If you are tasked to manage a virtual company, how will you handle the following:

HIRING

Hiring employees in virtual company is somehow complicated because there is a question often asked that "How do you know your staff is really working if you can't see them?". The best way to guard against wasted time is to be certain you are hiring a staff that knows how to get the job done and is committed to growing the business.

COMMUNICATION

Chat Etiquette

What is Chat Etiquette?
Describes how you should act while chatting online, and how some people act wrongly-how to react to that. The following are some tips on of chat etiquette:

• Talking in caps. This is not only annoying, but perceived as yelling. Personally, I would much rather see people typing all in lower case with frequent typos and misspellings than see them type all in caps. You wouldn’t yell things in a normal conversation, would you? And if you would, I’m sorry, but I wouldn’t really enjoy conversing with you.

• Asking people for personal information, AKA A/S/L. Would you go up to a complete stranger in public and ask their precise age and where they lived? Or what their current relationship status is? I don’t know about others, but I find this to be very rude.

Forum Etiqutte

What is Forum Etiquette?

Forum etiquette means maintaining a standard of posting behavior that is acceptable and appropriate. Forum etiquette can be flexible, according to the subject of the forum, but there are certain standards most people expect others to maintain. Some lines must be drawn for the safety of all posting on the forum.

One of the staunchest rules of forum etiquette is not posting personal information about another poster. Even if that poster has all but drawn a map to his house, posting a real name or address is considered grounds for a permanent ISP ban on most forums. This could compromise someone's safety. This is probably the most serious breach of forum etiquette and most moderators take it very seriously.

Net Etiquette

What is Net Etiquette?

Net Etiquette are the rules that have developed as people have begun to communicate and interact on the Internet. The following are some good net etiquette rules to follow:

• Before you join in a newsgroup or discussion board, always check that your questions are relevant to the group. It is a good idea to watch the conversation (in internet jargon, this is called "lurking"), before you join in. Most groups have an FAQ , (Frequently Asked Questions) list, and if there is no standard message saying where you might find this, then you can put a question to the group/list to ask where you might be able to find an FAQ list.

Email Etiquette

Why do you need email etiquette?
A company needs to implement etiquette rules for the following three reasons:

• Professionalism - by using proper email language your company will convey a professional image.

• Efficiency - emails that get to the point are much more effective than poorly worded emails.

• Protection from liability - employee awareness of email risks will protect your company from costly law suits.

What are the etiquette rules?

There are many etiquette guides and many different etiquette rules. Some rules will differ according to the nature of your business and the corporate culture. Below we list what we consider as the 32 most important email etiquette rules that apply to nearly all companies.

32 most important email etiquette tips:

1. Be concise and to the point
2. Answer all questions, and pre-empt further questions
3. Use proper spelling, grammar & punctuation
4. Make it personal
5. Use templates for frequently used responses
6. Answer swiftly
7. Do not attach unnecessary files
8. Use proper structure & layout
9. Do not overuse the high priority option
10. Do not write in CAPITALS
11. Don't leave out the message thread
12. Add disclaimers to your emails
13. Read the email before you send it
14. Do not overuse Reply to All
15. Mailings > use the bcc: field or do a mail merge
16. Take care with abbreviations and emoticons
17. Be careful with formatting
18. Take care with rich text and HTML messages
19. Do not forward chain letters
20. Do not request delivery and read receipts
21. Do not ask to recall a message.
22. Do not copy a message or attachment without permission
23. Do not use email to discuss confidential information
24. Use a meaningful subject
25. Use active instead of passive
26. Avoid using URGENT and IMPORTANT
27. Avoid long sentences
28. Don't send or forward emails containing libelous, defamatory, offensive, racist or obscene remarks
29. Don't forward virus hoaxes and chain letters
30. Keep your language gender neutral
31. Don't reply to spam
32. Use cc: field sparingly

How do you enforce email etiquette?

The first step is to create a written email policy. This email policy should include all the do's and don'ts concerning the use of the company's email system and should be distributed amongst all employees. Secondly, employees must be trained to fully understand the importance of email etiquette. Finally, implementation of the rules can be monitored by using email management software and email response tools.

Courtesy to www.emailreplies.com

Advantages of Managing Virtual Company

COST

Virtual teams can help companies lower overhead costs and labor. There are teams of inexpensive, highly skilled labor forces in various locations around the world who can't or do not want to be relocated. Access by communication to these labor forces leads many organizations to offshore certain functions traditionally performed in-house or by contractors. This is an appealing option to many organizations looking to reduce overall project and maintenance costs. By outsourcing the development of an application to Philippines, for example, an organization can reduce the cost of a project. This is because Philippines, in addition to many other countries, has a large population of highly educated people who can be accessed with today's advanced communications technology. This allows the company to pay someone in Philippines much less to do the same work compared to someone working locally in the U.S. Virtual teams also reduce travel, accommodations, and other miscellaneous expenses for team members.

TIME and FOCUS

Managing a virtual company can consume a huge amount of time - time that could be spent building the business. The office conflicts, tensions, and politics are minimized and nearly eliminated in a virtual company. Because people are physically separated, many of the negative and time-consuming aspects of the "office dynamic" simply cannot take root, thus freeing the entrepreneur to focus on building the business.

EFFECTIVITY

In terms of effectivity, Although the absence of a "normal" office environment changes the job of managing people, it doesn't eliminate the need for doing so effectively. In fact, it introduces new challenges the founder must be aware of. As in every area of business - and life - these challenges are the flip side of a set of advantages that prompted the model to take hold in the first place.