Virtual Meetings: The Future of Collaboration
As businesses across the globe continue operating within a remote working environment, many employees have begun experiencing the effects of Zoom fatigue. Now that virtual business meetings are a normal facet of our daily work schedules, organizations are focusing efforts on viable alternatives to traditional video conferencing. One plausible solution catching the attention of employers is virtual reality (VR).
The Surge of Video Conferencing in the Workplace
After the onset of the Covid pandemic, business practices underwent a revolutionary shift, defined by the use of online meetings and communication. While video conferencing software isn’t new, it’s now considered a vital resource for sustaining the modern workplace.
For companies with a distributed workforce, platforms like Zoom, Google Meet, and BlueJeans provide employers with a video conferencing solution that’s both cost-effective and user-friendly.
While the ability to connect and collaborate virtually has been an essential part of transitioning over to a remote environment, immersive technologies, such as extended reality (XR), have the potential to completely alter the way we conduct virtual business meetings. Through the integration of this technology, organizations can bolster the efficiency and efficacy of their business meetings and daily operations.
VR for Business Meetings: The Future of Collaboration
Virtual reality platforms supply employers with the opportunity to bolster the productivity and collaboration of their remote business meetings through digital means. By introducing VR technology into your organization’s resource toolbox, you’ll reap a myriad of tangible benefits – starting with an improved employee experience.
The biggest concern surrounding online meetings today is their inability to inspire active participation. Employees are locked into an artificial, 2D screen that encourages a passive environment akin to binge-watching Netflix.
Through virtual reality, however, employers can breathe new life into their meetings by furnishing attendees with the freedom to move and interact with colleagues in a way that mimics real-life human connection. This includes the ability to engage with digital content, including sharing screens, writing on virtual whiteboards, and even viewing 3D models.
3D modeling and VR provide an effective way for companies to introduce collaborative documents and digital content into their business meetings. Besides the tremendous increase in visual appeal, virtual reality has the capacity to transform traditional meetings into a more engaging and action-oriented experience. For example, business leaders can introduce 3D models into their conferences, allowing attendees to view and scrutinize life-like content and make real-time changes as needed.
Introducing VR technology as an alternative option to your traditional video chat software also means eliminating any limitations surrounding your meeting space. Depending on the nature of the meeting, leaders have the ability to create an environment that appropriately reflects the overarching goals and agenda items for each particular gathering. Beyond the confines of the traditional boardroom, employers can explore and create settings designed to enhance learning and creativity, from creative lofts to beachside fire pits.
In a similar vein, completely removing colleagues from their physical space helps minimize distractions and bolster the effectiveness of the overall meeting. After attendees enter the virtual meeting space – through the use of a VR headset – their concentration and productivity naturally improve due to the absence of interruptions like text messages, emails or even those within their physical living space.
Virtual Reality Business Meetings: A Look Ahead
The pandemic completely disrupted business operations, forcing companies to quickly transition to a remote working model out of necessity. Now that organizations are more acclimated with this “new normal,” company leaders are beginning to shift to a more future-oriented mindset, seeking solutions designed to lay the foundation for both short and long-term success.
As technology continues to advance, VR solutions are quickly becoming an accessible and affordable way to create shared experiences and bolster collaboration among remote workers – a natural fit with long-term worker engagement strategies. If you’re interested in how AR/VR technology can lead your business into the future, contact the experts at Concannon XR today.
