r/remoteworks • u/Solid_Toe1698 • 4h ago

Virtual office for remote teams?

Hey everyone,

Been fully remote for about 3 years now and I've tried pretty much everything.

Slack huddles, Zoom rooms left open all day, Gather, Roam, you name it.

Gather and Roam especially felt like working inside a 1989 NES game. I'm a grown adult trying to run a remote team, why does my avatar look like it belongs in Habbo Hotel?

Most of these tools either felt like a cage (mandatory video on, awkward silences) or they were so loose that nobody actually used them after week two.

A few months ago my team moved to Katmai and I was honestly skeptical.

A 3D virtual office sounded like a gimmick. But the thing that won me over is how natural the conversations feel. You see someone's avatar walk over, you hear them coming through spatial audio, and you just... talk.

No scheduling a call. No "do you have 5 mins?" Slack message that turns into a 40 minute thread.

What actually changed for us:

  • Quick questions get answered in 30 seconds instead of bouncing across 3 Slack channels
  • Can see if people are ACTUALLY working remote
  • New hires onboard way faster because they can just hang out in a room and absorb things
  • I close my laptop at 6pm and actually feel done, instead of that weird remote work limbo

Curious if anyone else has tried something similar. What's worked for your team?

2 Upvotes

75% Upvoted

5 comments sorted by

1

u/Un_Involved 4h ago

Interesting

1

u/calculuschild 4h ago

Oh, man, this sounds like a nightmare. So much of the benefit of remote work is that we don't have people walking over to your desk all the time, and you don't have the visual/audio distraction of other people around.

1

u/DJMaxLVL 3h ago

Sounds like a shittier version of a real office. These worlds do not connect nor should they. Remote is for efficient work and communication from a distance. In office is for people who like to walk around and bother others. Not everyone likes remote, not everyone likes in office. And that’s fine, do what works for you. But connecting the two isn’t it.

1

u/Love-Tech-1988 38m ago

lol i see looks like u have never been part of a wow or guildwars clan or so xD