Virtual Office

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Virtual Office
GROUP 10 Cameron Weaver Elizabeth Gratale Katie
Bennett Casey Dunlevie
How much do flexible work arrangements improve
employee productivity? Or do they?
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SKIT

• Virtual Office Workers

• Traditional Office Workers

Casey Dunlevie
Elizabeth Gratale
Cameron Weaver
Katie Bennett
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Agenda

• What is a virtual office?
• Advantages
• Disadvantage
• Conclusion

Virtual Office
Advantages
Disadvantages
Conclusion
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What is a Virtual Office?

• Definition mobile or work environment equipped
  with telecommunication links and basic office
  furniture, but without a fixed office
  space-Business Dictionary

Virtual Office
Advantages
Disadvantages
Conclusion
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Increase in Teleworkers in U.S.
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What is a Virtual Office?

• Forms
• Hoteling/shared offices
• Satellite offices
• Home office
• Telecommuting

Virtual Office
Advantages
Disadvantages
Conclusion
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Hoteling

• Maximize office space
• Reserve space or set up permanent hours
• Can be customized
• Ernst Young employees were out of the office 3
  or 4 times a week.

Virtual Office
Advantages
Disadvantages
Conclusion
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Satellite Offices

• Network of smaller offices
• Suburban locations
• Deloitte Touche SmartSpace Program

Virtual Office
Advantages
Disadvantages
Conclusion
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Home Office

• Designated space
• New construction of homes
• Equipped with right technology
• Organized

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Home office
Not this
This
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Telecommuting

• Working from anywhere
• Always connected with technology

Virtual Office
Advantages
Disadvantages
Conclusion
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Technology

• Laptop
• Docking station
• Cell phone with e-mail
• Scanner
• Video camera
• High speed Internet
• Software
• Regus
• Officescape
• Google Docs

• Instant messaging
• Web conferencing
• TelePresence

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2007 Survey of 200 users of Web Conferencing
Technology
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For Students

• How many use Blackboard?
• How many have taken an online class?
• How many have taken a class with a live feed of a
  professor in another location?

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Advantages

• Business
• Employee
• Environment

Virtual Office
Advantages
Disadvantages
Conclusion
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Business Advantages

• Increased productivity
• Reduced absenteeism by 50
• Cost-efficiency
• Employee Retention
• Broadens labor market

Virtual Office
Advantages
Disadvantages
Conclusion
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Cost Efficiency of ATTs First Shared Offices in
Morristown, NJ
Before After
Square Feet 45,000 27,000
Annual Rent 1.2 M 0.7M
Persons 196 225
Annual Rent per Person 6,100 3,100
Annual Savings N/A 463,500

Virtual Office
Advantages
Disadvantages
Conclusion
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Employee Advantages

• Improves quality of life
• Flexible hours
• Balanced lifestyle
• Healthier
• Reduces stress

Virtual Office
Advantages
Disadvantages
Conclusion
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Case Study

• IBM Teleworkers
• I enjoy coaching my daughters soccer team at
  330 in the afternoon.
• I can finally eat breakfast with my family for
  the first time in 15 years at IBM.

Virtual Office
Advantages
Disadvantages
Conclusion
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Employee Advantages

• Saves money
• Opportunities for mothers and people with
  disabilities

Virtual Office
Advantages
Disadvantages
Conclusion
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Environmental Advantages

• Reduced need for transportation
• Pollution
• Reduced by gt4,500 pounds of CO2/year in Arizona
• Fuel consumption
• Reduced by 250 gallons/employee/year in Arizona

Virtual Office
Advantages
Disadvantages
Conclusion
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What are some disadvantages of Virtual Office?
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Disadvantages

• What are some disadvantages to the virtual
  office?
• Lack of face-to-face interactions
• Blurry line between work life and home life
• Temptation of slacking, becoming unprofessional
• Lack of cohesion and unity with the company

Virtual Office
Advantages
Disadvantages
Conclusion
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Lack of face-to-face interaction

• Better to take care of business immediately and
  in person
• Avoid e-mail chains and phone tag
• Stifles creativity and idea creation
• Prevents interoffice camaraderie
• If you didnt work in an office, youd be missing
  out on this
• Its Getting Hot in Here Scranton Style

Virtual Office
Advantages
Disadvantages
Conclusion
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Case Study

• Advertising Agency. Employees were concerned
• How do people know how hard Im working?

Advantages
Virtual Office
Disadvantages
Conclusion
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Case Study

• Advertising Agency. Employees were concerned

• How do people know how hard Im working?
• How do I overhear the important things, since no
  one bothers to tell me anything?

Advantages
Virtual Office
Disadvantages
Conclusion
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Case Study

• Advertising Agency. Employees were concerned

• How do people know how hard Im working?
• How do I overhear the important things, since no
  one bothers to tell me anything?
• Im afraid of being out of touch.

Advantages
Virtual Office
Disadvantages
Conclusion
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Blurry line between work and home

• Not a sense of I leave my work when I leave at
  5pm.
• Feel on duty even around family members
• Company's exploitation
• of workers' free time

Virtual Office
Advantages
Disadvantages
Conclusion
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Case Study

• IBM Teleworkers
• Even vacation time blends into work time unless
  I go somewhere.
• I am always at work between 5 a.m. and
  midnight, seven days a week.
• Unintentionally long hours, fewer external cues
  to stop

Virtual Office
Advantages
Disadvantages
Conclusion
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Temptation of Slacking

• Slovenliness
• Set your own schedule--
• This can wait until later.
• Less monitoring of employees

Virtual Office
Advantages
Disadvantages
Conclusion
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Lack of cohesion and unity

• Lack of shared office space and experiences
• No dress code
• Other office artifacts logos, notepads, etc
• Wiesenfield Virtual employees are the least
  likely to be exposed to organizational factors
  that have traditionally strengthened member
  identification.

Virtual Office
Advantages
Disadvantages
Conclusion
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Eat Your Candy and Watch This

• Good Office Worker vs. Bad Office Worker

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When calculated, the statistics for the benefits
versus drawbacks come out roughly the same.
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(No Transcript)
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Conclusion Our Opinion

• Each company and personality differ in what works
• Generation discrepancy as generation X and Y
  enters the workforce
• Personal responsibility and work habits determine
  which method is better

Disadvantages
Virtual Office
Advantages
Conclusion
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Virtual Office(Remember we gave you candy..)
Katie Bennett
Elizabeth Gratale
Cameron Weaver
Casey Dunlevie