For both businesses and employees, adopting a virtual working environment offers numerous benefits. If you're looking to take advantage and transition from traditional office-based operations to a fully remote or hybrid model, virtual office space could be the ideal solution.

But how do you make the switch effectively?

What should you know before transitioning to a virtual office?

Before you start making the transition to a virtual office, it helps to have a thorough understanding of what a virtual office is. This includes how your business could use them and what the benefits of transitioning to a virtual office may be.

What is a virtual office?

A virtual office is a set of services that businesses can use to support their flexible or remote working operations.

Virtual office services include:

• A business address
• Access to meeting rooms and coworking spaces
• Call handling, including receptionist services and a virtual phone number for business
• Mail handling services, including forwarding

This gives freelancers, small businesses, and corporations greater flexibility over their working style. All with the added benefits of a physical office location.

Uses and benefits of virtual office space

There are many benefits of virtual office suites, including:

• Professionalism and credibility for smaller businesses or freelancers with a virtual company address
• Greater flexibility, with employees able to work remotely or use office space when required
• Fewer overheads, with no need to pay the rent and utility bills for a full workspace
• Access to new markets across the world without the need for an expensive, time-consuming set-up

These benefits mean businesses of all types can use virtual office spaces to their advantage. For example, they offer a business address without the commitment of paying workspace rent. They also help companies tap into a new market without setting up a physical office there.

Whether you’re a small business or entrepreneur, or a larger corporation, virtual office packages offer excellent flexibility.

If you’re thinking about setting up a virtual office, here’s how your business can make the transition.

10 steps for a smooth and successful move into a virtual office

To help your move to a virtual office go as smoothly as possible, here are 10 tips for success, including a relocation checklist.

1. Trial a virtual office before making a complete switch

Before leaping into a transition, try a virtual office to see exactly how it might work for your business. This will help you understand how virtual offices work.

For example, your employees will know how the changes will benefit them and make sure your IT systems can support hybrid operations. These will ensure you find the best virtual office provider for your business.

2. Research services offered by virtual office providers

Not all virtual office providers offer the same support. To find one that gives you everything you need for the right price, you need to shop around.

Research what services and facilities they offer. Read reviews from other companies similar to yours and assess their capability to help your business succeed and grow.

It’s also worth checking if these providers offer short term hiring of physical spaces. Regus, for example, offer working spaces that cater to short term needs. These range from meeting rooms for both client-facing and internal gatherings, to access to physical offices with both day office and coworking spaces available.

If you can find a provider that reliably offers both, you can make working in a virtual office space even easier. With access to physical spaces when you need them, you don’t need to worry about missing out on any of the benefits that come with a traditional office.

3. Understand what your business will need

After researching the virtual office facilities and services available, you’ll need to align them with your business needs.

Consider if call or mail handling support will free up your time for more important work. Or, whether you have access to meeting rooms big enough to run your training sessions.

Only you will be able to decide if a provider matches your company’s requirements, both for now and in the future.

4. Consider the associated costs

Many businesses choose to move to virtual office packages because of the cost advantages they can bring. However, this isn’t true in all cases.

For example, if all your employees like to work in an office, paying for workspace as part of a virtual office package might not be economical. Laying out the costs involved in making the transition to a virtual model should also be considered.

5. Plan a strategy for the transition

Putting a solid workplace transition plan in place will help you identify any potential pitfalls before you start the switch. This will give everyone in the business greater confidence in your new virtual office setup. It also ensures everyone is on the same page when it comes to expectations and processes.

6. Set policies and standards

It's important to set standards to help employees stay productive and feel connected to their colleagues. This is particularly true for remote and hybrid working teams.

Be sure to understand and adapt your policies to how your employees work best. This includes scheduling time for meetings, appraisals, and communicating regularly and openly.

7. Inform employees and clients

If you decide that moving office is right for you, then it's important to let your employees and clients know. A successful transition begins with clear communication, the earlier the better.

Give everyone an overview of why you’re changing to a virtual office rental. Explain how it will differ from your current setup and outline what the benefits will be.

