With many businesses moving to a remote working or hybrid model, the demand for traditional, long-lease office spaces has drastically decreased. A report released, showed that in 2022, England's stock of office space fell at the fastest rate for 20 years as businesses no longer look to occupy traditional office space in a post-pandemic world.

Businesses are adapting themselves to new ways of working by looking at alternative solutions to continue their operations without the need for a brick-and-mortar office. With the opportunity to book flexible workspace on demand, many companies are finding virtual offices to be an effective solution.

Virtual offices enable companies to obtain a physical business address and other services without the need for an expensive office lease and staff that are necessary when using physical office spaces.

6 simple steps to setting up a virtual office for your business

There are different ways to approach setting up a virtual office. In order to help you succeed in this way of working, we've put together a full guide covering the most important steps you'll need to take.

1. Have a business plan or virtual office strategy

Before you choose to set up a virtual office, it's vital that you establish your business needs to understand what sort of package is suitable for your requirements. For example, if you still plan to regularly meet with clients, having a virtual space that grants access to meeting rooms when you need them is essential.

2. Recruit the right people

Opting for a virtual office setup over a traditional office means you are not geographically limited during the recruitment process. As a result, you will have access to a wider talent pool, enabling you to choose the best possible candidates to fill job vacancies.

It’s important to build a team, not only one that you can trust but can also stay motivated - and motivate one another collectively - throughout the working week. Think about the roles you may need to fill, do you need to hire HR, sales, or marketing for example? Consider whether an external provider will do this for you, or if you’ll take a hands-on approach to hiring.

3. Secure a virtual address

One of the downsides of remote working can be the lack of a physical business address. A virtual office will be able to provide you with a registered business address, with the ability to collect mail or have mail forwarded to you. If it's likely that you'll need to pick up physical copies of the mail you receive, remember to select a virtual business address that’s easily accessible or one that offers a mail forwarding service.

4. Set up a website

No matter if you have an established office space or are a business that conducts work online, you'll need to set up a website for your business. You’ll have to look at buying a domain name, choosing a host, building the pages, and writing the content.

With a virtual office space, you can use your registered office address on your website, legal documents and on directories.

5. Think about additional services to support your business

Depending on the type of business, some may benefit from additional services to ensure everything runs successfully, including:

• Customer support
• Administrative support
• Access to meeting rooms
• Mail handling services

At Regus, we offer virtual office packages with selective services based on your unique business needs. Alongside these services, there are further tools to consider, including:

• Remote technology infrastructure - From email to devices, servers, applications and storage, think about what your team needs access to in order to work successfully.
• Virtual office services - Virtual office services aren’t confined to a professional business address and call answering, think about community networking access, having a professional receptionist to greet guests when required and access to airport lounges.
• Project management and organisation tools - Project management and time tracking tools can help your team stay on track with their tasks, as well as see the progress of work from colleagues when working as a team.

6. Communication and collaboration are key

Without a physical office space, any employees that you hire will be working remotely. As a result, you will need to encourage communication and collaboration between staff to ensure business operations run optimally.

Managers and supervisors should lead by example by regularly checking in with team members and holding regular stand-up meetings via video conferencing software to keep communication channels open. Be careful to not overload employees with constant meetings that may end up disrupting their productivity.

It's also important to find out if you want to include access to coworking spaces or meeting rooms with your virtual office set up to bring your team together if needed. Sometimes working remotely can be isolating, so providing the option for employees to connect in person can improve motivation and mental wellbeing. Alternatively, look for temporary office spaces that you can rent for the day, bringing your team together easily and at a low cost.

How to effectively run a virtual office

Once you've set up a virtual office, you'll need to know how to run it effectively.

1. Utilise additional virtual office services

Virtual office providers will supply clients with a variety of additional services that aim to facilitate seamless operations:

2. Virtual office phone answering

Providers will be able to offer you support for answering telephone calls with a virtual receptionist who will take messages and redirect callers as necessary. This grants you more time to spend on other tasks.

3. Mail handling

When you don't have a physical office, a virtual office provider will be able to provide you with a registered address, handle your mail, and forward it to you as necessary.

4. Set up company emails

To maintain a professional business image, provide your team members with company email addresses. Not only will this build your company's credibility, but it will allow your staff members to maintain an appropriate work-life balance, as they won't have to rely on their personal email addresses to manage company correspondence.

