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Virtual Workplace

A virtual workplace is a workplace without a single physical location where employees can work remotely using technology. It integrates hardware, people, and online processes to allow collaborative work regardless of location. Benefits include increased flexibility, larger hiring pools, and lower costs. However, disadvantages are feelings of isolation, trust issues, challenges in leadership, and communication difficulties without non-verbal cues. Providing opportunities for social interaction, technology training, and emphasizing audio/video communication can help overcome these challenges. While virtual workplaces have advantages, they are not suitable for all jobs and require managers to focus on results rather than time spent working.

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Jyotsna Nandakumar
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73 views2 pages

Virtual Workplace

A virtual workplace is a workplace without a single physical location where employees can work remotely using technology. It integrates hardware, people, and online processes to allow collaborative work regardless of location. Benefits include increased flexibility, larger hiring pools, and lower costs. However, disadvantages are feelings of isolation, trust issues, challenges in leadership, and communication difficulties without non-verbal cues. Providing opportunities for social interaction, technology training, and emphasizing audio/video communication can help overcome these challenges. While virtual workplaces have advantages, they are not suitable for all jobs and require managers to focus on results rather than time spent working.

Uploaded by

Jyotsna Nandakumar
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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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.

There can be several benefits of a virtual workplace for employees as well as the employers as
mentioned below:

 It provides flexibility for the workers as they are working from the comforts of their own
home. It saves up a significant amount of time that they would have otherwise spent on
commuting to the physical workplace. The lack of stress and frustration that follows may
likely increase the productivity of the employees.
 From the employers’ perspective it leads to an increase in the labour pool from which
recruitments can be made as there is no restriction placed by the location of the job. It also
leads to a decrease in some of the costs incurred by the organisations as there is no need for
leased buildings, electricity bills etc. Research has also found out that it increases the
customer services provided by the employees and generally has been found to increase the
profits of the organisation.

The following disadvantages of having a virtual workplace have been noted:

 Having a remote work location that is virtual and distant from the cohorts and peers mean
that there may be feelings of isolation amongst employees. This in turn might affect their
mental well being and consequently their productivity will also be negatively influenced.
 As a consequence of working in isolation there might also be trust issues between the
employees as well as between the managers and the subordinates.
 Virtual workplace also leads to troubles in carrying out leadership tasks and roles. Effect of
the influence of a leader might be less effective as they are not physically close to each
other. Newer and creative ways of solving the problems in such scenarios need to be
ascertained.
 Communication might be severely affected as entire channels of communication have been
shifted on to the virtual plane. Communicating online does not have the similar levels of
trust as there is a lack of body language, tone etc missing in such kinds of communication
which is essential to conventional communication methods as it consists of a great deal of
information themselves.
 Some additional costs may be incurred by the company while helping the employees set
their base at home virtually. For example, newer laptops, work stations, high speed internet
connectivity etc.
 Working at a virtual workplace may also lead to some employees not being able to properly
make use of the technology available to them. This is especially the case if the employees
were not used to working with technology at their physical workstations. Thus the transition
from the physical to the virtual workplace needs to be made smooth by proper training and
orientation to the technology and its application.

Ways to overcome such challenges:

 Increase the interaction between the employees so that they may build stronger
relationships at work. Provide opportunities to socialise with each other.
 Increase the knowledge resources available to them on dealing with technology. This should
be in the form of initial orientation and training but also in the form of consistent and
sustained resources that is always available to them.
 Communication strategies need to be revised. Any communication whatever its channel
might be needs to be concise and precise. There also needs to be an emphasis on having
audio or video calls/conferencing to include aspects of body language or speech intonations.

Virtual workplaces, in which employees operate remotely from each other and from managers, are a
reality, and will become even more common in the future. There are sound business reasons for
establishing virtual workplaces, but their advantages may be offset by such factors as setup and
maintenance costs, loss of cost efficiencies, cultural clashes, isolation, and lack of trust. Virtual teams
and telework are examples of such arrangements, but they are not appropriate for all jobs, all
employees, or all managers. To be most effective in these environments, managers need to do two
things well: Shift from a focus on time to a focus on results; and recognize that virtual workplaces,
instead of needing fewer managers, require better supervisory skills among existing managers.
Taking these steps can lead to stunning improvements in productivity, profits, and customer service.

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