It is no secret that in the past year, virtual teams and meetings have become a norm. The COVID-19 epidemic has forced most businesses to do their jobs virtually. Maybe you, like many others, are worried that this situation will hurt your business. But in this article, we want to prove you should not underestimate the benefits of virtual teams. Although this model of engagement is associated with challenges, it also has benefits that face-to-face meetings lack. So it is better to be optimistic and see the half-full glass.
Learn more: Virtual meeting challenges
Maybe if you know the benefits of virtual teams and meetings, you won’t impatiently wait for the world to return to the pre-COVID-19 pandemic. I can say that holding virtual meetings for some businesses is even better than doing face-to-face activities. Maybe the recent virus is a boon for us, and that is business development using virtual meetings.
What is a virtual meeting?
A virtual meeting is a meeting that is not face-to-face. That is, experts from different places communicate with each other using voice and video calling software. Since we have to stay home during the Lockdown era, these different places are probably their houses!
A virtual meeting is not much different from a face-to-face one. The only difference is that team members are not physically present in the same place. Thy are the same smart and talented team members who work remotely and communicate through video conferencing tools.
In virtual meetings, you can do almost all the things you used to do in your office with the same efficiency.
Of course, this depends on what you used to do before the lockdown. If your team was working in the mine or install artificial grass in parks, this is not something you expect to remain unchanged.
At least not yet!!
In other words, virtual teams are limited to tasks that they can do online, which of course, involves a lot of functions.
Online Meetings sets of benefits
Benefit 1: You save a lot of money.
What is the most fundamental goal of any business? Money!
It is undeniable that you have gathered your team to earn money. What makes the most money is teamwork through virtual meetings.
How?
In telecommuting, team members are each responsible for providing the following:
- Workplace
- Utility Bills
- Required devices such as computers, laptops, and smartphones
- Table and chairs
Literally, the items you had to provide before. Thus, you no longer have to:
- Rent an office
- Buy the necessary equipment
- Get high-speed internet
- Transport for team members
- Utilities
- And many more!
This means saving tons of money, which is one of the most important benefits of virtual meetings.
Benefit 2: A Better work-life balance
No one likes to get stuck in formal clothes for hours working in the office. Also, admittedly no one is interested in spending time and money on daily traffic.
Really, why waste time getting to work when you can get an extra hour of sleep and get started on time?
On the other hand, working remote allows your team members to work in comfy clothing. Comfortable clothing reduces stress and increases productivity.
Furthermore, working at the office, lunchtime is not long enough to go home and have it with your family, or lie down for a few minutes and play with your children. But virtual meetings allow you and your team members to do all those mentioned above.
Your employees can travel and continue working at their destination as before without any interruption. They do not need to take time off from work.
So another benefit of virtual meetings is a better balance between work and life.
Benefit 3: Increase team member’s productivity
Not a chance! Right? How may a remote employee be more productive than office-based ones? Instead of working, they could be busy sleeping or watching a series. They probably mute their speakers during virtual meetings and go for another job!
If you think so, I suggest you think twice!
Working outside the office is means more flexibility; your team members can work at a time that suits them.
Physiological clocks vary from person to person. Some have their windows up around noon! Before that, they are confused, napping, and have headaches, even if they go to bed early at night and drink a few cups of coffee.
I have dealt with a large number of these people, people who work at night. Maybe a little weird. I do not intend to go deep into scientific analysis about the best time to sleep, but the fact is that people have different productivity at different hours.
Virtual teams allow team members to choose the right time to work. Of course, there are hours for meetings, joint decisions, and consensus, but these hours can be more limited.
When your employees work based on their physiological clock, their productivity increases, and precisely, this is what you want. What does it matter to you they don’t work at the office from nine in the morning until five in the afternoon when they do their job correctly?
You can use software such as Time Doctor to measure the working hours of your virtual team members. This software records the active time of the members. This way, you can be sure that they have worked hard enough.
Benefit 4: You have access to the global talent pool
If you want to make your voice heard worldwide, you have to have members on board to be your speakers to spread your ideas.
If you limit your work to one physical office, who can you hire? Some of your fellow citizens. In other words, you have to choose from a number of available items to get your work done.
But when you virtualize your team, you can get members from all over the world. You filter a lot of people to find the talents you want.
Working with a virtual team from around the world is fascinating. Each of these people can cover another flaw and create a unified voice that reaches the whole world.
There are some problems in your way, but they are not unsolvable.
Learn more: Everything you need to know before hiring a software project freelancer
24×7 Support
If you have employees from all over the world, you can work 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and 365 days a year!
How?
When your employees, for example, stop working in Australia, other employees start working in East Asia so that you can fill different time zones.
When your work is limited to a virtual office in a city of a state, you have to stop working at night because no customer comes, and if he does, you do not have employees handle it. Although some businesses may manage to work 24 hours (like some supermarkets), you certainly will not have as many customers at night as during the day.
By forming a virtual team from all over the world, you can run the business 27×7, but you will also have active customers at all hours.
After all, using a virtual team will minimize your cultural problems. Your employees in each country know the people of their country well and can promote your business well.
So far, we have talked so much about the virtual teams and the benefits of the virtual meeting that you should be encouraged enough by now. Maybe you are wearing your clothes to go and form a virtual team! LOL!
Wait for a little. More benefits remain.
Easy scaling
Increasing the scale is one of the demands of every company. In the past, it was necessary to increase the number of physical offices to increase the scale; a central department at the company’s location and other branches in other cities and countries. In other words, your business could flourish only where the new office was located.
So, what is the drawback?
Every physical office means renting, equipment, and utilities. These cost a lot and, apart from the cost, are painfully time-consuming.
But forming a virtual team does not require special costs. You can work anywhere in the world without paying tons of money for renting, equipment, utilities, transport and so on. Besides, you can save your time.
More transparency
Keeping everyone in the loop in the physical workplace is not difficult. But the problem is that your words don’t get documented anywhere. After all, employees are often sharing sensitive information in non-work environments, such as during lunch. This prevents all team members from being informed of sharp details and falling behind in teamwork.
In contrast, there are specific channels, groups, subgroups, and topics in which information is exchanged in virtual teams. Even if one of the members is on leave or arrives later, he/she can see the group history to catch up. The same goes for virtual meetings, which are recorded and made available to all members. With this process, there is no excuse for not being aware of a situation. All documents are available to cite, and the relationship is completely transparent.
However, team members may exchange some information in two-way chats; but this is less than face-to-face status.
SOJECT helps you build your virtual team
Although you do not need physical space to form a virtual team, you require a platform to run your business. Even though the basic platform is the same for all professions, software personalized to your specific needs can be beneficial.
At SOJECT, we design, implement, and support voice and video calling software platforms suitable for team communication and any other app type in this field.
Contact us for more information.
