There’s been one constant in the workplace over the past century. Workers had to drive to their job and share a cramped space with their coworkers. A number of young startups are changing things up.
Yahoo! and a number of other companies have experimented with telecommuting. A number of smaller startups are taking things even further. These companies have created entirely virtual workplaces.
Here are some 100% virtual companies.
FlexJobs
“The FlexJobs team is made up of a fantastic group of intelligent, dedicated, positive, and diverse people who all share a passion for helping people find great jobs that offer work flexibility. We work virtually from all over the United States, and although we haven’t even all met in person, that doesn’t stop us from being a cohesive team, enjoying our jobs, and loving to help our clients.”
FlexJobs CEO Sara Sutton Fell predicts that many other companies will follow suit. “It’s predicted that half the workforce will be working remotely by 2020, but I believe it’s already happening informally,” she told Fast Company.
10Up
10Up is a web development and Internet technology firm that has also gone fully virtual. While the team doesn’t have to congregate in an office, they have a very committed work ethic. Last month, the company posted a blog about their employees’ vacation plans.
Senior Web Engineer Sudar Muthu and other employees said they haven’t had a chance to take any time off in a long time, despite not having to go to a regular office every day.
“It’s been a while since I took any vacation to spend time with my family. So I am going to use this break to go on a road trip around my state with my family.”
AIDS-Free World
For-profit technology companies aren’t the only firms going virtual. AIDS-Free World, a nonprofit organization dedicated to fighting the HIV epidemic, is a small virtual organization with offices all over the world.
Unlike many technology startups, AIDS-Free World doesn’t boast about their status as a virtual company, so many people aren’t aware of it’s unique workplace model.
However, the virtual workplace concept makes sense for them and many other nonprofits. Nonprofit organizations have limited funding, so they need to operate on lean budgets. Managing workers from remote locations makes a lot more sense than paying to maintain an office and compensating workers for unnecessary travel expenses.
There is another, even more important benefit of being a virtual organization. Maintaining a virtual team allows them to have a presence in every part of the world. Employees can represent the nonprofit to lobbyists, politicians and HIV survivors in their home country and share their insights with the nonprofit headquarters in New York.
iDoneThis
iDoneThis is a company that specializes in developing technology for remote firms, so it’s hardly surprising that they are a remote firm themselves. Walter Chen, founder and CEO of iDoneThis, says the remote workplace model has worked very well. However, the company has had to take some precautions.
He said the secret to creating a successful virtual company is promoting trust, communication and transparency, which aligns with something The Speaking Polymath also recently pointed out in their post on ways to encourage employee engagement.
“When you share common ground, you’re able to coordinate implicitly, rather than explicitly. That means that the need for explicit communication and coordination — the benefits you get from being on a co-located team — diminish significantly. Find a way to make sure your team gets on the same page regularly, such as frequently talking about goals and objectives and making work visible,” Chen stated.
The Virtual Workplace Is the Future of Startups
Startups are trying to operate on lean budgets these days. Running virtual teams is one of the easiest ways they can do this. Will virtual organizations become the new standard for workplaces around the world?
