What is a virtual coworking space

The physical office is no longer the place where everything happens. The push for remote and hybrid work models has permanently modified the way we think about work and the work-life balance.

Workers no longer want to return to a physical office because of the many benefits of adopting a remote or hybrid work model, and companies must adapt and offer this option to avoid losing talent.

There are also plenty of advantages for businesses that implement such a business model as well. Read more in our article Why hybrid working is becoming a competitive advantage for companies.

However, working remotely brought another set of issues that we need to solve. Workers feel lonely, isolated, discouraged, and depressed when they're being removed from the collective ambience. There was a specific sense of culture and community that made the physical office effective.

Now the question is - how can we bring the advantages of the physical office into the virtual space?

The solution to disconnection - a virtual coworking space

It’s clear we need to bring back the advantages we had in the physical office and that sense of community and belonging. And at the same time, maintain the advantages we have from working remote or hybrid.

Where there’s a will there’s a way, and that’s how online coworking spaces appeared.

A virtual coworking space is a digital space where remote teams can meet, work, and socialise as they would do in a physical office. It is a virtual office that replaces the physical one and expands it to make the future of work possible.

The main difference between a physical coworking space and an online coworking space is that the latter only exists in the cloud while the former has a physical location.

Since the virtual coworking space doesn't have a physical boundary, that means teams from all over the world can connect simultaneously and work together, as if they're in the same office. And they’re also much cheaper to maintain and run than having to pay rent or energy bills for office spaces, which means businesses that implement a coworking virtual office have an upper hand in terms of production and effectiveness.

A virtual coworking platform should resemble a physical office as much as possible. That’s why it should have conference rooms, reception areas, break rooms, and avatars that make the remote team connect and collaborate as they would be next to each other.

While remote teams can connect with the help of many communication platforms, virtual coworking spaces offer a structured framework for remote collaboration.

Videoconferencing apps are not enough

When companies were forced to use remote work during the Covid-19 pandemic, the chosen solutions were videoconferencing apps such as Zoom and Microsoft Teams. But what we all quickly found was these videoconferencing apps do not provide all the tools necessary for effective remote work.

Sure, video calling is an important part of remote working. However, remote working needs more. Videoconferencing apps lack important aspects such as micro-interactions between coworkers and permanent presence in a virtual office, as staying constantly connected in video call is straining and it contravenes the need of privacy in the work environment. Being monitored all the time doesn’t sound like the future of work to anyone.

The lack of spontaneous interactions was caused by the nature of videoconferencing apps. These tools were designed as a solution for scheduled meetings. When you transform a work environment into an endless stream of scheduled meetings, the teams lose the creativity and motivation that comes from micro-interactions around the proverbial water cooler.

Meetings have a purpose, but they’re exhaustive and limiting if you try to apply them for every work task. Creativity cannot be forced or scheduled. Creativity needs to be nurtured and supported by offering a productive work environment.

The best virtual coworking tool

Adapting old solutions to new problems is not always possible. Virtual working spaces need a modern solution that overcomes the pitfalls of traditional videoconferencing platforms. That’s why we built ivCAMPUS as an out-of-the-box solution for virtual collaboration.

We understand the need to collaborate and socialise in a virtual office in the same way we did in the physical office. Social spontaneity and being part of a community should go hand in hand.

ivCAMPUS is an alternative for videoconferencing software (Zoom, Webex, or Microsoft Teams) because it’s a platform that combines the benefits of the physical office and the virtual one. Using our software for hybrid work allows you to create an immersive and easy-to-use environment for your employees, no matter where they are from. There’s also no special software that needs to be installed for it, they only need to open their browser.

Workers enjoy the benefits of permanent presence and other social elements such as knocking on someone’s door and joining the coffee break room. Social spontaneity and company culture are still present in a virtual office you can call your own.

Try it for free today or visit a virtual office to see how ivCAMPUS brings virtual teams together in the virtual space.