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The Ultimate Guide To Building a Successful Virtual Office

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Loyalenterprises
The Ultimate Guide To Building a Successful Virtual Office

There's more to setting up a remote working situation than creating a custom zoom background with logo — it takes a comprehensive plan with many moving parts. If you want an online environment that provides the same efficiency and collaboration opportunities as an in-person office, you need to acquire the right tools and ensure everyone knows how to use them. Fortunately, you can get everything in order with this checklist.

Get a Domain Name

If you're part of a larger corporation, your company likely already has a domain name and intranet. However, small business owners have to accomplish this task themselves. It's relatively easy to do and starts around a dollar a month. Once you have a domain, you can set up an email account with the name, further establishing your company as a professional enterprise.

Establish a Organizational Culture

Everyone on your team should understand their individual responsibilities and the team's overall goals. Unfortunately, it's easy to lose sight of these when people don't interact in person. That's why establishing an organizational culture is so important in a virtual office.

Whenever you assign a new task, provide clear instructions in a savable format so employees can reference them as needed. You should also create opportunities for your team to interact in real-time. Brain-storming sessions are a great way for people to get to know their coworkers while innovating.

Set Up Your Phone System

Not everyone has a landline these days, but most offices still use phone lines for immediate communication. Once you move online, employees can use a virtual system to fill this need. It doesn't require any hardware — everything you need to dial is right on the computer.

Communication and Collaboration

Communication is paramount when people are working at a distance. You'll need video conferencing and messaging software on top of regular email. Not everyone is comfortable choosing their video conferencing background, so make sure to have a few branded Zoom backgroundsavailable as defaults.

Additionally, you should look into project management apps. These provide a single place for team members to share the following:

• Status of tasks

• Deadlines

• Requests for information

Find the Right Tools

Once you eliminate the office, you'll discover plenty of jobs that can be automated:

Payroll

Invoicing

Cloud backup

You can also outsource human resources, marketing and accounting departments, thereby cutting down your need for management. These solutions are especially useful for small businesses that may not have the resources to maintain internal teams.

Hire the Right People

Building your team is one of the most challenging yet important aspects of creating a virtual office. You need people who are comfortable with remote work and don't require micro-managing. Fortunately, working from home opens your talent pool since employees don't need to be within commuting distance or even in the same time zone. 

Once your virtual office backgrounds are in place, and every team member has updated software, you're ready for a productive workday. Remember that your setup may need to change as your team grows. Being open to suggestions and on the lookout for useful apps ensures you continue to perform exceptionally.

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