Working Virtually: Is It for You?

It’s a new world out there, and commuting to work often means logging on to your laptop.

Source: Getty Images

It's been ten years since I traded in my time-wasting, too-long,
hope-it-isn't-raining commute to a fancy office in the city for the
freedom of working virtually from home.

Like many people, as long
as I have my laptop and cell phone, I can work from wherever I happen to
be, which has included islands in Thailand and beaches in Mexico (that
hammock in the photo is my idea of heaven), my friend's homes around the
country, and yes, even my own home office.

Today, working
remotely or virtually is becoming more and more the norm. Many companies
no longer even bother with the expense of an office. One of my friends
is CEO of a company with 35 people who all work virtually from across
the U.S. and from five different countries. Work is done with online
collaboration tools, phone calls and videoconferencing, and it's worked
great for years, letting them tap top talent from wherever they are and
become a leader in their market.

The Evolution of the Virtual Workforce

This
move into virtual workers was foretold in 1998 when the Harvard
Business Review published an article by Professor Thomas W. Malone and
Robert J. Laubacher called "The Dawn of the E-Lance Economy"
that postulated a  world in which business "is carried out autonomously
by independent contractors connected through personal computers and
electronic networks." Sound familiar? That was 13 years ago, and that is
the shift we are seeing become reality in the work force, through
outsourcing and a new wave of virtual professionals.

The website Elance
launched not long after that article, as a marketplace for contractors
to find new projects, and for companies to hire virtual workers. They
now have more than 350,000 professionals in their pool. In fact, I'm
looking for a virtual assistant on Elance right now, and the amount of
choice is astounding and inspiring. Most elancers are solo entrepreneurs
who have found their niche offering their specialized services to other
businesses, so I can find an experienced virtual assistant specializing
in nonfiction authors who are launching books, and have their expertise
on my team without a full-time commitment. And they can be from
anywhere in the world. Awesome!

A white paper on "The Top Ten Strategies for Managers of Mobile Workers"
by Terrence Gargiulo of makingstories.net says that the number of
virtual workers has grown eight-fold in the past five years, and
two-thirds of employees work in locations different than their
supervisors.

The advantages to a virtual workforce are many: less
overhead because companies don't need to provide the office; total
flexibility about where workers live; part-time workers and contractors
mean less financial commitment for the company; and while the hourly
rate may be higher for a project contractor, the company saves on taxes,
benefits and vacation, and you're not paying someone for their time
chatting about the game with the person in the next cubicle.

Inc. Magazine interviewed Elance CEO Fabio Rosati
last year, talking about how the rise of virtual workers has fueled the
new wave of startup companies. Certainly their business is
booming—Elance grew 42% in 2009, and each quarter of 2010 had remarkable
growth, even though the standard job market was stagnant.

Tips for Virtual Workers and Their Managers

There
are some special skills and needs to manage a virtual working
relationship, though. Here are some tips I've learned through the years.

• Communicate regularly. Whether
  it's a phone call to review what's going on, or an online tracking
  system, it's important for virtual workers to know what's going on at
  the company that might affect their projects, and it's definitely
  important for a manager to know where a worker is on what they're
  responsible for. Schedule phone calls or video conferences to make
  everyone feel more connected.


• Chemistry still matters.
  Just because someone is in the next state and not at the next desk
  doesn't mean you don't have to share values and get along well. Choose
  people you like enough to share an office with if you had to.


• Let go of your need to micromanage. A
  virtual worker has more flexibility with their schedule and how they
  get things done. It is not possible for you to watch everything that
  they do. If they don't answer the phone when you call, it doesn't mean
  they're goofing off. If you're the virtual worker, make sure to give
  some explanations about what you're doing and why so your manager feels
  in the loop.


• Focus on results, not activities. A
  virtual worker should have specific targets of what they're tasked with
  doing. Set those targets based on what you want them to produce if you
  can, rather than just paying for time. Many freelance virtual workers
  prefer to bid a price for the whole job vs. being paid by the hour so
  that the focus is on results.


• Start with small projects to build trust.
  Give a new virtual freelancer a small and specific project to start
  with, and use that as a test for how you work together, and if you each
  can be counted on to so what you say you will.


• Set deadlines and milestones.
  For a big project, decide the specific deliverables, and what the
  target dates are for each step of the work. Include interim approval
  steps and when to check in. Put them in writing so everyone on the
  project knows what they are. (Websites like Elance.com and oDesk.com
  take care of all the details so you can manage the projects online and
  everyone knows what the status is; they even have timekeeping and
  billing systems.)


• Be very careful about access to confidential information.
  Until someone is tried and true, don't give them access to your client
  database or the password for your Quickbooks account. When you are ready
  to share that kind of information, have them sign a confidentiality
  agreement. Not doing this could cost you time and money down the road.


• Pay them immediately.
  Don't make a freelancer regret working with you by treating them like a
  vendor. Fast payment shows a respect and appreciation for what someone
  has done for you and your business.

Having a virtual
workforce, and being a virtual worker, is not for everyone. But in the
world of business, the more mobile we become, the easier it is to never
have to commute again, unless it's a stroll down the beach to your
hammock. Make that my hammock.