Virtual teams are becoming more popular for a number of reasons. Predominantly the affordability and flexibility that comes with virtual staff is appealing, however, making the decision to hire virtual versus onsite staff can still be difficult. Weighing up the benefits versus the practicalities of not having team members onsite, as well as the financial costs need to be considered. Here is how your business would change if you started using virtual staff.
Reduce office costs Looking at the financial side of hiring a virtual team, it’s an obvious one but ultimately you will reduce your overall office running costs. You won’t need to rent out space in an office for your team, you will save on electricity costs, computers, equipment, stationery etc etc. It soon adds up and will significantly save on the running costs for your business.
Less unnecessary meetings Have you ever found when working in an office, there seems to be a lot of meetings taking place? We end up spending more time having unproductive meetings for the sake of having a meeting. Having a virtual team makes it less tempting to organise these unnecessary meetings, meaning greater productivity in day to day tasks. Meetings can and still take place, but they are normally organised in advance, run more productively and to the point.
Increased productivity Another obvious one is that team members working virtually tend to have less distractions that come from working in a normal office environment, giving them greater focus on the tasks at hand. They are much more productive with getting on with the work at hand and enjoy the flexibility in what they do, whilst eliminating the dreaded daily commute into the office.
Broader range of skills Hiring locally will restrict you to the local talent and skillset in your area. By hiring a virtual member to the team, you open up to a much wider audience, which could result in hiring someone with a broader range of skills. It may result in paying a little more if you require a particular specialist skillset, but ultimately, they will bring a better and more productive service to your business.
Availability Running a business isn’t always a 9 to 5 job and sometimes you need support outside of these hours. Using the services of a virtual team can give you more flexibility and availability. By working flexible hours or in different time zones, they can bridge the gap between what an onsite team member could accomplish, whilst helping you to meet deadlines and customer’s expectations.
Increased flexibility Hiring a virtual team gives you flexibility to scale up and scale down your team more easily than having a fixed location. By only paying for the hours you need, you can increase and decrease as needed, keeping your overheads low during quiet periods of the year, but ensuring you have cover during the busy times. However, it also comes back to the financial savings of hiring a virtual team; you can scale up your team easily without having to worry about additional office space and equipment.
Having a virtual team is becoming widely popular with many businesses who need to keep up with the ever-changing markets. In order to thrive in a competitive market, it’s important to provide a high-quality service, whilst meeting customer’s demands and expectations. Moving to a virtual team will definitely help take the next step in your business success.
To find out more on how we could help to grow your business by using a virtual team, call us now on 020 3890 6990.