Making virtual employment work

The AppGap recently hosted a webinar called “No Time, No Budget, Fewer People? Five Big Ideas for Getting All That Work Done.” I was surprised to find that “working virtually” was among the list.

The presenters addressed this in two ways:

1. Outsourcing tasks that can be performed more efficiently or economically by someone outside your company
2. Working from a location outside the office

Bing has embraced the virtual workplace… I’ve been telecommuting from Colorado (and other locations on occasion) for nearly two years. And, virtual workplaces are quickly becoming the norm… It’s estimated that by 2011 – just two years from now – 1 billion people (roughly 3/4 of the U.S. workforce) will be working virtually in some capacity.

Working from home has some obvious benefits for employees (like gas savings and the commute), but it also benefits employers. Nahid Jilovec wrote that:

• According to BusinessWeek, Hewlett-Packard expects to save $230 million of annual space expenses … [and] Sun Microsystems, another believer is reported to have saved anywhere from $300 million to $500 million, mostly in real estate costs, in the last five years.
• It is believed that employees who work from home are anywhere from 15 to 20 percent more productive.

The webinar cautioned that hiring virtual workers is different than hiring traditional employees … different strengths and characteristics are required for the “out of sight” employment scenario to work. INC Magazine suggests that virtual workers should:

1. Have strong communication skills.
2. Be good problem solvers.
3. Agree with the goals and values of the company.
4. Have a strong work ethic.
5. Feel secure about their ability to do the job.
6. Have a good sense of humor.
7. Be able to cope with technology.

To follow up on #7 – there are lots of tools that facilitate the virtual workplace. Laura, we know, is a fan of Google Apps including Google Calendar and Google Docs. Other handy-dandy devices include:

• Skype for free video conferencing, “phone calls” and chats. I used Skype to attend staff meetings from China last year. (Getting a Skype headset is highly recommended.)
• Vonage for phone service on-the-go. Using Vonage, I have local numbers in each of the markets we serve – and they all ring to the same phone. What’s better – I can set the account to transfer to Bing headquarters or my cell phone depending on where I am. Clients have one local number to call regardless of my current location.
• efax is a web-based fax program that allows me to send faxes using PDF or Word documents, and to recieve faxes via email. So, I don’t have to be in the office to get or send a fax, and I don’t require any hardware, phone lines, paper or ink.
• iChat. Bing uses chat programs, including iChat, for quick communication and at-a-glance availability. I also use the video conferencing feature to attend staff and client meetings. It’s helpful to see body language – vs. just hearing voices over a phone line.

In case you’re curious about that webinar, the “five big ideas” were:

1. Automate what you hate — tasks and processes you can offload 
2. Going virtual can help – prudent outsourcing can make more sense than ever
3. Getting “social” at work is good for business – seek technology applications with social media features and that connect you with communities that can provide speedy answers, serve as “free” extensions of your team, connect you to customers faster
4. Reframe how you think about your job – do more of what matters and less of what doesn’t
5. Get your head in the cloud – move more work to the web and save more time and money