Virtual Workplace: 5 Ways to Save Money and Go Green
The days of registering your business to a physical address located in some office park are close to being officially over. The internet age has brought along with it a new type of workplace – the virtual workplace.
Attracted by extremely low overheads and vastly reduced carbon footprints, many new start-ups have opted to make use of this new and improved form of telecommuting by setting up office in the virtual space of the internet. There are now numerous platforms that allow for efficient communication and sharing of documents over the internet in a secure environment, making the need for physical office space even more obsolete.
In this article, we detail 5 tips for reducing costs and improving the carbon footprint of your virtual workspace.
Get a virtual landline number
A virtual landline provides your business with a virtual landline number that customers can call to contact you. Virtual landlines allow for these inbound calls to be redirected to any existing physical landline, mobile or VOIP service allowing you to set up multiple landlines in multiple geographic locations.
They are a much cheaper and don’t require any additional physical phones while also allowing your business to seem professional by using dedicated landlines for customers to call.
Make use of green web hosting
Data centres use a lot of energy. When choosing which web host to use for your business, look for those who offer green web hosting services. What this means is that they actively engage in offsetting their carbon footprint caused by running large data centres and sometimes even use energy only generated from renewable sources.
Using a green web host will reduce your businesses overall carbon output, usually for no extra cost.
Use data room providers
A good data room provider is guaranteed to save you money in the long run. One of the perceived drawbacks of a virtual workspace is that it makes it harder for employees to communicate and share ideas.
A data room is a platform that allows for this to take place without any physical interaction and is used by almost every large company, replacing physical data rooms where people would meet to discuss due diligence for example.
Any increase in productivity can be viewed as cost saving, so data rooms are vital to the success of a virtual workspace.
Allow flexible working hours for employees
Another contentious issue surrounding virtual workspaces is the use of flexible hours. While some will say that it decreases productivity, many studies show that people work best when they want to, and are not forced to work best.
Flexible working hours can also save your busy money as people are less likely to sit around and be unproductive when they have the option to work when they want to, provided they complete their given task. This eliminates overpaying staff for unproductive hours, while simultaneously improving your employee happiness.
Use online productivity tools
Virtual workspaces make it a bit harder to monitor how productive employees are being because you cannot physically watch then work in the office. Online productivity tools allow you to measure and track productivity as well as hours worked so that you can ensure your business is within its prescribed timeframes.
The productivity tracking tools also provide a useful way of working out per-hour remuneration for employees, saving you from over or underpaying and ensuring that you pay based on the amount and quality of work done.
These tips will help streamline your virtual workplace and reduce costs as well as your overall carbon footprint. The benefits of following these tips are in addition to the numerous other benefits virtual workspaces have over traditional workspaces such as eliminating commuting, reducing energy and paper use and increasing the general productivity of your workforce.
About the Author Staff Writer
Our writers come from all over the world, but one thing unites them - their passion for sustainability.