Categories
Office Space

The Office Value a Coworking Space Provides, Plus More!

You might be surprised at the office value coworking spaces actually provide, especially after a pandemic. Read on for more details.

 

Categories
Business Trends Office Space

6 Ways to Best Utilize a Coworking Space for Business Expansion

Prioritizing business expansion is a key part of owning a business. But utilizing a coworking space can surely help with that! Read more details below.

 

Categories
Business Trends Office Space

How Coworking is Helping the Startup Culture Thrive

Businesses have evolved across the board since the pandemic, which includes the startup culture. Read further on how coworking has helped them.

 

Categories
Business Trends Office Space

The Advantages of Using a Virtual Business Address

What’s a virtual business address and how is it beneficial to the growth of your company? These are important questions to ask, especially during a time when remote work is happening more than ever.

 

Categories
Office Space

How a Coworking Space Benefits a Sole Proprietorship Business

As a sole proprietorship business, there’s a lot of different resources that can be taken advantage of such as a coworking space. The benefits are surprising. Read further.

 

Categories
Business Trends Office Space

5 Remote Work Models to Consider

Since the pandemic, it’s safe to say that remote work models are here to stay. But which one is for you and your business? Read below for all the details of the different types.

 

Even as we approach an end to the pandemic, many businesses in and outside of tech have realized the efficiency and potential for remote work – if managed and implemented properly.

 

The pandemic has taught us to diversify and innovate on how we work, whether from home or through coworking spaces, in work cafes, in the outdoors, or in offices with mandated social distancing. We have learned to better communicate and collaborate over great distances, improve our efficiency in the absence of daily physical meetings, better integrate virtual toolsets, and benefit from the flexibility of remote work and its many different forms.

 

Over these last few months (and over the course of the last few years), there are distinct remote work models that have come to the forefront as effective ways to integrate remote work into any given team. While remote work can be approached with complete flexibility, most remote work models can either be categorized as completely remote, split or distributed, hybrid, or virtual/remote-centric.

 

Each of these work models have their pros and cons, and managers as well as business leadership need to take into consideration how their team best functions, under what conditions their core talents thrive the most, and to what degree they might be willing to adopt or invest into any given remote work model. Let’s go over the basics.

 

1. Fully Remote and Asynchronous Work Model

 

A fully remote and asynchronous work model is usually tilted towards teams that operate across the world, with talents stationed in different corners of the globe, collaborating asynchronously through email, group chats, cloud storage, team task management systems, and more.

 

Video conferences or live calls might be few and far between, planned ahead and reserved for moments where the whole team needs to come together to answer questions quickly, solve problems immediately, or come up with a solution on the fly.

 

      • Pros and Cons

 

A fully remote team can completely embrace the freedoms provided by a business that operates remotely, through total workplace flexibility. This means that when you’re working in a fully remote team, you can work from anywhere: be that your home office, a coworking space, a local café, or a park. Furthermore, you can live anywhere, and as a manager or entrepreneur, you can source your talents from all over the world without a single care for issues like commuting.

 

But there are distinct cons to an asynchronous work model, as well as one that is fully remote. For one, it can be difficult to get things done right away. With proper management, you can ensure that your team meets all their deadlines. But if something comes up and needs to get fixed immediately, you will have to wait until your CSS specialist, or your developer wakes up and gets caught up with the situation.

 

In many cases, the boundaries between work and life can blur awfully hard when working in an asynchronous team.

 

While there is an understanding that everyone should take time for themselves and be offline from time to time, it becomes almost normal to check into work at odd hours, stay up much later than usual to resolve an issue because you had to wait for someone in another time zone to show up to work, and there are far more issues with communication and the team’s ability to react to problems.

 

With careful management, and certain considerations (such as ensuring that everyone on the team is online and working together at some point in the day, for at least an hour or so), some of these issues can be alleviated.

