NEWS
New world – how Thirteen employees can engage online .
conversations , which can often lead to great things , was highlighted .
“ Teams is Thirteen ’ s go-to tool for organised one-to-one meetings and group work , but for a little more flexibility and informality in our interactions , Virteen offers something a bit different .”
Customised world
Virbela provided a base template that Thirteen has customised to create its Virteen platform .
The virtual campus is made up of a main office building with large presentation spaces , meeting rooms and smaller offices around the campus which can host the same range of business activities as offered by realworld facilities .
Each visitor creates their own avatar to navigate through the buildings , outdoor seating areas , atrium or seaside promenade – there ’ s even a speedboat waiting on the quayside for staff to jump into and head out on a quick trip .
Visitors can either make their way to a planned event or meeting , or just wander through the campus taking in the sights and bumping into colleagues they might not have seen for a full year .
Hassan continued : “ Virteen was intended to be a fully immersive environment , and when you finish your session it really does feel like you ’ ve escaped your home office , which in itself could help to combat meeting burnout .
“ As well as business use , staff have been visiting Virteen for social events and we ’ re looking at running things like awards ceremonies , presentations and other more fun , collaborative events .”
Sean Washak , European sales lead at Virbela , has been overseeing the development of Virteen .
Sean said : “ Virbela creates immersive spaces that bring in-person experiences to life online and enable better remote team collaboration . “ Within the Virteen campus powered by Virbela , Thirteen can recreate the feeling of their traditional office space through opportunities for spontaneous connection between colleagues , meeting spaces equipped with familiar presentation tools , and a sense of presence within the 3D campus .”
As a novel system for the housing sector – it ’ s thought to be the first time that Virbela ’ s platform has been used by a UK housing association – Thirteen is taking a measured approach with its implementation .
Hassan said : “ We made the decision a long time ago to encourage more agile working and push for a more output-driven culture , rather than an hours-driven one .
“ Clearly a lot has changed for employees over the past year and as a business , we ’ ve spent a great deal of time looking to re-invent how people meet and work post-Covid .
“ It ’ s important that we look for new ways to humanise virtual working and plug the gaps that can sometimes be created by online interactions , and Virteen has helped us to do just that .”
The voice of business in the Tees region | 87