The Virtual Workplace (TVW) is no longer about convenience or special accommodations. It is a necessary replacement for on-site gatherings, and organizations must make it work long term. HR leaders are now charged with establishing virtual workplaces that keep teams productive, secure, and engaged, writes Alan Tyson, CEO, DATABASICS.
The recent pandemic changed all of us in many ways. One of the most apparent adjustments for professionals was a rapid and sometimes wholesale transition to remote work.
To be sure, even before COVID-19 forced companies to embrace decentralization practically overnight, remote work and its linguistic alternatives, like working from home and telework, were becoming increasingly popular.
Now, they are ubiquitous, and many companies and employees want it to continue. The number of permanent remote workers are expected to double in 2021Opens a new window , and that’s just the beginning. According to The Wall Street JournalOpens a new window , 80% of workers prefer working at least three days a week remotely.
Simply put, The Virtual Workplace (TVW) is no longer about convenience or special accommodations. It’s a necessary replacement for on-site gatherings, and organizations have to make it work long term. For HR leaders to establish virtual workplaces that keep teams productive, secure, and engaged, here are three priorities that can’t be ignored.
1. Furnish Home Offices
During the pandemic, employees worked from anywhere and everywhere. Kitchen counters, coffee tables, and makeshift classrooms were commandeered as workspaces. Meanwhile, the nine-to-five shifted dramatically as workers tackled professional obligations between teaching and caring for loved ones. This isn’t a sustainable solution.
Companies expect significant savings from the transition to remote work. For example, a Global Workplace AnalyticsOpens a new window  survey found that 60% of employers identify cost savings as a substantial benefit of distributed teams. The largest companies are saving tens of millions of real estate costs, with the annual average real estate savings estimated to reach $10,000 per employee.
A sustainable solution demands that companies allocate some of these savings to help employees establish home office arrangements. Of course, for HR professionals, this can be a logistical nightmare.
For starters, virtual workplaces mean that companies now have an entire workforce – not just travelers and management – needing to buy things. This raises complicated questions that HR personnel need to answer, including:
- Should employees buy office supplies as needed, or should companies establish a requisition system?
- Should employees source their supplies, or should the organization contract with specific, approved vendors?
- What level and amount of furniture and fixtures is sufficient for employees?
- Should employees contribute space and personal assets to do their jobs?
- Who owns purchased items?
Undoubtedly, the answers to these important questions will vary by company, and a uniformed, prescriptive approach will be less effective than an organization-specific assessment that drives decisions. That’s why we’ve seen some companies establish a requisition system for home office supplies. In contrast, others provided employees a one-time fixed stipend to purchase critical items like desks, chairs, and technology, another established a quarterly allowance associated with the employees’ role for the cost of staple office supplies.
To simplify home office development, consider providing employees a one-time fixed stipend to purchase critical items like desks, chairs, and technology. Some companies are also providing regular allowances to cover recurring costs, like Wi-Fi. However, in most cases, HR leaders will need to reconfigure their expense reporting and tracking systems to account for these one-time and recurring virtual workplace-related purchases.
Learn More: 6 Ways to Have Inclusive Virtual MeetingsOpens a new window
2. Manage Remote Technology
For most companies, technology investments are the most expensive part of establishing a virtual workplace. Not only are the upfront costs immense, but this technology needs to be managed, maintained, and secured. What is more, effective technology management requires siloed departments, including HR, IT, purchasing, and more, to communicate and collaborate.
In a pre-pandemic workplace, these departments rarely interacted, but the new normal requires tighter integration. In response, consider an entirely new organizational structure to pursue this priority. Remote Resources Management (RRM), a catchall term for this new structure, connects once disparate departments and allows for a seamless connection between critical responsibilities.
The stakes could not be higher. Everything from cybersecurity to expense management hangs in the balance.
3. Support Your Team
While workers love virtual workplaces’ convenience, many feel disconnected from their companies and teams, creating a chasm that leaders need to bridge.
Reporting the challenges is navigating a newly remote environment, the Harvard Business ReviewOpens a new window  identifies several ways employees can feel isolated when working off-site. Most notably, employees struggle from a lack of face time, access to information, social isolation, and distraction.
Virtual Happy Hours and other similar efforts to create personal connections were reactive solutions that triage a disaster rather than curing the disease. To support employees in a long-term virtual workplace, leaders should consider:
- Developing patterns for a regular, personal connection with staff. Leaders don’t have to interact with staff to be effective constantly. However, regularly seeking out staff interactions can go a long way toward building healthy teams.
- Minimize video conferencing by employing a variety of communicative technologies. Zoom fatigue is real, and overreliance on video conferencing can make communication less effective.
- Offer encouragement and support. Everyone experienced unique difficulties last year. A kind word, an affirmative note, or a timely celebration can go a long way.
- Model best practices. Leaders can promote healthy teams by maintaining work/life balance, respecting personal boundaries, and moderating expectations.
In our experience, we have seen managers and department leads generate and deploy creative ways to support their teams, including an HR lead who introduced regular Virtual Happy Hour as a weekly touchpoint to facilitate personal connections and support team morale.
It was initially successful in addressing the sudden physical break-up of a closely knit team. It has since morphed into encouraging managers to foster connection as part of the regular workday interaction while modeling behavior to respect personal boundaries and maintain a work-life balance.
Thriving individuals build sustainable organizations, and managing virtual workplaces requires caring for those who populate those spaces.
Can We Transition to Virtual Workplaces Successfully?
Ultimately, a successful transition to virtual workplaces includes a combination of technical reprioritization and interpersonal advocacy. Helping employees establish virtual workplaces while developing systems for managing expenses and responsibilities can keep teams operational and productive. On the other hand, strategically investing in staff keeps people healthy and thriving.
Together, these priorities establish a foundation for companies to thrive while embracing a distributed model based around virtual workplaces.