 

2. Fully Remote and Synchronous Work Model

 

Another fully remote work model is one that specializes in staying remote but working synchronously. In this case, the team collaborates on a similar or even exact schedule, despite minor (or massive) time zone differences. This might mean that some team members are stuck in a night shift.

 

Ideally, however, remote teams that work synchronously try to source their talent from areas in and around the same time zone, give or take a few hours, to minimize needing to put team members through the stress of long-term nocturnal living.

 

      • Pros and Cons

 

Otherwise, the pros and cons are much of the same. Fully remote teams may lack a centralized location, and because it doesn’t make much sense to be both fully remote and have a professional location, many businesses that embrace a fully remote work model lack the means to physically host clients, enjoy the benefits of face-to-face onboarding, or grow a company culture through personal interaction.

 

Some of these cons can be alleviated through a virtual office, which may exist solely to provide a place to meet and talk with clients, as well as intercept calls and relay packages.

 

3. Hybrid Work Model

 

Hybrid work models blend the benefits of a remote work model with the benefits of having an office, usually by having at least a portion of the teamwork from a central location (usually team managers) while individual team members work from home, or from different coworking spaces, nearby or abroad.

 

The exact definition depends on personal preference. Some people maintain that a hybrid work model requires at least 50 percent of a company’s workforce to work from a centralized, commercial office location (regardless of whether that space is a flex space or coworking space or owned/leased commercial property).

 

In many cases, hybrid teams form when a company realizes that it cannot serve its clients solely with local talent. In that case, a company may source remote workers to supplement the main office staff.

 

      • Pros and Cons

 

Hybrid teams only take limited advantage of the benefits of remote work, as the majority of the staff is still working from a central location.

 

This may be a popular model for most businesses interested in getting their toe in the water, but it limits the flexibility afforded by a true work-from-anywhere model.

 

4. Remote-First Work Model

 

This is a hybrid work model that prioritizes remote work, with a small subset of employees working from a centralized location. There are many benefits to a remote-first hybrid work model.

 

      • Pros and Cons

 

Remote-first work models allow team members to report in from time to time and collaborate mostly virtually. However, it may not be an ideal fit for team members who work best with other people and need a place where they can socially interact with other team members beyond the limits of a computer screen.

 

5. Distributed/Split Work Model

 

In a distributed work model, teams are split up into multiple physical locations, with a few remote team members. Most teams, however, collaborate physically and on-location in offices or coworking spaces around the region, country, or world, and work with the other teams through virtual meetings and the occasional physical event.

 

      • Pros and Cons

 

It’s expensive to fund and manage multiple commercial spaces. Coworking spaces relieve a lot of the managerial and financial pressure but stationing multiple teams across multiple coworking spaces is still more expensive than having a coworking hub, with multiple remote teams. But for many businesses, this blend of coworking and remote workspaces helps improve productivity and create a more defined and cohesive company identity.

 

Which Work Model Best Suits You?

 

Finding a model that best suits you can be difficult, and it depends on the size of your business, your resources, where your team members live and work from, and what your goals are for the growth of your company.

 

If you’re interested in ways to expand your team and benefit from both a physical location and a largely remote work model, you should consider leveraging coworking spaces.

 

Categories
Office Space

The Ideal Coworking Space Design for Success

A coworking space design is important, but it’s difficult to find the right one as there is a lot to consider. To assist, read below for ideal information to keep in mind.

 

Coworking spaces have been on the up and up for several years now, as businesses continue to seek more flexible, and more cost-effective alternatives to buying up additional commercial real estate for offices, while entrepreneurs and freelancers alike look to find a better way to work from anywhere but home

 

But what does the ideal coworking space design look like? And what metrics are most important when designing a space around collaboration, creativity, and flexibility

 

The Importance of Safety

 

While the coronavirus pandemic has landed a hefty blow on flexible working spaces everywhere, many have survived and even thrived by offering safe and sanitary workspaces, with mandated and enforced social distancing (through distanced desk spaces, isolated rooms, and outdoor ventilation), roving cleaning crews, and strict temperature checks and viral tests. 

