training session saves a company money, not only the cost of travel where only a small handful of its employees receive proper training, but in the long run where all of its employees can receive the proper training and be more productive with a sharper learning curve.

In addition, the employees can more easily accommodate both personal and professional lives.

Challenges

Some common challenges are:

Failure to leverage the technology that supports virtual workplaces, resulting in decrease in productivity
Lack of human contact could cause decreased team spirit, trust and productivity
Increased sensitivity to communication, interpersonal and cultural factors

References

Dempster, Mike Team - Building key for virtual workplace Retrieved on June 26, 2006
Powell, Anne Virtual Teams - A review of current literature and directions for future research Retrieved on June 26, 2006
Yager, Susan Everything's coming up virtual Retrieved on June 26, 2006
Greenlee, Dana Building a community in the virtual workplace Retrieved on June 26, 2006
Stephen Haag, Maeve Cummings, Donald McCubbrey, Alain Pinsonneault and Richard Donovan Third Canadian Edition Management Information Systems for the Information Age Mcgraw-Hill Ryerson, Canada, 2006
Prudz, Patryk VirtualWorkspace the drivers, opportunities and solutions November 6, 2012

Aspects of workplaces

Topics	Absenteeism Abusive supervision Aggression Bullying Conflict Control freak Counterproductive behavior Coworker backstabbing Culture of fear Cyber-aggression Democracy Deviance Discrimination Diversity Divide and rule Emotions Employee engagement Employee monitoring Employee morale Employee silence Employee surveys Empowerment Evaluation Feminisation Fit in or fuck off Friendship Gender inequality Gossip Happiness Harassment Health surveillance Humor Incivility Intervention Jargon Kick the cat Kiss up kick down Listening Machiavellianism Micromanagement Mobbing Narcissism Office politics Performance appraisal Personality clash Phobia Positive psychology Privacy Probation Profanity Psychopathy Queen bee syndrome Rat race Relationships Revenge Role conflict Romance Sabotage Safety and health Spirituality Staff turnover Strategy Stress Toxic workplace Training Undermining Violence Wellness Work–family conflict Workload

See also	Corporation Employment Factory Job Office Organization Whistleblower

Templates	Aspects of corporations Aspects of jobs Aspects of occupations Aspects of organizations Employment

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