Throughout my career as a writer, I have interacted with numerous individuals. Though my memory tends to be unreliable, I can confidently state that this is the first instance where I have accidentally run over an interviewee with a powerboat.
In no way to shift blame, but the subject was well aware that I had just acquired the knowledge on operating the boat moments before the incident occurred, yet she chose to stand in shallow water directly behind the vessel.
Fortunately, this peculiar scenario never actually occurred in reality. The interviewee, Melissa Daimler, took the mishap in stride. As an expert on organizational culture who has held positions at notable companies like Adobe, Twitter, and WeWork, Daimler has encountered a wide spectrum of workplace environments—from harmonious collaborative cultures dedicated to shared objectives to toxic toxic environments that breed discontent amongst individuals.
However, the virtual office campus where our meeting took place, designed by VirBELA, a remote collaboration software company striving to redefine the future of work, was an unprecedented experience even for her.
The Changing Landscape
In essence, VirBELA has revolutionized the workplace by transforming it into a virtual realm reminiscent of a video game. Visualize their virtual campus as a fusion of a conference call and the interactive world of Second Life.
For the uninitiated, Second Life is an online game where users create digital avatars and engage in a communal experience with numerous other real individuals through their avatars. VirBELA’s software utilizes the Unity game engine, originally designed for virtual and augmented reality games and immersive experiences.
With the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic leading to a surge in remote work, VirBELA has experienced remarkable growth in 2020 as businesses explore avenues to enhance the often draining experience of remote work via traditional Zoom calls and virtual meetings.
One of the primary challenges faced by businesses and their leaders amidst this unprecedented year has been sustaining positive, cohesive company cultures. Consider the countless moments over the years spent engaging in casual discussions with colleagues in passing. These seemingly insignificant “water cooler” moments contribute significantly to overall company morale.
VirBELA’s open campus and similar environments created for their client companies permit users to tailor their digital personas, enabling them to interact and move around while conversing through a shared voice connection. In addition to entertaining features like the powerboat, the virtual headquarters offer amenities such as furniture, adjustable doors, and conference rooms for conducting meetings. Although instant teleportation within these virtual landscapes is possible, Glenn Sanford, the Chief Strategy Officer at VirBELA, advocates for walking across campus to provide users with a more authentic office-like experience.
“In a campus setting, I could be hanging out at my desk in my office and people could randomly come up to me and ask me questions,” Sanford remarked. “It creates lots of opportunities for surreptitious, meaningful collisions to take place on campus. That’s the big, big selling point of VirBELA, because it allows us to have those water cooler conversations that are hard to have using other meeting technologies.”
Besides his involvement with VirBELA, Sanford is also the founder and CEO of eXp Realty, which acquired VirBELA in 2018 following several years of utilizing their platform. As the fastest-growing real estate brokerage in North America, eXp boasts a fully remote workforce, encompassing nearly 40,000 agents spread across the United States, Canada, and Australia. At the time of this story, the value of eXp stock (symbol: EXPI) had quadrupled year-over-year.
As the pandemic propelled more companies towards remote operations, many have been scrambling to identify the most efficient platforms for their workforce. VirBELA, which initially had 20 full-time employees in 2020, expanded to over 100 by the summer as their revenue surged by 260% in the second quarter compared to the first, with a sixfold increase in their user base.
An increasing number of conferences and events, shifted online due to the pandemic, have been hosted within the VirBELA universe. Their clientele varies from large multinational corporations like HTC to educational institutions like Stanford and Arizona State seeking virtual learning solutions, as well as small businesses comprising less than ten employees. Users can opt for diverse packages, ranging from modest office spaces to tailor-made islands equipped with soccer fields and concert arenas.
Building Authentic Connections, Virtually
When we conversed, Daimler, a consultant for VirBELA, had recently become acquainted with the platform, yet she recognized its value in preserving organizational culture despite physical distance.
“This crisis has highlighted the importance of practices that should have been in place even before the pandemic hit,” Daimler expressed. “People’s responses either reinforce their culture or pose challenges to it.”
After our excursion around the island and my sincere apologies for the boat incident, our avatars settled at a table situated in the heart of the campus. Amid our dialogue, an individual inadvertently walked into our table, hovering between us momentarily as they familiarized themselves with the controls. While such behavior would come off as rude in real life, within the virtual realm, it elicited laughter from Daimler and myself.
Oddly enough, albeit never having observed Daimler in real life, by the conclusion of our interview, a sense of camaraderie had developed through our shared escapades. While video conference calls often breed self-consciousness, navigating an avatar-based world can spark a contrasting effect, fostering a sense of ease.
For businesses striving to maintain a relaxed and productive remote work environment, a platform like VirBELA is invaluable. A content, unencumbered employee is more likely to unleash their creativity. This is precisely why Daimler touts the significance of a platform like VirBELA, particularly in times of disconnection, especially for roles that thrive on external interactions such as sales.
“Culture loses its essence if it is reduced to tangible office necessities,” Dailmer remarked. “I perceive culture as the interactions between individuals.”
Whilst Sanford acknowledges the substantial cost savings a company could incur by eliminating physical office spaces, Peter Hirst delves into the experiential aspect when elucidating the benefits to executives. As the Senior Associate Dean of Executive Education at MIT’s Sloan School of Business, Hirst has delved into and collaborated with platforms akin to VirBELA for years.
“I simply propose, ‘You need to experience it for yourself.’ It’s such an immersive experience that no matter how much I explain the benefits, you won’t grasp it until you engage with it,” Hirst emphasized. “Even if you harbor doubts about its feasibility for your work or yourself, bear in mind that this signifies the evolving interaction style the current and upcoming generations are gravitating towards. It may seem reminiscent of computer gaming, but in reality, it serves as a mode of interaction that a growing contingent of individuals are comfortable with.”
Entertaining, but Is It Effective?
My exploration of the VirBELA open campus proved to be immensely enjoyable. Engaging in various activities—from personalizing my avatar to maneuvering the powerboat, engaging in impromptu soccer matches with strangers, and simply wandering about exploring novel locations—elicited a sense of enjoyment. Nonetheless, it’s essential to note that this environment isn’t my professional workspace, hence I harbored reservations regarding how individuals utilizing the platform daily perceived it.
It struck me that orchestrating a large company meeting within one of the auditoriums could be remarkably convenient. This setup would allow for all attendees to assume a designated seat, mute their microphones during presentations, and foster a greater sense of unity compared to a traditional large-scale conference call. Furthermore, the notion of convening without the need to maintain a presentable appearance under the harsh glare of a computer screen during video calls resonated with me.
Nevertheless, I remained intrigued by the pragmatic benefits this platform holds for businesses. Thus, I delved deeper to observe how an actual company incorporates it into their operations. To gain insight into this aspect, I embarked on a tour of eXp World alongside a representative from the communications and marketing department at eXp. She showcased how eXp’s agents leverage the platform for tech support and meetings. Our teleportation from the Texas offices to the Canadian premises provided me with a comprehensive understanding of the significance of platforms like VirBELA.
As we stood within the Canadian office, surrounded by doors leading to distinct sections dedicated to each province of Canada, a woman named Juliette entered. Warmly greeting my guide, they engaged in a pleasant conversation, culminating with Juliette extending an invitation to explore the Quebec section “for a dose of French.” Following Juliette’s departure to her office, I inquired whether their friendship transcended the confines of eXp World into real life.
It surfaced that while they interacted frequently on the virtual campus, their sole physical encounter transpired at an event.
Upon their real-life rendezvous, my guide expressed that it felt akin to reuniting with an old friend.
This content was initially featured in the November/December 2020 edition of SUCCESS magazine.