 

As we enter the final stages of the pandemic, many of the lessons learned throughout the last year have been internalized by coworking spaces that are looking for ways to continue to provide a safe working environment, while providing the critical value proposition behind every coworking space: the networking and cooperative opportunities offered by hosting a slew of professionals and teams from different backgrounds.  

 

The ideal coworking space should continue to provide an environment where everyone can feel safe, even in a post-pandemic world, via ample hand sanitization, frequent desk and floor cleaning, open areas with ventilation, private conference rooms for tested teams, and outdoor spaces (such as balconies and terraces) for larger groups to collaborate, discuss, and brainstorm while minimizing the risk of transmission. 

 

What is Coworking Meant to Be? 

 

What is the core of a coworking space? Most people look to coworking spaces as:

 

      • Alternative workspaces for individuals and teams alike
      • Places for collaboration and networking
      • Workspaces that allow for a productive work process through quality furnishings, amenities, and infrastructure. 
      • An open and receptive staff and management
      • Places built with a flexible, open plan in mind. 
      • Workspaces designed to cater to multiple types of workers
      • Workspaces with an individual and creative flair
      • Spaces with a shared theme or philosophy at the center of their overall design

 

The ideal coworking space needs to embody these elements, first and foremost. 

 

Who is Coworking for? 

 

Coworking spaces can cater to specific types of people – creatives, tech experts, executives, entrepreneurs, writers, designers, women, men – or they can cater to multiple groups, or have no specific target. 

 

A coworking space’s target audience reflects in how it’s designed and built. 

 

If there is no specific target, then the philosophy behind a coworking space might have its origins in what the owner prioritizes in a workplace – be it in calming aesthetics, wacky art, a multitude of plants and greenery, or an emphasis on specific schools of architecture. 

 

Melding Wellbeing and Productivity

 

The ideal coworking space understands that the human brain functions best in waves – that there is a flow in which we do our best work, and that we subsequently need downtime. 

 

Coworking spaces that provide both stimulation and relaxation can help workers be more efficient in their transition from being productive to recuperating, and vice versa. 

 

Examples include a relaxing outdoor garden, elements of Zen design, nap rooms, colorful and ergonomic (i.e. comfortable) furniture, areas designed for concentrated work and areas designed for social activity, and so on. 

 

Many people choose to work in coworking spaces because they don’t have the means to do their best work from home, either due to the lack of a suitable workspace, too many distractions, or poor connectivity. Empowering workers to be able to do their best work should be at the heart of any successful coworking space. 

 

Creative Spaces for Creative Minds

 

The last thing a coworking space should be is drab. Color and creative design can go a long way towards stimulating us, in a positive way. A coworking space should ideally have a place where people can go seeking a little bit of inspiration or positive energy – as well as a space designed with limited distractions, both in design and environment. 

 

Access to the Outdoors

 

Even if it’s just a view of a park or a balcony filled to the brim with greenery, a touch of nature can go a long way towards calming the nerves, improving cognition and productivity, and reducing downtime and stress-related illnesses. 

 

Good Food and Good Ambience

 

Snacks are more than just a privilege. We run on good food, and good food is important for a properly working brain.

 

One of the biggest benefits of a well-stocked coworking space is that it comes with its own crucial amenities, including good quality coffee, coffee alternatives (for those who need a theanine fix instead), and a wide selection of snacks and, optionally, some light, nutritious meals. 

 

Setting up a coworking space near several good restaurants is a great idea as well – this gives coworking tenants an additional space to occupy whenever they need to take a break from work and want a moment to socialize or network, while fueling up on good food. 

 

Accommodations for Everyone 

 

Some people prefer working at a desk. Some people do their best work standing. And some people need a comfortable couch. 

 

Coworking spaces that offer a variety of seating options can give everyone the chance to find a spot that lets them do their best work – and choose whether to sit alone or in close (but safe) vicinity to others. 

