Technology had already disrupted traditional communication long before COVID knocked at our doors.
Today, most of us would be familiar with platforms like Zoom, Slack, Teams that enable us to stay connected while the offices are locked away. Zoom keeps adding virtual reality backgrounds to keep the entertainment going. So you could be talking your sales numbers with the tropical island or maintain banter and team spirit with timely GIFs and emojis mixed into their workday messages.
But these experiences are just the tip of the iceberg of mixed reality offerings. Gallup says that 54% of office workers would be willing to quit their job for one that allows them to work remotely. With companies like Twitter, Microsoft, Facebook leading the way for permanent WFH for tens of thousands of employees, how do you really keep the culture intact.
Leaders and managers need to be mindful that, as remote working becomes more common, companies that can’t accommodate it will become obsolete and feel unwanted in the corporate world. And those cultures, over time, may also struggle to keep their in-house workers engaged and productive.
These new mixed reality applications can help companies cut costs and boost revenues. Below are three key areas where we see early versions of what could be called multidimensional “collaboratories” that are improving knowledge worker productivity and collaboration.
Virtual Offices
When distributed team members can’t see each other, they feel increasingly disconnected and isolated. Technology pioneers began using large-screen video “portals” to connect satellite offices into each other’s worlds through informal, always-on video feeds. As this technology evolved, major corporations began experimenting with virtual neighborhoods to keep their teams connected globally.
Now teams in some of the world’s largest financial services companies and retailers meet in virtual offices using mixed reality programs like Sneek and Pukkateam.
Virtual Focus Groups
Companies use platforms, similar ones created by Remesh, for market research. They collect and summarize the anonymized views of up to 1,000 participants on a topic or new product concept. The anonymity and scale of the online platform let managers hear more voices, including those who typically would not speak up in person.
Virtual Collaboration
When the pandemic struck, many companies were forced to freeze projects and research and development because they could not convene the people involved in person. With greater representation in the virtual room, teams were able to realize better and more holistic solutions in a way that just wasn’t happening before. And the outputs were instantly well-formatted and digital, so they could be immediately used in reports and documentation.
We are just starting to see what the future of mixed reality work will look like.
