“For years the discussion has raged about the pros and cons of flexible working – and now, suddenly, we’ve been dropped into a real-life field test. COVID-19 has effectively forced employers, whether they were ready or not, into a virtual working model at breakneck speed. Huge numbers of employees are now working remotely, many of them simultaneously juggling childcare and significant family commitments. The transition has been easier for some organisations (particularly those that were already practising flexible working) than others, but it’s all happened quickly and in an atmosphere that is hardly conducive to wellbeing (PWC, 2020)”.
Price Waterhouse Coopers. [Website]. Virtual working: moving from crisis response to normality. Retrieved from https://www.pwc.co.uk/issues/crisis-and-resilience/covid-19/virtualworking-crisis-response-to-normality.html [Accessed on 18/03/2022].

Required:
You are required to write an essay in which you critically evaluate and analyse the benefits and limitations of working in a virtual marketing environment, then further propose solutions to mitigate these limitations.
These aspects must be considered in your essay:
• Productivity
• Engagement
• Communication in virtual space
• Teamwork and dynamics in a virtual space
• Work-life balance
• Conflict

Answer to Above Essay Question

Working from home is a common trend among employees worldwide after covid-19 situation. As a result of this pandemic, workers are exposed to work from home and they have to carry out their roles and responsibilities in a virtual environment. The way of working has completely changed and this has provided significant opportunities as well as challenges to the employees in different departments. For example, a virtual marketing environment provides the opportunity in terms of achieving cost effectiveness in the marketing process, digital marketing can be carried out from remote locations easily. There are benefits available in the form of better work life balance within employees which contributes towards higher productivity levels. However there are challenges as well from the virtual marketing environment and these mainly include….