 

Your Ideal Coworking Space Design

 

At the end of the day, the ideal coworking space design looks a little different for each and every one of us. Coworking as a concept exists to provide a space that appeals to both teams and freelancers, to managers and workers, to developers, writers, creatives, and executives alike. 

 

Some coworking spaces skew towards providing the ideal environment for coding. Others are built to appeal to designers and graphics artists. In most cases, you need to visit a few coworking spaces to find the one that best suits your needs, interests, and ideal networking opportunities. 

Categories
Business Trends Office Space

How to Start a Virtual Office Business?

How to start a virtual office business? This is an important question to answer as a virtual office provides many benefits and is simply a valuable option. Read more below.

 

Virtual offices exist to provide a minimum physical space (sometimes with a skeleton crew) for largely virtual companies to benefit from the advantages of a real-life address without necessarily having to occupy that address

 

Virtual offices are particularly beneficial for startups that otherwise cannot afford to finance, set up, manage, and occupy an entire commercial property on their own, but need a place to receive calls and packages, receive and host meetings with potential clients, and provide a greater sense of legitimacy.

 

How to Start a Virtual Office Business?

 

Virtual offices are, despite the name, real physical addresses. However, they are not designed to host a company’s workforce, or act as a workspace. Instead, these offices exist largely on paper, as addresses for other companies to send packages and correspondence, or for clients to call and check out. 

 

Another distinct benefit for a virtual office is that its address is usually in a commercial space, like a business park or an office building. This provides a business with much more legitimacy than if their own available address was a P.O. box or a garage in a residential area. Some clients and customers make a habit of checking a business’s physical location out on their own, even if only through Google Earth. 

 

The basic value proposition behind a virtual office is that it’s getting harder and more expensive to manage viable commercial real estate, especially for startups with employees spread thin over an entire region or country, or companies that operate largely remotely.

 

While having an office of your own has its distinct advantages, there are some benefits that you can spoof through a virtual office. 

 

Setting up a virtual office of your own doesn’t have to be a significant investment. You can create a virtual office for your business without owning a commercial workspace yourself, through coworking spaces

 

Benefits of a Virtual Office 

 

The distinct value proposition provided by a virtual office is that it gives smaller companies and entrepreneurs the advantage over the competition of benefitting from the trappings of a physical space without anywhere near the same overhead. 

 

When setting up a virtual office business, you can manage the same space for multiple different companies. It is not uncommon for multiple companies to share the same address. 

 

Some of the greater advantages of utilizing a virtual office for small businesses and entrepreneurs include: 

 

Having Your Own Mailbox

 

There are a few advantages to having a mailbox attached to an existing commercial space, and not just a regular P.O. box. These include: 

 

      • Being able to receive and forward physical mail from FedEx, UPS, and the USPS. PO boxes can only accept mail shipped through the USPS. 
      • Having a real address to mail things can improve your company’s legitimacy in the eyes of your clients. It is also safer. 
      • Having a physical address to ship to that is distinct from your own personal residential space. If you work largely from home, you may want to protect your privacy by separating your professional life from your personal life. This is especially important if your business may one day stand at the receiving end of some controversy. 

 

If you offer mail forwarding to the client of your virtual office business, then ensuring that their data is kept safe and encrypted and that all mail is processed on the same day it arrives can add an additional critical layer of security and convenience. 

 

You can utilize a virtual mailbox service to securely process your mail, forward it to an address of your choice confidentially, and continue to benefit from working at home or via a coworking space.  

 

A Space to Receive Clients

 

Perhaps the greatest benefit of setting up a virtual office for yourself is having the option of physically receiving clients, and meeting with them face-to-face when the occasion calls for it. 

 

A coworking space can act as an excellent and professional meeting room when it needs to, and most coworking spaces are designed with private meeting and conference rooms in mind. 

