Working remotely used to be a trend, but suddenly it’s the new normal. Video conferencing, instant messaging, and lengthy emails are no longer an effective way for a team to interact. These types of communication do nothing for engagement and little for collaboration. The world has become effective at remotely transforming information between teams, but have completely missed the mark on how to engage in collaborative thinking. This is especially true for creative teams that rely on a cohesive environment to surface impacting ideas. Fortunately, advances in virtual reality headsets and Metaverse technologies are here now to dramatically improve how we collaborate remotely.
1. Improves Team Culture
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic we’ve recognized that the culture of the working world is evolving. We’ve realized that it is not productive to fly a team across the country for a four hour meeting or to require employees to work in a physical building to accomplish their daily individual tasks. The stress of travel falls on employees and clients and results in a reduced quality of life. Remote and hybrid workforces are taking over the world and it’s easy to feel disconnected from those you’re working with. Meetings and collaborating through virtual reality becomes significantly more meaningful because users feel as though they are truly near their colleagues.
In an office setting, it is not uncommon for unplanned conversations and interactions to happen. Impromptu collaboration is guaranteed at every office. However, these spontaneous interactions are restricted when working in a traditional remote setting. No one schedules a two-minute Zoom call after all. Virtual reality creates a lifelike environment that feels like a ‘real-life’ office.
Teams are able to host meetings in VR and can do so in spaces that closely resemble their traditional office. The nerves and exhaustion that come with Zoom meetings are eliminated and replaced with fun, productive, and memorable meetings. Memorable, spatial memory causes our brains to view a meeting in VR differently – we remember more!
2. Increased Focus in Meetings
Virtual reality is able to reduce the issues that organizations face with video conferencing. The ability to multitask, distractions from beyond the screen, and the inevitable notifications popping up, are all eliminated when immersed in a meeting in virtual reality.
By being in the VR environment, employees are able to feel as though they are physically present in a room with their colleagues. The ‘real-world’ distractions are eliminated once the headset is put on. Being completely focused on one meeting at a time, increases focus which results in a more productive use of time.
3. Effective Communication Experiences
Remote work can create a communication lag between team members. Delayed responses to emails, instant messages, and even texts creates barriers to accomplishing important tasks. In virtual reality, these barriers don’t exist.
Communicating via virtual reality can provide additional information that other communication platforms don’t give you access to. Body language, sentiment and context of the conversation can all be detected when communicating in VR. Misunderstandings are much less of an issue in VR.
Additionally, Metaverse technologies provide opportunities to communicate that not all physical office spaces offer. Teams can increase productivity through the use of 3D objects, videos, whiteboards, 3D charts, pinboards and more! If you’re a part of an international team, some collaboration platforms have the ability to do voice translation. VR allows you to communicate in ways you never have before!
4. Lower Costs
Virtual reality can bring employees from around the world together in the same room without the need for travel. From plane tickets to hotel arrangements, travel costs can quickly add up, becoming a hefty burden for organizations. The benefit of being together for work can be simplified to the one time hardware purchase and a software subscription. Cutting costs doesn’t have to mean cutting effectiveness. The collaboration desired from workplace travel can be done in virtual reality.
5. Reduce Carbon Footprint
Corporate social responsibility is no longer just a buzzword. Brands are responsible and can be damaged by acting in ways that go against sustainability efforts. Cost is not the only burden of workplace travel; the emissions required of travel (regardless of location) are significant. Working in a virtual space eliminates a significant amount of activity the team undergoes throughout a year which reduces a firm’s carbon footprint.
Virtual reality is no longer a trend – it’s the most effective and efficient way to work remotely. While not every meeting needs to be held using VR, the critical ones that require team collaboration and insight can bring a dramatic increase in productivity and engagement to your organization. The competitive advantage to be gained by deploying virtual reality and other metaverse technologies for your business is significant and the tools are ready now to be taken advantage of.
If you are interested in ways that Virtual Reality can increase the effectiveness of your firm’s collaborative efforts, Get Real is the ideal partner to show you the way forward.
Contact Get Real today at info@getrealxr.com