As the possibilities created by new technology shifts the focus of business away from the traditional office building and toward a more free-form virtual office system, it’s important that you take the time to consider whether a virtual office might be able to help your business flourish in the twenty-first century. If you aren’t familiar with the term, a virtual office is a form of collaboration among self-employed individuals and those who work from home. This collaboration allows these virtual officemates to share files, work on different aspects of jobs in order to reach a common goal, and generally to perform the same services that would be performed within a standard office but without the undue stress of that sort of office environment.

Why a Virtual Office?
There are a number of reasons that you might choose to either establish a new business with a virtual office or to convert and existing business into a virtual office format. Choosing a virtual office can lead to a great reduction in mental stress that would otherwise be caused within an office, and often provides individuals with more chances for physical activity throughout the day as well. For the environmentally conscious, a virtual office can mean that you will spend less time in polluting traffic and you will also drive less in general since you won’t need to commute in order to get to work. As an added bonus, by being able to set your own schedule you will find that you have more time during the day to do the things that you want to do with friends and family while experiencing a productivity increase from being able to work when you are most physically and mentally prepared for it instead of simply when you are scheduled to be at the job

How to Establish a Virtual Office
In order to set up a virtual office, you should begin by making sure that every office member has an internet-ready computer which meets their software needs as well as access to fax, copy, and other professional services. Create a mail drop for any mail that the virtual office would receive, and take the time to hire an accountant and an administrative assistant (or a “virtual assistant”, who specializes in administrative duties for virtual office companies.) Contact your local government to make sure that all of the proper paperwork has been filled out and submitted, and also be prepared to make tax payments to the IRS for all of the employees that will be working from their own home office setups alongside you.

Virtual Offices and Productivity
Though many people fear that they would be unable to work in a virtual office because the temptation to do things other than work would be too strong, many virtual office workers find that their productivity actually increases once they become accustomed to setting their own schedule and pacing their day accordingly. Because your work flow will be more in tune with the natural flow of your day, you can tailor most of the time that you spend working to match the times of the day or night when you have the most energy and are more focused on the tasks at hand. The important part of establishing good productivity within a virtual office is that a series of rules and regulations must be created for all employees and freelancers to follow. These rules may include payroll policies, timesheet documentation and submission, protocols for client contact and interpersonal correspondence, and the development of rules concerning use of the virtual office website and databases. The important thing is to make sure that the rules which you create are both fair and reasonable, so that they can help personal productivity to flourish instead of causing it to stagnate due to policies which are too strict.