Virtual Working Will Be The Only Option For Many Small Businesses

While it’s potentially more cost-effective, there are a number of risks that come with operating virtually.

- Jessica Hubbard

With South Africa’s extended national lockdown having forced many businesses to embrace remote working at just a moment’s notice, the jury is still out as to how effective the rushed transitions to a purely digital existence have been. It’s simply too soon to tell.

Most business leaders and teams are still immersed in Zoom meetings and Google Docs, fighting screen fatigue and bleary eyes as they acclimatise to a strange ‘new normal’.

Cocooned in makeshift home offices, the daily stresses of long commutes and road rage have been replaced by the evils of online trolls and Zoombombing (when uninvited users enter your online meeting and share inappropriate or disturbing content). And while some companies have flourished in this purely virtual way of working, others have faltered.

“SA businesses have experienced an earthquake of incredible magnitude, which has not only forced them to embrace the digital tools that have been available for some time – but also the type of culture which makes it viable for a business to use these tools,” says Arthur Goldstuck, founder of IT consultancy World Wide Worx.