This Is How Virtual Office Will Look Like In 10 Years Time
The scene: You are sitting in an empty meeting room, ten years from now. You seat yourself comfortably with your latest tablet and wear a pair of lightweight glasses. Suddenly the room is full of life. To your right, you observe your colleague George has joined you from Atlanta. To the left, sits the CEO of the company, Betty, who’s residing in New York at present. Across the table from you in Raman, who has joined from his home office in Britain.
You are well-versed with the fact that these are virtual projections that the glasses have added to your meeting room. You can see them. But they are astonishingly lifelike! You are completely startled, even though you all have been conducting meetings like these for the past 6 months.
Thanks to the developments made in augmented reality and virtual reality technologies, this simulated scenario is not far away. While the concept of virtual reality has created a lot of hype, this biggest technology is going to leave a big footprint on the coworking space.
The virtual office space: Growing importance
In the present world, technology has been accelerating at such a rapid pace that even the futurists are not able to define the types of changes that will occur in the workplace systems. But nearly all the trend-seekers have predicted that most of the employees will be working from home and the systems will be more decentralized- suiting the daily, personal, and family needs of the employees. Even the international obstacles are blurring as the world has become a global village.
New- work relationships:
The mutual benefits of these progressive changes, for both companies and the workers, are evident to many. The salary systems will also change. The employees will shift from a salary system to a contractual basis. They will start working on a contractual basis and take payment after completion of every project. Although, companies will continue to support the workers/employees by providing health insurance or extra incentives for their loyalty.
To do their best, workers/employees will still be considered as a part of the team and will continue to strive to give the best to the organization.
Change in social life:
Many people have already tasted the flavor of this new life. Employers and employees all over the world have already been talking to and partnering with the suppliers and customers over e-mails. Personal connections are being established through video conferences and interactive computers, which has further strengthened the relationships between various stakeholders.
Nevertheless, being an essential part of a virtual community can never eliminate the need for in-person connections. That is why employees in the future will be witnessing prototypes that will promote gathering and in-person meetings such as those taking place at the water-coolers.
At the heart of these progressive changes, we can already see the separation of the workplace from where we do it. People are taking working from home very seriously. This makes the blending of work and family life very easy. In this manner, many employees and workers will find lifeless hectic, cumbersome, and more integrated.
Creating boundaries- Physical and time boundaries:
It will become very important to create work boundaries for yourself and respecting those boundaries will be equally imperative. This will prove to be beneficial for you only.
In the future, employees will have to keep a separate workstation at their home. If they are using a particular computer for work, then the same computer should not be used and mixed with other household work.
Similarly, it is essential to draw a line between office time and family time. You may not have time restrictions when working from home. You might have to start working from as early as 6:00 a.m. So, a clear cut time will have to be set-up which will be specially dedicated to the office work with minimal breaks without any personal distractions.
Looking at the benefits of virtual offices 10 years from now….
At the moment, virtual offices are going to transform the work that will be carried on in the coming years. Let’s have a look at how virtual office is going to be beneficial in the coming years:
Increased awareness about the various health risks: During a period when the world faces pandemic, a virtual office space can save us from the various health risks. We shall stay clean as we will not be touching infected things such as a mouse, keyboard, armchair rest, computer equipment and so on.
Reduced costs: While virtual offices will increase the collaborations, they will also cost almost nothing to the company. The fixed and semi-fixed expenses of the companies will be reduced to a great extent.
The growing demand for special skill sets: Sometimes it becomes extremely difficult to find workers who are knowledgeable and possess a specific skill set. You will have to pay a huge sum to such employees as the cost of living is too high. With the help of virtual offices, a company will be in a position to recruit the best people from anywhere in the world. This will create a pool of qualified candidates for the company at a dramatically low compensation to be paid.
The Takeaway: Due to the emerging trend of virtual office spaces, in 10 years from now, the physical office spaces will become obsolete, non-existent, and irrelevant. I might be sitting in New York and you are working from your office in London. As long as I am wearing my virtual glasses, it will appear as if you are sitting right next to me.
The extra mile: So start planning today as a massive shift is going to occur in a few years. Try organizing and locating your team from now onwards only. Jump and adapt quickly to the concept of work-from-home or a hybrid of traditional office and work-from-home. Consider the early adoption of all the innovative technologies available to avoid any last moment inconveniences.
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