 

Sometimes, meeting solely over Zoom or Teams isn’t enough to gain a client’s trust. Face-to-face meetings may have been largely off the books during the pandemic, but as inoculation strategies unfold and a potential end to most restrictions is in sight, many businesses are considering how they might safely reintegrate in-person meetings and onboarding processes in safe, ventilated, or open spaces.  

 

Staff to Receive and Forward Calls

 

A successful virtual office consists of more than just space. It also requires a human element. This might be a virtual assistant outsourced to another corner of the planet, or a person present at your virtual office of choice, there to receive and host unexpected visits from clients, receive and forward important calls, and act as receptionists for your virtual business. 

 

In most cases, a single assistant or receptionist is often enough to handle the most basic administrative tasks, filtering through daily correspondence, taking calls, and notifying you whenever your presence might be needed at a physical location. 

 

To Summarize

 

      • The first thing you need when starting up a virtual office is the right location. 
      • You will also want a way to receive and process mail. 
      • Consider hiring staff to manage the receiving of calls and correspondence, and the occasional visiting client. 
      • Finally, consider coworking spaces for the benefits they provide as a nominal space for your business, whether it’s for meeting up with clients face-to-face, or facilitating the onboarding process for new hires

 

Tips for Entrepreneurs

 

Leverage a virtual space to make your life easier. A virtual office shouldn’t just be a placeholder to grant your business more legitimacy – consider taking full advantage of the benefits of having a coworking space of your own. 

 

Coworking spaces have provided a safe alternative for those struggling with feelings of isolation during the pandemic, enabling entrepreneurs and satellite teams to work from anywhere, coordinate virtually, and benefit from the amenities of a fully stocked office without the overhead of expanding the headquarters to comply with social distance rules, or buying up new commercial space. 

Categories
Office Space

Why Create a Collaborative Workspace for Your Business?

No matter what, a collaborative workspace will always be useful for the growth of any business. To learn more about how to best create one now, read further on.

 

Flexible spaces, coworking spaces, and collaborative spaces were enjoying a meteoric rise before the onset of the pandemic. Is there a future for these workspace concepts during and after the coronavirus crisis? Are there ways to offset the risks of an office with a revolving crew? And do the benefits outweigh those risks?

 

In short, a collaborative workspace can and does still exist in a world with COVID-19. But just like any other workspace, collaborative workspaces need to be designed and organized with safety and hygiene measures in place that help protect employees and keep us safe, while benefiting from the agility, flexibility, improved creativity, and increased productivity of a collaborative workspace.

 

What is a Collaborative Workspace?

 

Collaborative workspaces are any kind of workspace hosting more than one company. They are usually structured so that each company has its own isolated and private space, but with a large common area where professionals can take breaks together, exchange experiences and information, and forge alliances.

 

Collaborative workspaces are often highlighted by their amenities as well, which are meant to provide reasons for professionals from different backgrounds to enjoy leisure activities together, or just take communal coffee breaks.

 

With the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, social or shared spaces can continue to exist, but they need to continue to exist with safety in mind. This can mean outdoor common areas or balconies, better ventilation, greater spaces, more amenities that facilitate virtual collaboration and interaction (such as video game nights), and improved privacy between professionals and companies.

 

What are the Benefits to a Collaborative Workspace?

 

The advantages of a collaborative workspace include the financial freedom and flexibility afforded by a simplified short-term lease with a coworking space of flex space, the fact that collaborative workspaces are completely set up and require no additional investment to support a growing startup’s needed tech infrastructure, the access to prime locations that make commuting easier for employees while helping smaller companies gain access to the same spaces used by much larger potential partners in the industry, and much more. Some other benefits include:

 

  • Easy to scale to the needs and size of a growing startup.
  • Community-oriented management that helps integrate new companies and facilitate cooperation.
  • Specialized private and common workspaces designed to improve productivity, maximize comfort, and inspire.
  • Unique design choices and amenities to help companies find and reflect their own brand and culture on.
  • A workspace style that strengthens the bonds between employees and their company.

