For a virtual team that is transitioning to a rented office space and a full-time staff roster, there are many changes to accept. Some are obvious whereas others are a little unexpected when you haven’t previously had to think about those types of considerations.

It may surprise you, but both the internal and external areas of the office matter. The reason is simple – when visitors first drive up, what do they notice? The exterior creates a client’s first impression before they even reach the reception area on your floor of the building. The internal layout and decorations on your floor are not to be forgotten either.

Let’s look at 4 important considerations when transitioning to an office from a virtual organizational structure previously.

Getting the Exteriors Right

The walkway up to the office building and the asphalt covering the parking lot are often not up to a quality standard. They tend to get forgotten about against the showy interiors, but it’s the first impression that counts more. Whether there is paving that needs replacing because it is chipped or uneven (perhaps a tripping hazard?) or the asphalt parking lot needs patching up, it doesn’t go unnoticed.

When looking for the better asphalt driveway contractors Alpine Asphalt is certainly one of the dependable names in the industry. They can resolve exterior issues quickly, efficiently, and affordably too.

Establishing Professional Standards

Virtual workers may have gotten used to working in their jeans and a t-shirt, but in an office with clients coming to meetings, a change has to be made. Full-time employees, even if they were previous virtual team members, must adjust their work attire to match accepted standards. It’s no longer a casual attire day every day and their business wardrobe must now reflect that.

Working Hours vs Productivity

The owners of the business must decide what to do about working hours. There are certain jobs like a receptionist who is needed throughout the office opening hours. However, there is plenty of evidence that for knowledge workers, having to be at the office 8+ hours a day only means that the day stretches out. Research indicates that only 3.5-4 hours of productive work gets done over the full day. For previous virtual workers, they know this only too well.

Where positions can be judged on actual productivity where it’s known how long projects take to complete, then it is possible to have staff work fewer hours if they can deliver projects on time and on budget. Otherwise, Parkinson’s Law comes into play where the work project expands to fill the available time rather then being completed efficiently.

Human Resources

It may have not been necessary before, but with employees now working in the same office, there is a need for the rules to be carefully laid out for what behavior is expected. The documentation ensures that staff are provided information confirming both acceptable and unacceptable behavior in the workplace. Should a subsequent problem arise, they cannot later claim that they were unaware of the rules or they would have followed them. This alone tends to avoid many common interpersonal issues between employees.

There are many things to consider when making the switch to a physical office. Life was simpler for sure when working from a home office and connecting virtually with the team. However, for any business that wishes to expand substantially in the future, having physical office space becomes necessary to be taken more seriously in the business world.