Virtual workplaces transcend borders
WITH work processes and conditions in organisations becoming diverse like never before, novel endeavours and practices have become the order of the day. Trying out newer methods and carrying out experiments to improvise conditions are exactly what organisations are looking at and virtual organisations are a product of this quest for innovation.
Today's technological advancements have changed the conventional work scenario; enabling virtual organisations emerge as the new standards of business ventures. Virtual organisations make the most of technology and are also more economical in nature.
Here are the essential features that characterise a virtual organisation:
Virtual organisations capitalise on a more informal business setting, wherein the quintessential boss and his contingent of subordinates are not a regular sight. These organisations recruit individuals for a stipulated time period or a specific project. The owners of the organisation mainly employ the required services and co-ordinate the whole set of activities. Thus, all the individuals working as a part of a virtual organisation are visualised as potential partners of the organisation for the particular work at hand. It is more of a complementary adaptation of the varied skills of individuals, to suit a compacted task.
It is very dynamic and evolving in nature. Unlike a static workplace, where employees are more or else a permanent entity for numerous projects and work procedures a virtual organisation has a shifting and incessantly blending composition of individuals, working as partners, by and large.
Infrastructural facilities entail the utilisation of the boons of booming technology, telecommunications, which has helped subtract distances and transcend the hindrances of space and immobility. This, in turn, has aided the free movement of work across the globe, at the touch of a few buttons. Corporate and work relationships no longer depend on the physical factor, as the most vital definition. The web has increased the proximity of working individuals and employees of a virtual organisation, working from Agra to Alaska.
Since technology is a major component of these organisations, accessibility and the time factor hold great importance. Time is money in business, it is said... more so, in a virtual organisation. Quick responsiveness and faster interactive methods are pre-requisites as physical meeting, interaction and exchange of ideas and work components are not possible. In order to make the most of the advantages the market can offer, actions, reactions and interactions form the base.
There is little or no departmentalised structure of working in a virtual organisation as there are no formal bosses or authorities. Every employee is a partner and the founders only manage the whole set-up. Moreover, centralisation is the key here, as all the actors and employees of the organisation work towards a single goal, which could be a project or assignment, working on their respective fields of specialisation, and complementing each other's work procedure.
Thus, virtual organisations rise above the impediments of space, distance, language and cultural barriers, while absorbing the utility of time and responsiveness. This new world has opened up avenues for professionals and employees with specialised skills.
PREETI RAGHUNATH
FAQS@CNKONLINE.COM
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