 

Essential Tips to Creating a Collaborative Workspace for Your Business

 

There is more to creating (or finding) a collaborative workspace than simply opening your doors to multiple commercial tenants. Some of the crucial elements that help build a collaborative workspace are centered around the creativity gains realized through healthy social interaction, and productive networking. Here are a few strong tips to help you create the right environment for collaboration during the pandemic.

 

1. Build a Collaborative Culture

 

Collaborative workspaces live and die by the atmosphere they create, and the culture they represent.

 

Each workspace is made unique by the design and management choices of the coworking staff, and any would-be collaborative space needs to orient itself along the lines of a shared and consistent company culture, one that attracts companies with similar values and aesthetics.

 

The music choice, the color scheme, the art elements on the walls, the plants chosen for both the interiors and the balconies or garden, the choice in amenities, the aesthetic of the furnishings – each element represents a conscious choice to embody a style or provide potential tenants with a feel for what it’s like to work there.

 

2. Prioritize Safe Private Spaces

 

There can be no safe collaborative workspace without frequently sanitized private offices and meeting rooms.

 

While the common area is where the collaborative spirit resides, it’s in the adjacent rooms and floors that the concentrated work happens, and it’s here where companies need their own spaces to discuss projects internally, securely share files and documentation, and safeguard both themselves and their data from other tenants in the building.

3. Leverage Collaborative Technologies

 

Collaborative spaces benefitted from the ability to communicate over-the-shoulder, but with the pandemic, some of the old habits will have to continue to be met with safer alternatives, such as sharing files and information through the cloud, organizing collaborative chat groups between cooperating professionals through Slack, keeping track of private company progress through programs like Trello, and so on.

 

4. Amenities are Important

 

Perhaps the most important element to enticing social interaction after months of lockdowns and tight quarantines is a large selection of amenities and safe social activities, from a spectrum of snacks and beverages to outdoor exercise installations, communal gardens, nap rooms, and the staff to facilitate and manage said amenities.

 

Collaboration During the Pandemic

 

The defining features of a safe collaborative space during the pandemic is one that provides a large common area and plenty of amenities and spaced seats, while still prioritizing separate, well-ventilated spaces for small groups to work together.

 

The open office took a large hit with the pandemic, but that doesn’t mean that the collaborative workspace model is no longer here to stay. The benefits of collaborative work for a company’s productivity and individual creativity cannot be overstated, and the cons of the open office as a vector for viral transmission can be addressed by preventing overcrowding, implementing frequent cleaning, open ventilation, and strict social distancing and frequent testing at work.

 

Even as thousands of Americans and millions of global citizens receive their vaccines with every passing day, we aren’t quite in the final sprint of this crisis.

 

As we continue to observe strict rules to stop and impede the transmission of the virus, we also need to embrace the benefits of in-person collaboration as a force for innovation, and a critical component to attracting and onboarding new talent.

 

Conclusion

 

Large spaces, safe distances, and adjunct meeting/planning rooms with frequent cleaning crews and open ventilation are just a few measures through which coworking spaces can continue to offer businesses the ability to benefit from the pros of having a creative commercial space of their own, without the costs and responsibilities.

 

Categories
Office Space

What is a Virtual Office and Why You Need It Today

What is a virtual office? It actually can be many different things! But what’s more important to think about is why you need it today. Read further for all the details.

 

For many companies, return-to-work plans are either already set in motion or have been drafted and prepared for the near future. Yet despite an optimistic outlook, many continue to be worried about the post-pandemic world we are striving towards – especially with regards to how far away that world really is.

 

Contingencies and future-proof office ideas have become more than just a luxury. Even as we begin to move away from what was once the “new normal,” it’s clear as ever that the office environment of the near future won’t be as it was just a year or two ago. Businesses will continue to trend towards hybrid setups or embrace remote work more than ever.

 

Yet not every business function can survive entirely over the internet, and there are still many processes we simply need an address and physical location for. That is where the virtual office enters the picture for largely remote businesses.

 

What is a Virtual Office?

