Virtual Office — A Word From the Front Lines

Beep-beep-beep (alarm goes off); Feet hit the floor. Commence morning routine (shower, brush teeth, eat bowl of cereal) — don slippers. Walk into the office. It’s time for business.

The team here at Rhythm of Life operates virtually (a fancy way of saying we work from home). I know, I know — you’re jealous. Those of you who commute to work, sit in a cubicle for eight hours, then commute home wish that you could have your morning meeting in your pajamas, at your kitchen table, with a cup of coffee in your fave Mickey Mouse mug. (Sometimes this really does happen.) There are a lot of pros to the work-from-home arrangement, but as with anything, there are some cons, too. We’ll explain (we’re experts, after all):

Benefits of Working from Home

The last time we saw rush-hour traffic was … well, we’re not really sure. Because our longest commute is to the local coffee shop at 11:00 a.m. for our weekly team meeting, we avoid filling our gas tanks incessantly, don’t have to worry about icy road conditions (which have been more present than usual this Colorado winter), and have very few (if any) encounters with our own inner road-rage.

All of these eco-friendly, low-stress benefits are highly valued in today’s world, but personal advantages are merely the tip of the iceberg. For us, the most important benefit of a virtual workplace is the cost-savings that we get to pass along to our clients. Offices are expensive, and maintaining low overhead gives us the ability to focus our resources on team talent and getting things done — rather than the big, fancy executive suite with cushy chairs and a mountain view.

Advice for Dealing with Drawbacks

1. We’ll be the first to admit that it’s pretty easy (and sometimes tempting) to leave the laptop open well past working hours, just to see if that one e-mail comes through. In order to avoid becoming a work-a-holic, or never “leaving work at work”, we suggest you create a space that is solely dedicated to business. If you have an office, use it — and shut the door when your workday is finished! If not, consider renovating a closet or pantry (a fun design challenge for chic urban dwellers), working from a coffee shop, or even taking a drive around the block before and after work (we know, it sounds silly!). What ever the formula, create rituals and set boundaries around space — these will go a long way to help you separate business from pleasure.

2. Despite technology, relationships really do matter — which presents a challenge when your team members are not centrally based. At best, you’ll find yourself wishing you had someone to take a quick coffee break with, or that you could run to the office next door for a quick question, versus e-mailing it. At worst, it can be just plain lonely. We cope by committing to one hour of face-time (either a meeting or session of working together) for every 10 hours we work alone each week. We also love tools like Skype for phone meetings and personal check-ins.

3. Perhaps most challenging of all is the motivation factor. It’s just too darn easy to do that load of laundry, empty the dishwasher, or catch up on your overloaded DVR — instead of writing a report. We recommend that business owners and managers implement accountability systems — including clear deadlines and standardized to-do lists — to keep their teams on-task and productive. If you’re a business owner embarking to create a virtual team, be sure to ask interview questions that help to identify self-motivated folks.

And, lastly, we confess that it’s easier to feel and act like a professional when you actually get dressed for work each day — after all, pajamas are technically for sleeping (although nobody said your favorite Mickey Mouse mug and slippers can’t be your go-to work accessories).

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