Metaverse: How to connect people through Team-building in a digital world.

There’s no doubt that the world is evolving fast, and it’s challenging to keep track and adapt to the latest trends. Moreover, it seems that the pace for every new change is accelerating more and more. In this context, we’ve been hearing lately a lot about the Metaverse, and the evolution of the digital world. But what is the Metaverse? And how can it affect companies and our day-to-day working life?

Thinking ahead: Getting prepared for the new world

Although there’s not yet a consolidated definition for the Metaverse, it’s clear that it’s an evolution of the Internet, a sort of 3.0  and more immersive version of the web, that is real and is for sure coming. There are some technologies that are already among us, like virtual and augmented reality, which sounded exotic few years ago but are now in the path of becoming part of our lives.

At a first glance, the Metaverse can seem as an abstraction that might foster disconnection between people. But in a world in which working from home is no longer an exception, the Metaverse can be a great ally and a powerful tool to humanise digital interactions and bring a human dimension to virtual reality.

Instead of thinking of them as opposing scenarios, the Metaverse has the potential to bring together the advantages of virtual reality and human interaction. While in the 2.0 Internet world that we know today, a regular communication is through a structured video call (via Zoom, Meet, FaceTime or any other app you may use), the idea of metaverse is to complement this by adding tools that can replicate the daily office dynamics, which facilitate and enrich human interaction. 

Instead of thinking about distance, a situation in which two (or more) people communicate to each other from their own headquarters, the Metaverse can provide the tools to create a common space to share, where all can meet virtually, when it’s not possible to meet in person. It’s not just about 3D (although it will certainly be an outcome in the medium term), but an evolution of a communication channel. 

The overall objective is to enhance digitalization by humanising it, keeping and enriching the human touch. 

How can Team Building Adapt and Innovate?

At Tero, our central mission remains the same: Getting people together and reconnecting them. But we understand that as the world evolves, there are new challenges, and in the future the physical interactions might not be enough. So thinking ahead, we have to consider technology as an ally to reconnect people.

Anticipating the needs of tomorrow, Team Building can be a perfect tool to take care of people and make sure human connection is not neglected during this transition to a hyperconnected world. In the end, either if it’s physical or digital, people-to-people relationships will always remain the core.

Building a digital ecosystem will not replace the physical meetings, but can be a strong complement to increase the points of connection. Whenever an in-person event can be held, that will be the best option, but as we know that remote working is gaining terrain around the world, digital can be a great tool to keep everyone connected.

And as we mentioned in a previous article in the blog, stats show clearly that remote working is here to stay: 84% of French and Belgian companies plan to have 40% of their employees working from home towards the end of 2023, and business travel worldwide has already decreased 72% in 2021. On the other hand, 75% of meetings will be digital by 2024, compared to 25% today.

This is also aligned with the new trend in team building, in which smaller but more frequent team building activities replace one big event. With employees scattered around the place, Metaverse can be THE place where everyone can meet for these small team building events along the year. If possible, this can build up towards a final event in which everyone will get together.

So the challenge is to achieve a convergence of physical and digital worlds, and instead of thinking on more complex digital gadgets, the goal is to find a way to humanise telework tools, in order to make them simpler and more appealing. In other words, the closer to ‘real’ life as possible.

Proto-Metaverse Team Building Activities

At Tero we are working hard to think ahead and develop a digital ecosystem with activities and tools that will amplify the Team Building experiences offered by the group.

But the Covid crisis acted as a glance to the future. During the time in which people couldn’t go to work to their offices, we sold more than 250 Team Building digital activities. The best sellers were Visio Escape, Visio Who is Who and Online Live Music Quiz. For this one, we built a studio from where we have a pianist playing, and all the participants interact from their home. Having everybody singing along, feeling the rhythm of the music, and playing together in the quiz game is a great example of how virtuality can help reach connections among people. We all know there’s nothing like relaxing and laughing together to strengthen bonds among team members!

The idea of metaverse and its implementation in teambuilding activities is to take them one step further, and amplify the experience. It will be something new, an experience that you can’t get only in the physical world, or only in the digital world as we know it today (web 2.0). Better and more integrated digital tools will increase the possibilities of interaction, aiming in the end to give a boost to human touch and the chances to connect to each other.

Some of the developments we are working on at Tero are, besides our catalogue of digital activities, the Platform teroland 3.0, a digital studio, and the Tero app. All these will be integrated in our Digital Ecosystem.

It’s time to go for it!

We know that mobility will be a limitation in the future. As we had the covid crisis, there might be other scenarios in which it won’t be possible for teams to get together, or at least not with the frequency we were used to before the pandemic. Moreover, companies with decentralised branches and offices need a digital infrastructure to keep their employees connected and motivated. 

So from a Risk Management point of view, it makes sense to think about tools that will allow to replicate and enhance in-person dynamics. This will also generate a drastic reduction of logistics needs, limiting the environmental impact. For example, big companies like Deloitte are already investing in metaverse-related developments, aiming at the reduction of transportation, one of the main factors of CO2 emissions that contributes to global warming. It’s about getting prepared for the new world. 

But there are plenty more benefits around this! First of all, it’s cheaper. It requires investment to develop the tools and infrastructure, but once it’s done, there’s no limitation to the number of people that can join and enjoy the activities, so the ROI is amazing. It also allows to amplify the experiences, and to engage in a gamified way, making your company attractive both for clients (giving a modern image) and for talents (who value a flexible, dynamic company, up-to-date with trends and global concerns). And last but not least, metaverse events and activities will have no geographical limitations.

You can expand the reach and host digital events, conferences, training seasons, to a broader audience around the world!

All these changes and developments are happening right now. And although they may seem a bit threatening or too complex, in the end it’s about taking advantage of amazing tools in order to keep and increase the human touch between people. Feel free to reach out to us in order to help you plan the ideal Team Building activities for the future!