The Metaverse may seem worlds away from our everyday reality, but it’s time that employers and government services started to look at the opportunities that it holds for training and team development.

If you are unfamiliar with the Metaverse, the best way to visualize it is as a virtual reality powered internet where we connect with each other via avatars. Right now, companies and sectors will be at different stages in their understanding and use of Metaverse technology. Social and leisure take-up exploded during the pandemic, now it is filtering through to business sectors and we are on the precipice of workplace transformation. 

For training providers and employment services, there are exciting developments due that will make training more cost effective and accessible, delivering a much higher success rate than traditional methods. Plus, advancements in team working will remove some of the barriers to collaboration many have experienced during the remote working boom. 

Transferable skills become ‘liquid skills’

What we now perceive as ‘transferable skills’ will take on a whole new meaning. Skills will need relevance not just across sectors and roles, but potentially across different virtual worlds. They will become ‘liquid skills’. Recognized and agreed benchmarks will be needed to certify the skills gained in the Metaverse to ensure validity and consistency, with accredited training providers promoting quality and ethical standards. 

Flexible training for all 

Training in the Metaverse requires no course materials and participants are free to practice until they succeed without wasting resources. The opportunity to fail and try again without fear of consequence or embarrassment is key to skills acquisition. 

Another benefit of training in the Metaverse is true accessibility for those who can’t attend a particular location at a set time. Physical environments in existing office space can be adapted to support augmented virtual reality training for a truly immersive experience. And while their location won’t affect training outcomes, delegates joining from unusual and diverse locations can be a great talking point and ice breaker.  

Immersive team collaboration 

One downside of the remote working trend is that some workers can feel isolated, and teams can struggle to feel connected to people who they’ve never shared an office with. Managers can find it difficult to keep large numbers of Zoom call participants engaged.  

In the Metaverse, it’s possible to replicate the in-person team experience to a much greater degree for those working remotely. Employees can walk around virtual office space and meeting rooms to interact with colleagues. Instead of logging requests with a help desk, or recording a presentation for people to access later, VR brings these processes and actions back to a real time environment, boosting attendance and participation. 

AI colleagues

Double booked your meetings? In the future, you may be able to send an AI representative to reliably deputize on your behalf. Far from threatening our jobs as widely feared, we’re already able to pass over repetitive tasks to our AI counterparts in order to focus on the work that requires our skill in judgment, reasoning and planning. Developments in AI technology are already expanding this scope to include digital agents who can provide advice and customer service support. 

Virtualization and gamification

The way in which we acquire skills and knowledge has already started to transform. Widening use of AI and gamification has allowed immersion in prospective careers without commitment. Now, training can literally allow delegates to view situations through the perspective of their colleagues, stakeholders and customers, enabling them to gain practical, empathetic skills that will be far more effective than traditional theory.. 

Reverse intergenerational learning 

It may have been happening informally since the dawn of technology, but now is the time for older workers to look to younger colleagues and family members for guidance. The younger generation have grown up with challenge-based content, and are ideally placed to coach us in Metaverse usage and principles.  

It’s clear that there is infinite opportunity as we move towards arguably the biggest cultural shift since social media. If used correctly within a training and development context, the Metaverse has immense potential to remove some of the obstacles faced in traditional training and also to address the disconnection many are experiencing in the new remote working model.