Also, make sure clients are aware of your new virtual address and virtual number so they can get hold of you if they need to.

8. Use the right technology

Putting the best technologies in place will help your team to communicate and stay productive as you make the switch.

Technology considerations for moving to a virtual office should include:

• Video conferencing: Ensure your employees are always able to connect with colleagues and clients
  
• Up-to-date hardware: This includes laptops, monitors, cameras, and microphones that work efficiently, with no lag in performance
  
• Supportive software: Task management, meeting scheduling, and even team training and well-being can be supported with the right software apps or programmes
  
• Efficient virtual phone systems: This ranges from giving your clients the right virtual phone number to setting up your call handling services. Minimise customer frustration and confusion by ensuring the best possible phone system is in place
  
• Good Wi-Fi: Make sure your team has a connection powerful enough for them to stay productive. This is true whether this is in the coworking space or employees’ own homes

 

9. Train your team adequately

Hybrid working can be a huge change for some teams. Giving yours the skills and information they need, will reassure them and help a smooth transition to the new working environment. This ranges from how to book rooms, to where they can schedule daily tasks.

Establishing virtual leaders that can manage teams via a remote working environment effectively is also key to building trust. This helps navigate any changes made throughout the process and ensures none of your employees feel left behind.

10. Ensure you have the tools needed for success

Alongside efficient hardware, your teams need software that will support internal processes in the new virtual office. To help keep your team working seamlessly, consider tools such as:

• Communication apps like Slack and Teams so colleagues can talk to each other easily without filling up each other’s email inboxes
  
• Project management platforms such as Monday help employees find their tasks for the day and log progress wherever they’re working from
  
• Time tracking tools such as Time Doctor mean employees can keep an eye on their billable hours without having to clock in or out of the office
  
• Cloud storage will keep files secure and accessible from anywhere. Setting up a business Dropbox account, for example, will keep your work and projects in one place
  
• Wellbeing platforms will give your team the support they need, whenever they want it. Apps like Calm Business support employees’ mental health, even out of office hours, so teams will always feel reassured that help is available

importance of retaining a company culture

When making the transition to a virtual office, having a strong company culture in place will ensure your team stays connected and motivated by shared values and goals.

During this time of change, it’s even more important to keep these core values and objectives front and centre of any communication with your team. That way, they’ll feel supported and be reassured that you’re making this transition for the right reasons.

Regular, clear communication will help your company culture remain strong and transfer to a virtual office approach successfully. Ensure you cover this both as a wider business and on an individual level.

Business relocation checklist for moving into a new virtual space

To ensure you have everything in order and make the transition to a virtual office as smooth as possible, we've put together a handy office relocation checklist:

• Update contact information: Make sure your new business address is everywhere it needs to be. This includes your bank account, insurance plans, invoices, email signatures, company registration, website, and Google directory
  
• Set up call handling: Don’t leave customer calls unanswered. Tell them of any changes to your phone number and contact your provider to make sure they’re answering your calls
  
• Put mail forwarding in place: Contact your provider to ensure no post gets lost in the transition, whether it’s from your old address or correctly listing your virtual office
  
• Sell, donate, or put furniture into storage: If your team is working remotely or in a serviced office space, you’ll no longer need your furniture. Pass it on to colleagues, give it to charity, or sell it for a profit
  
• Ensure technology infrastructure is up to scratch: Take some time to outline potential challenges. Ensure you get all your essential hardware and software in place. Also, make sure you back up any data and set up security on each device too
  
• Set up the room booking process: Make sure your teams have access to their new virtual working space straight away. You can do this by clearly outlining the booking process for meeting rooms and coworking spaces
  
• Communicate changes clearly: Talking to your team, even if it’s one other person, as well as your customers regularly is key. It will help them through the transition and ensure everything runs as smoothly as possible

 

Move to a virtual office space with Regus

Choosing a virtual office package with Regus means your business can access top-quality facilities in premium locations across the world. It’s in these that you can enjoy the support of a variety of business services and benefit from our experience in helping customers through their office transition.

If you would like to find out more about how Regus virtual office solutions could benefit you, speak to one of our experts today.