The Beauty of the Virtual Office

One of the most amazing things about running a small business these days is how easy it is for a group of people spread out across the country (or the world) to work together from wherever they are.

At Inhabitat we operate almost completely virtually, something which is only possible because we can conference over AIM and Skype, publish from anywhere using WordPress, collaborate on documents using Google Docs, and keep our editorial calendar organized via Google Calendar.

Being able to operate virtually helps us keep our overhead low (no offices!), saves everyone time and energy and is better for the environment (no commutes!), and lets everyone work from wherever they're happiest, whether it's their home, a cafe, a co-working space, etc.

For a small business like Inhabitat working virtually has given us the flexibility to grow the team organically and scale up as needed. There can be downsides, however. Since most interaction happens online it is harder to keep an eye on your team at all times, so it helps to just trust them to do their jobs and not obsess over how it gets done. And while all these tools make it easier to work together, you do need to have a motivated group of people who can operate independently and without micromanagement -- some people just need the structure of an office environment to be truly productive.

But overall working virtually has been a boon to Inhabitat and it's hard to imagine the business operating any other way.