Students of business agree that good teamwork makes for better productivity. But not everyone is on the same page about what makes good teamwork good.

Broadly speaking, they fall into two camps. The first could be called the "Scout leaders". They want structure, regimentation, deadlines and rewards.

The other group are a bit more chilled. They think that relaxed working hours, generous breaks and office ping-pong leagues are the way to get teams to bond. You might call them the "Water Cooler Kids", because they believe that mingling by the water cooler is a surefire way to get results.

Whichever broad theory you subscribe to, you might be stumped as to how to replicate it in a hybrid work setting.

Coming out of the pandemic, many businesses saw the sunny side of remote working – above all else, the flexibility and savings it provides. But most also saw that traditional office working had its virtues too – and lo, the age of hybrid working was born. 

But in some cases, one casualty has been team cohesion. The so-called "Great Resignation" wasn't helped by the dispersion of teams. If you don't feel part of a team, collaboration is likely to suffer.

Extended reality (XR) is one answer to the problem. The emergence of virtual reality (VR) headsets and smart glasses creates new opportunities for knowledge sharing and collaboration.

Sure, you can build a team on Teams. But it lacks one thing – realism. It's impossible to forget that you're on a Teams or Zoom call, even if you've got ten of them a day. As an everyday phrase, "you're on mute" still has a whiff of novelty about it.

XR, by contrast, is all about realism. It's about simulations of reality that make you feel like you're there. This can do wonders for teamwork and collaboration when your team is dotted across the country – or the globe.

The promise is this: with XR, you can enjoy all the advantages of remote working and a close-knit team that's buzzing with ideas.

So whether you've deployed an XR solution and are looking for novel ways to use it or you're just dipping your toes into this brave new world, here are some ways that XR tools can boost your teamwork and collaboration.

Site visits

For some people, travel is part of what gives them job satisfaction. They love to stretch their legs and visit sites, whatever their sector.

With XR, this doesn't have to change. Your company can deploy an XR solution and still maintain an in-person presence at site visits.

But you can also augment them and extend them with XR. This has several benefits.

First, it cuts travel and accommodation costs – not to mention your carbon footprint.

What's more, it encourages virtual collaboration among different parties – whether that's managers, designers or frontline staff.

The ability to inspect or even walk through full-scale models of products or constructions is, let's face it, amazing. It gives an unbeatable sense of how the thing will look when it's completed.

This can be invaluable when it comes to catching design flaws early on. And it's safer, too – people can get a sense of an environment without the need for a hard hat.

Speed up processes

Whatever field you're working in, there's nothing more frustrating than delays in communication. And they can cost you – project overspend is often the result of disrupted workflows.

XR means you can connect users instantly – at the click of a button or with a simple voice prompt.

Whether you're carrying out a repair or perfecting a blueprint, XR video calls speed up the process – and that means better collaboration all around.

Inclusivity

Technology consultant Indira Rangavanahally Muppanna is one of many people who's made the point that XR can enable people with disabilities to participate more fully in team activities.

People with limited mobility shouldn't be left out of team-building activities or group meetings. Video conferencing goes some way to fixing this – but the kind of detailed, immersive environments that XR creates take this to the next level.

With everybody fully on board, your team is stronger than ever and the ideas are more likely to flow.

Team-building

Want to take your team on an away day but worried about costs and carbon? VR offers a host of solutions – from virtual retreats to immersive games. And as with meetings, these can include everyone regardless of their mobility.

Digital water coolers

No, we've not developed a virtual water cooler that you can use to fill your virtual flask. We're talking about those little social interactions that can lead to big ideas. We're talking about the need for serendipity in the workplace.

"The Metaverse" is a catch-all term for online, 3D, multi-user spaces. It covers everything from games to gigs to fashion shows. But soon it will include holographic meeting rooms.

Imagine – you need to drop in on a colleague. But she's in Perth, Scotland and you're in Perth, Australia.

Virtual meeting rooms will enable you to make a call on a VR headset and be in the room with her – but instead of teleporting (still a little way off), you'd both be represented by avatars.

These avatars would go some way to recreating those "water cooler moments" that the traditional workplace affords as a given. And they would do so while preserving the benefits of remote working.

Where SimplyVideo comes in

Here at SimplyVideo, we're passionate about enabling seamless communication from anywhere to anywhere – and on pretty much any wearable device.

With our XR-enhanced remote collaboration platform, the notion of a "dispersed" team is almost irrelevant.

With tools including in-call annotation, 3D asset visualisation and a user-friendly chat box, your team can be closer than ever. We're taking the video conferencing revolution and making it more immersive, more flexible and more efficient.

If you're looking for ways to promote teamwork and collaboration in a hybrid work setting, you could do much worse than take a closer look at XR.

Want to find out more about our video collaboration software? Drop us a message or sign up for a free 30-day trial.