There are 2 sides of a coin to working virtually & using technology to a very great extent as compared to regular office working. Following are the pros & cons in a virtual organization from the point of view of an employee as well as an employer-
Employee Perspective
Virtual working could be a boon to many people as it renders a lot of flexibility & independence in work. An employee could start work late in the afternoon or in the wee hours of the morning. One could just be working in pyjamas with no worry of a formal attire and hence save on time which would either have been spent getting ready or travelling to the workplace, also saving on the expense incurred on clothing, travel as well as avoiding the peak hour rush. It is ideal for employees who have dependents on them like old parents or small children. Many people are just comfortable with the idea of not going to a particular place to work everyday and can get more work done otherwise in an efficient and speedier manner.
However, virtual working could also provide constraints in terms of overdependence on ICT (Information & Communications technology). What if an email does not reach on time? What if a reply is not received within an expected time limit? What if there is a virus? What if a computer crashes? etc etc. There could be a possibility of complacency from an employees perspective. Also lack of personal contact could lead to miscommunication and lack of motivation as well as stress -with least or no knowledge on how to manage it.
Employer Perspective
Having a virtual working environment can allow an organization to create a world class team with experts from around the globe.This can lead to an improved corporate image and profile as projects are handled by knowledge workers with utmost efficiency & productivity. Costs are also controlled to a large extent as there is no mandatory requirement for office space, travel costs are much lower as experts worldwide can contribute to a project without relocation and concurrent engineering allows processes to be completed faster. An employer can just hop around time zones knowing that his project is being worked upon 24-7 at no extra premium and the wide range of interaction across Europe or Asia or any other continent enhances the virtual culture.Training can be tailor-made to address the concerns of e-workers by laying special emphasis on communication via technology and imbibing team spirit across cultures.
Even though virtual organizations provide so many advantages to corporates there are certain issues of concern as well. Over dependence on technology is one of them wherein if technical problems are encountered they could lead to delay in submission & hence inconvenience to other e-workers or the client. Working across cultures can be exciting but also challenging when transfer of business policies has to take place across dispersed e-teams. This could lead to miscommunication & lack of trust and respect which inturn hampers performance. Also no contingency plans & lack of specific ways to monitor performance could all overall affect the quality & time of a project leading to delays or even possible abandonment without completion. An employer may not be fairly aware of the problems faced by an employee having not met face-to-face.Also there could be legal compliance issues. At times set-up costs could be massive catering to setting up the entire system and of the knowledge workers as well.Other costs may include on-going costs, extra software licenses,additional training & technical support,backup systems,security issues,allowances,support etc
