“Within the next two or three years, I predict most virtual meetings will move … to the metaverse” Bill Gates

A response to Bill's (somewhat biased) view of workplace interactions in the future - physical or digital - I thought I'd share some concepts that I foresee existing inside an enterprise metaverse.

Some time ago (pre-pandemic), I was part of a team that supported a pharmaceutical organization with the launch of their new corporate philosophy. We created an internal communications plan for more than 50,000 employees in over 80 countries. Part of their new strategic focus was to innovate by harnessing data and technology. So, to me, it was natural that their employee engagement strategy should similarly embrace innovation. 

Therefore I recommended building a virtual world (using Unreal Engine) where every colleague could visit and discover each area of the new philosophy. The areas held explanations, videos and links to areas of their intranet which held more detailed information. It was, thankfully, a resounding success and the C-Suite were rewarded for their willingness to experiment. But for me this was only the first step towards tapping into the potential of a metaverse for enterprises. 

I was inspired by research that proves virtual experiences better activate the parts of the brain that control emotion, learning and memory making. And by self-determination theory which discusses the need for humans to achieve high levels of competence, connectedness, and autonomy to achieve psychological safety and wellbeing. 

I began to consider how we can adopt this type of approach and who could benefit … HR teams to their C-Suite. I presented them with a series of horizons that would continuously enhance their virtual world with added experiences and invitations for different groups to visit and interact. 

As a backdrop, we’ve recently witnessed some of the world’s largest technology companies announce their investment in web3. From Facebook becoming Meta to Square rebranding as Block, these first movers are encouraging others to consider how their organizations could and should adapt to new technologies as well as a value proposition for new generations of employees who are social web natives. I have no doubt that Meta’s Workplace platform is a major piece of their plan to create an enterprise-grade metaverse … but on the off chance it isn’t, Mark can speak to me anytime he likes about these ideas!

Here are just a few experiences I see being very appealing inside an enterprise metaverse. With different permissions to the many locations inside your virtual world, you can cater to different needs in the digital place you create:

Talent Acquisition: Having an inspiring employee value proposition is vital to attracting the best, scarcest talent. Allowing prospective employees to visit areas of your metaverse, learning more about culture, values, future plans or interacting with the CEO, creates an exponentially more memorable experience than any microsite. 

Town Halls: Most large organizations embraced video conferencing during the pandemic yet every platform has its limitations. And we’ve all read the research about Zoom fatigue during long video calls, especially with large groups … letting your avatar appear for you, alongside colleagues’ while you listen intently to leaders or peers, is a much less stressful way to attend.

Agile Projects: The ability to collaborate seamlessly from any location is vital to agile thinking and implementation. Add the ability to be in the same virtual space, working alongside colleagues using virtual versions of collaboration tools — and you have a powerful way to feel present in real time even when you’re not together in real life.

Clan Learning: Take the best of game mechanics — and the value in “clanning” with fellow players to achieve goals and earn rewards — with the proven success of social learning (by brands such as Nomadic) and you have a compelling approach to personal development and learning within an organization. 

A ton of research into younger generations predicts they see education as a process that continues through their lives and expect their employers to invest in approaches to satisfy their aspirations. And as social gaming is a major pastime, it seems a natural way to leverage their passion inside the metaverse. 

Rewards: Expanding on the idea of rewards, and taking inspiration from Web3’s obsession with extremely limited edition NFTs such as Bored Apes and CryptoPunks, there are opportunities to offer profile images for internal profiles, upgrades to avatars or even items of virtual clothing to wear. And with apparel brands such as Adidas and Balenciaga finding their way into the metaverse already, there’s no reason to not collaborate with brands with established cache. 

Or, taking the thinking even further, organizations could mint their own coin and reward employees with currency to spend on virtual or even physical items ... hey, why not let them pay for coffee in the company café with currency they earned inside the metaverse?!

Leadership Accessibility: Oftentimes, there can be a real or perceived gap between a company's leadership and other employees. There are any number of ways, from a virtual theater playing video interviews with leadership, to “digital twin” versions ready to guide and interact with visitors as they explore, to improve familiarity with the C-Suite.

Wellbeing: Creating a space to relax and unwind … take a guided meditation class or care for a virtual bonsai tree. Or just tune out to the real world and sit on a virtual mountaintop and watch the clouds roll by. Anything intentional that helps alleviate work-related stress is a good thing to provide for your people. 

Partner Conferences: Forward-looking organizations have already adapted to virtual and hybrid models for bringing together existing and prospect partners. A strong sense of belonging to communities is vital for most businesses and here permitted access to a company’s metaverse can offer an extension of in-person gatherings. Build a futuristic event space inside your world with opportunities to have breakout sessions, live streaming video or audio presentations and networking can all happen in any way you can imagine possible. 

Consumer Research: And when we consider bringing external audiences into an enterprise metaverse, it makes complete sense to consider how your customers can participate too. Conduct primary research through focus groups made up of participants anywhere in the world to gather true cross-cultural insights, or invite them to attend VIP events with exclusive guest DJs or music performances (Fortnite has shown how immensely popular those can be). The more engagement with your most valuable audiences the better … building long term advocacy through rewards that far exceed the perceived value of coupons of their next purchase, for instance. 

“And how do we pay for all of this work?”

That’s a fair question but consider how much your organizations spend on business travel year after year before the global pandemic. And how much you’ll be scaling back face-to-face meetings because of safety concerns. Conservative estimates suggest 2019 pre-pandemic spend of $1.4 trillion on business travel, globally. And that by 2024 we could be back to the same levels. The tiniest fraction of that could fund development of an incredibly immersive virtual reality for enterprises everywhere. And if you factor in the benefit of combating global warming through more sustainable behaviors, there’s a compelling reason for CFOs around the world to put their heads together with their CTO counterparts and 

Web3 is upon us already. The confluence of Millennial and GenZ’s attitudes towards social web experiences, continuous learning, gaming, and digital communities are shaping how businesses will need to behave to maintain high levels of employee engagement, fuel growth and champion superior customer experience. The more work and personal lives blend within a hybrid model, the more the benefits of the metaverse present themselves in a compelling way. 

As sci-fi writer H.P. Lovecraft so astutely said, “The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown.” So, let's all become more acquainted with the things we fear, and dive into the enterprise metaverse together.