 

A virtual office can easily be misunderstood as an office that only exists in the virtual space – i.e., the digital space – but this is not the case at all.

 

Instead, virtual offices serve as physical addresses and commercial spaces for companies that otherwise operate entirely within a remote workplace setting, utilizing said commercial space only for the bare necessities that require a real location.

 

These bare necessities can include having a landline to answer, an address to give out separate from an employee or manager’s home address, having a real commercial location to host important client meetings, process and onboard new hires, and receive and forward packages and mail.

 

Virtual offices are staffed by a skeleton of office support staff, who receive and redirect phone calls and messages, act as receptionists to surprise visitors, forward all incoming communications, and manage other essential tasks while the actual function of business occurs entirely remotely.

 

Some Processes Need an Address

 

Remote-only businesses are not a novel idea, and they’ve exploded in popularity since the coronavirus crisis began. However, there are certain things we can’t avoid when running a business, such as having face-to-face meetings with important clients and helping organize alternatives for employees who struggle to stay productive while working from home.

 

Getting an office of your own would defeat the purpose of a lightweight virtual office. That is where a coworking space comes into play.

 

Coworking spaces can act as an ideal virtual office to receive and forward packages, receive clients, provide a physical space for the onboarding process, and act as an address and phone number for clients to contact.

 

Coworking spaces offer short-term contracts that are easily canceled while providing all the amenities you would need to host and impress clients and new hires. In addition, they take away the busy work and stress of owning and managing your own commercial space, giving you an all-in-one package.

 

Geolocation and SEO

 

Another important reason to consider a virtual office is the benefit of existing in the real world, having a physical location for customers and clients to find and visit. Not only does that help inspire trust and give customers and clients the feeling that your business is tangible, but it also provides a tremendous boost in local clientele via simple search engine optimization.

 

Having a strong local presence, in the form of an address in a prime location and a local area code phone number, can greatly improve your chances of beating your competition to the punch when it comes to search engine rankings. Search engines like Google prioritize local results when suggesting businesses and services, which can give you the edge you need to outrank your competitors.

 

Separating the Professional from the Personal

 

Physical addresses are a must at some point – and giving out your own address to receive mail or packages isn’t always the safest or most professional option. A virtual office can act as a commercial and impersonal space to receive and forward packages, so your home address needn’t ever be revealed in conjunction with your work, letting you keep some much-needed privacy.

 

Virtual Offices for Onboarding and Client Meetings

 

The onboarding process can be done virtually, yet there are certain benefits to a face-to-face onboarding process that simply cannot be replicated over video calls and screen sharing. Making sure new hires are properly and personally received by the company is important when wanting to land a good first impression.

 

When you find and want to keep good talent, you need to make sure they understand they’re appreciated, and have become part of a real-life team that does exist, and even meets from time to time. Remote onboarding can work, but not as well as the real thing.

 

A virtual coworking office can act as both a space to receive clients and as a training room for new hires to be integrated into their workflow before they transition into remote work or continue from a space they are more comfortable with.

 

Package Receiving and Sending

 

Not to be understated is the simple benefit of having an address to receive and forward packages and mail, at a greater capacity than a simple P.O. Box. A virtual office gives the impression that your business has an established local presence and inspires greater trust in local clients.

 

Certain coworking spaces offer services such as package receiving and forwarding as part of their offering. This means you can set up a virtual office to host clients and new hires and rely on the coworking staff to receive and send packages to your home address. The benefits of staying remote, as well as the benefits of having a commercial address of your own.

 

The Benefits of a Virtual Office During COVID

 

The coronavirus crisis is an ongoing one, and as such, maintaining and visiting real office spaces isn’t in the cards for everyone.

 

By maintaining a skeleton crew, a virtual office can remain a safe space to work in for the staff dedicated to receiving and forwarding clients and communications, so you can rest easy knowing your business wouldn’t have to risk operating at the expense of anyone’s health or safety.

 

Exit mobile version