5. Set up office hours

By setting office hours, you can establish healthy expectations for your employees regarding when they should be contactable while also allowing your staff to set boundaries between their work life and personal life.

Tips for successful virtual office management

Whether you're changing your business setup from operating from a physical office environment to a virtual office or are already an established online business, it can be challenging to know how to approach management strategies. To ensure your team feel supported and to optimise productivity, read our selection of top tips for successful virtual office management:

1. Set up efficient and effective work processes

Figuring out how to approach work processes in a virtual office setup requires some trial and error to see what works best for your business and your team.

• Set clear goals: The key to setting up an effective work process is defining clear goals and working from there. Once you've ascertained what you'd like to achieve as a business, break down the goal into actionable steps, then delegate the required work accordingly.
• Use technology to streamline processes: A lot of processes can be simplified by leveraging the power of technology. For example, customer services can be outsourced to a third party, freeing up your staff to concentrate on other tasks.
• Listen to feedback: Whether it’s from your staff, executives, or customers, taking feedback onboard will allow you to improve your internal processes, which will ultimately help facilitate business growth.

2. Hire top talent

By opting for a virtual office, you will have access to a far vaster talent pool. This allows you to be more selective in your recruitment processes, as your hires won't be limited by your office's location. Use this to your advantage, and hire staff with the skill sets, experience, and drive necessary to help your company succeed.

3. Provide the required infrastructure and technology

Don't limit your team's capabilities by denying them the technology they need to work at their optimal capacity. The effective use of technology can help streamline and automate processes, enabling staff to work productively and efficiently.

Project management software, organisation and messaging tools such as Slack or Microsoft Teams can help your team stay connected. A combination of these tools can help streamline tasks, speed up communication hurdles and save time, resulting in greater productivity.

4. Create a work environment and culture employees want to be around

Ultimately, the success of your business relies on the wellbeing of your staff. An unhappy workforce is less-productive and more prone to absences.

To create an environment where people are motivated and driven, you need to foster a positive work culture. In a virtual office, this means providing team members with the support they need without micro-managing their every move. Listen to their queries and concerns, and work together to build a work culture that your employees are proud to be a part of.

5. Build trust with your team and employees

A successful work environment requires a culture based on trust, which can be fostered in the following ways:

• Accountability: Team members often seek guidance from those above them, which means those in managerial positions need to hold themselves accountable, admitting to mistakes when necessary and setting the same standards for themselves as they do for their staff.
• Openly address problems: If an issue arises in the workplace, it's vital that it's addressed immediately and sensitively. Leaving problems to fester means they will only become worse, which can lead to a toxic work environment.
• Encourage feedback: Employees like to feel valued, which means employers and managers need to listen to and take on board their feedback. One way to do this is by holding one-to-one video calls with team members on a regular business, where they have the opportunity to make suggestions or address any concerns they might have.

 

6. Advice on working in a virtual office

For many individuals and businesses alike, the move to remote work is a steep learning curve. If, you now find yourself working remotely as part of a virtual office after working in a physical office, here are a few pieces of invaluable advice:

7. Listen to everyone's views and don't dominate

To maintain good relations with colleagues and avoid toxicity, it's vital that every employee listens to others. When it comes to virtual meetings, never interrupt your colleagues when speaking, and avoid making condescending or patronising remarks.

8. Create ways to collaborate outside of meetings

Working remotely can sometimes feel isolating, and a lack of in-person interactions with colleagues can lead to decreased collaboration. To mitigate this, organise video calls - such as an informal coffee catch-up - with other members of your team outside of mandated meetings.

9. Build a dedicated workspace

When working remotely, it can be easy to fall into the trap of working from your sofa or even your bed, so it’s imperative to set up a dedicated workspace. Not only is this detrimental to your mental and physical wellbeing, but it also has a negative impact on your productivity levels.

10. Plan face-to-face meetings if possible

If you're located in close proximity to your colleagues or team members, you may want to consider planning face-to-face meetings every once in a while. Doing so helps to maintain a sense of connectivity in the workforce and allows you the opportunity to get to know other staff in person.

11. Set a schedule and routine

One of the keys to successful remote working is setting yourself a schedule that you stick to each day. Not only will this allow you to manage your workload, but it will also enable you to maintain a healthy work-life balance.

Ready to set up your virtual office? Get in touch today and find out how a virtual office can benefit your business.