10 Years of WFH: How to make your virtual firm soar

A busy, focused young adult male freelancer sitting at a desk and resting his head on his hand while working on a project on his laptop.

Curtis Sparrer is principal at Bospar. 

With some large companies pushing for a return to the office, assessing the value of virtual work is now more important than ever.

Long before the pandemic, Bospar was fully remote from the start, which gives us a unique perspective on the benefits of virtual work. Now celebrating our 10-year anniversary, we believe we were the first national full-service agency purpose-built to launch as a virtual firm.

Given the big benefits for our clients, employees and especially for the environment, we see it as a no-brainer and a choice that will become increasingly common in the future.

So we have some advice for companies that are going virtual or trying to make their virtual office work. Here are our top tips for how to build a successful virtual office.

Establish core working hours: When working virtually, employees want to know when they should be online and when they can be “off”. And we as an agency want to know when our employees are available. I suggest setting hours when your team is guaranteed to be online, no matter where they work. We are all online between 12-6 p.m. ET or 9-3 p.m. PT to ensure our teams can collaborate in real-time.

Embrace flexibility: Virtual work gives our colleagues much more flexibility to attend to their children or an important appointment. It also promotes inclusivity, allowing us to hire talent from diverse locations, giving us broader coverage and perspectives San Francisco or New York wouldn’t have.

Trust, don’t monitor: We believe in trusting and empowering our employees to do their best work, no matter where they are, not constantly monitoring their whereabouts. As Tom Carpenter notes, “Companies need to let go of meaningless metrics such as ‘badge swipes’ in the office or minutes spent at their office desk and focus instead on whether the best work is being done.” In a post-pandemic world, that matters more than ever.

As long as colleagues get their best work done, I couldn’t care less where they are. Just as we wouldn’t monitor where employees are after-hours in an office workplace, we wouldn’t care where their virtual work is being completed. This is part of a broader philosophy of trust and empowerment that is necessary for a virtual office. If you’re going to be constantly monitoring and checking on them, then it just won’t work.

Be transparent – When you’re virtual, miscommunication or misunderstanding can arise if you’re not careful. So it’s important to foreground communication and that, as much as possible, everyone knows what’s happening in the company.

We make a big effort to be as open as possible about what we’re working on and what we expect and what people need to know. We set up internal structures to keep everyone in the company on the same page and encourage communication, feedback and responsiveness. We encourage participation from all our staff, constantly seeking feedback through anonymous surveys, AMA sessions and informal “How are we doing?” sessions. Structurally, we try to limit hierarchy. Of course, there is some, but we live by what Chris Boehlke calls “task is boss,” focusing on the best way to get tasks done for the client, not the ego or title involved.

Create a homegrown culture to grow and prosper: Some believe that virtual work hurts the ability to bring colleagues together. But we look for opportunities to meet with our colleagues whenever possible. Just because we’re virtual doesn’t mean we don’t enjoy each other and hanging out. We do this through a virtual Book Club, in-person team lunches, trips to visit clients and teams and other in-person events.

Drop the “forced fun”: But don’t make employees participate in “forced fun” events that aren’t fun. This includes long weekend retreats and after-hours dinners. It defeats the purpose of affording your staff extra flexibility. People want to have their own lives in addition to their work lives. Of course you want to make time to see each other, but make sure you aren’t going overboard.

Emphasize video: People are visual animals so they intuitively can sense when they see things. This is even more important when you’re working virtually. Take advantage of the opportunity to learn people’s physical tells, when they are about to talk and if your team is engaged. Don’t turn off your camera.

Invest in your team: Unlike other firms, we don’t pay for expensive offices, though we can meet our clients anytime at premium office locations. We can invest that savings back in our staff. This is good business sense, helps improve employee satisfaction, and is also just the right thing to do for hardworking employees. We do this through increased salaries, reimbursements and additional PTO for our team.

It’s about the people: No matter whether you’re virtual or in person, people are the key to your success. Make sure that all leadership and managers invest time and energy in every employee’s success. When you’re virtual it’s even more important that this doesn’t fall through the cracks.

Ultimately, while there are myths such as “working from home leads to less productivity,” we’ve proven that virtual work enables more productivity. Instead of spending time commuting, we focus our energies on delivering results for our clients. We’re not stuck on a subway or in rush-hour traffic. Working from home opens our schedules, allowing us to accommodate clients’ schedules. When our clients are happy, we’re happy.