Digitalized World: Workplace Culture through the Lens of Metaverse

The pandemic has challenged everyone to acclimate to new methods of work – forcing organizations of all sizes to develop at an exponential pace in order to adapt to the irreversible changes. The world has moved on from traditional office working to a hybrid mix of remote and virtual collaboration. The when, where, why, and how of the employee’s work has undergone a huge reshuffle.  Employees now demand flexibility and agility from their organizations. Organizations on the other hand are able to get the best out of their employees by offering them an agile approach. Guess what? 

Honestly, this is a win-win situation for all, so far! 

The world is on a trail to a future where ‘Metaverse’ pledges to foster an immersive virtual experience that will bridge the gap between office and remote working. In the tech space, buzzwords come and go. As technology is taking bigger strides and evolving at a rapid pace, the list of these buzzwords is getting bigger and bigger. The latest buzzword that is here to stay is The Metaverse. It is basically the internet, but immersive. The year 2020 was the breakout year for the business future of the next big thing – the Metaverse.  As per the research conducted by Lenovo, it was found that 44% of the employees are willing to work in the Metaverse. These employees believe that it will enhance their productivity to a huge extent. Organizations tend to thrive on highly engaged and productive employees, isn’t it? 

Known as the next generation of the internet, Metaverse is the blend of the elements of augmented reality, virtual reality, online games, social media, and cryptocurrencies. In simpler words, it’s a virtual world where users create, explore, and interact in real-time with people who aren’t in the same physical space. Metaverse has the potential to open up possibilities for organizations to foster a more viable and interactive workplace, resulting in sky-rocketing employee engagement. The future of work in the Metaverse is anticipated to be much more efficient, convenient, and streamlined for employees and employers.

As everyone is already aware, the shift to the remote work culture has resulted in the creation of both opportunities and challenges for the company. It has led the organizations to reimagine their strategies, models, and policies to adapt to the hybrid culture – no matter if they wanted to do it or not.

Consequently, the already well-renowned approach of goal setting – OKR (Objectives and Key Results) framework attracted even more users. The organizations that neglected it earlier, were quick to implement this framework, in the wake of being left behind by their competitors. And why would they not? The OKR framework is one of the most widely used approaches that ensures to keep the organization well on the track of achieving its desired results.

The OKR tool aids the organizations in goal establishing, execution, and regulation of growth to improve their financial performance. It also helps to achieve a motivated and engaged workforce. Such a tool aims to help all sorts of organizations in establishing a joyful and productive culture- the organization reaps all these fruitful benefits by having an incredible medium to enhance performance management. Assign tasks, regulate the performance and provide real-time feedback in the augmented reality

From science fiction to reality – The incredible rise of the Metaverse!

The term “Metaverse” originated from Neal Stephenson’s 1992 science fiction novel Snow Crash. In this novel, the Metaverse was portrayed as the successor of the internet. It depicted the author’s vision of how a virtual reality-based internet will evolve in the future.

Since the last few years, Metaverse has been on the move from being hypothetical to reality, inspiring enterprise tycoons to innovate and rebrand. Among the companies that were quick to step into this new economy was the gaming company Epic with its globally renowned game – Fortnite. Things started to gather pace for Metaverse when Fornite hosted concerts and shows of Ariana Grande and Travis Scott. Other industries were swift to follow as the lines between reality and digital got more and more blurry.

The endless possibilities of Metaverse are no longer fictional and they haven’t been for quite some time. Snapchat is a great example of how Metaverse is already a part of our lives without us realizing it. From customized filters that enable the brands to connect with consumers in a deeper manner, to Snapchat’s study that found that users are more inclined toward such interactive platforms, everything points in the same direction – the future is already here and people are engaging with it.

You must be aware that the rebranding of Facebook into Meta Platforms was solely stimulated by metaverse. Moreover, Microsoft is gearing up its very own metaverse vision.  Having acquired the AltspaceVR back in 2017 already, Microsoft made an announcement regarding them bringing the mixed reality capabilities of Mesh to Microsoft Teams in 2022. This will enable the organizations to set up their own metaverse/virtual space through Microsoft Teams itself. Consequently, organizations will have a more engaged and productive work culture.

As you must have realized, the application of metaverse was initially restricted to internet-based social media and video games. It was predominantly used for improving the standard of immersion in virtual reality surroundings.

The last two years resulted in a tremendous shift in the work culture, making the remote and hybrid work culture the “new black.” Metaverse is said to facilitate an increase in work productivity, an interactive learning environment, and highly engaged workers. 

Metaverse and the future of work 

Numerous roads will eventually take the organizations towards Metaverse, and mind you, it doesn’t seem to be just a fad. You might be making the mistake of taking metaverse as just another word in the myriad of trends that spark in the world of tech, but unlike the others, it already has its roots in society. With the pandemic speeding up large-scale digitization and pushing organizations globally to immerse themselves into the digital world, the metaverse is no longer just a fictional, sci-fi future. 

VR and AR have certainly expanded beyond the realms of online gaming. As organizations are looking to develop virtual working environments, the metaverse will be the solution to the challenges of replicating physical in-person interactions. Metaverse will abet the organizations to build an immersive experience for both office-based and remote employees. This will result in making the employees highly engaging and competitive. This will result in enriching the employee experience and leveling the playing field for the employees using different work modes. It promises to yield creative and imaginative ways for the employees to collaborate and work together towards organizational goals. 

• Metaverse will offer multiple options with respect to work location as well as ways of working. Employees will no longer be confined to the cubicles of their workstations. 
• It will serve as a key to the door of new job opportunities. Since the jobs that previously needed in-person interaction will have virtual options, leading to the expansion of freelance and remote work.
• It will foster a centralized digital work culture that will smoothen the transition of remote working.
• It will give the much-needed freedom from tedious day-to-day commutes, expensive business trips, and in-person meetings.
• It guarantees physical safety from getting exposed to the very well-known Covid-19. The virtual collaboration will result in reducing the spread of contagious illnesses. 

What lies ahead? 

Even though Metaverse is advancing to take the world to the threshold of a virtual world, the technology is still at a nascent step. As more and more start-ups and tech giants are joining the bandwagon, the world will be able to benefit from this much-needed technology sooner rather than later.

Amidst all the challenges that have choked organizations during pandemics, Metaverse will make collaboration and idea-sharing much more accessible and efficacious than ever. The employees will have a more engrossing medium to work and collaborate on for accomplishing the organizational objectives.