How Culture Will Witness A Disruptive Transformation With Virtual Collaboration

Across the globe, the work culture changes in an incremental manner. Employees learn from the previous generation, the best ways to carry out duties, at the same time they explore opportunities for better learning. Every generation brings something new to the table of the global working environment, and with every upgrade, there rises an expectation of better productivity.

The current generation, or say this millennial era is the one with the free-will mentality. They wish to work when and where they are convenient. We simply call them freelancers. These are efficient individuals that look beyond a 9 to 5 job. Either they wish to break the normality of the society or they have something bigger to offer, delivering the proficiency in whichever way.

The task here is the communication with freelancers, it needs to be quick, efficient and object-oriented, as it is majorly over a call and internet. The whole point is to meet the deadlines with assured quality irrespective of the difference in time zones and the distance between the employer and the employee. Nothing can boost this kind of work culture better than virtual collaboration.

Multiple kinds of research have shown that the number of people working from home has increased significantly in the last couple of years, and this phenomenon is occurring in various countries, developed or developing. The possibility of an employee working with a virtual team set up in a different continent is pretty high. And in times like these, the need to hire persons with better communication and technologically forward mindset has surged. This doesn’t simply meet with an employee’s need, it also serves the employer well, financially.

The cost of hiring an individual, resource expenditures, allotting them space and dedicating them time which can otherwise also be dedicated over virtual means, is all taxing. Hiring an employee not falling in the proximity of an employer allows the employer to get more quality work done within the same investment and same timeline. Such a system can be supported by setting up a strong communication channel which either party can use to get the job done quickly. Such a channel can be best established by various means of emails, tracking tools or simply Skype calls.

The practice of virtual collaboration has been most fruitful for startups. Bootstrapped businesses which need quality workers but cannot afford huge investments at initial stages prefer collaborating with professionals, settled remotely, that can get the job done. Some of these are full-time employees who wish to push their potentials and be a part of the booming startup culture.

While there are others who are homemakers, retired individuals, students, etc. that do pose the potential, but wish to contribute from homely workstations and from the location of their choice. This way virtual collaboration has managed to dig out talent at favourable costs. Definitely, freelancing through virtual collaboration doesn’t offer the corporate perks, but it isn’t a bad barter for the convenience of home and flexibility of working hours.

Some have seen the collaboration of employee and employer as a lucrative domain, and have developed tools for better management. For an instance, Asana is a web and mobile-based application that allows workforce operating from different locations to collaborate with each other and track the progress of a project. It allows the manager to allot each remote employee with the tasks they need to perform and lets the employer keep a track. It gives employer a free hand to experiment around with the talent available and cut costs for the organization.

Such portals also give an employee the freedom from official clutches, at the same time give them a sense of belonging to bigger projects matching with their skills. Obviously, good pay tags along with freelancing if one is talented, enthusiastic and proficient, and has been practicing his talents for a while. We’re definitely heading towards the good times, and the reason why we need to talk about virtual collaboration more often.