Part of the innovator’s challenge is to prove to stakeholders that new tech is worth it. Cost analyses, new workflows, and engagement surveys make up the majority of the arguments, but sometimes, there’s an elephant in the room.
Seasoned leaders may not be immersed in technology like rising leaders or clients are. It’s a disconnect to face directly, since by 2025, 75% of the workforce will be digital natives.
Cutting Edge Is Easier
Most veteran members of the C-suite are genuinely interested in being their best professionally—and getting into virtual tech is one of the easier ways to stay current. Virtual worlds provide a platform where everyone can meet to achieve company objectives, regardless of location, lifestyle, or job title.
A few key concepts help ensure that early adoption is seamless:
- Higher technology is easier. Best-in-class platforms require minimal user effort.
- Explore platform design. Tentative users quickly find their way around a virtual world when commands are clear.
- Hybridize workflows. Keep other tech stacks and add virtual meetings or events.
- Ensure other skills. Mouse use or keyboard shortcuts empower other work, too.
- Stick to business. To start, see where you can streamline projects or lower costs.
Private Practice
The axiom “practice makes perfect” is true for virtual technology. In most cases, any new user is comfortable within a few sessions.
With VirBELA’s platform, executives who need to maintain an image of competence can enter virtual worlds independently or with trusted team members to quickly become pros.
The VirBELA Open Campus is free to enter, too. There, anyone can interact with concierge staff, walk around, test features, and meet with account people. New users can do things like bump into furniture in a judgment-free zone—it happens.
Spaced Repetition
Established research encourages giving new tech a few tries, spaced apart, to become good at it. There’s no magic number of times to use a platform, because, for many people, skill retention occurs via use and breaks, revealing an individual pattern of learning, remembering, forgetting, re-learning, and retaining.
Exposing leaders to virtual worlds using spaced repetition can circumvent the uncertainty that may still linger after attempting to convince with a big presentation or a deep-dive demonstration.
Different generations may have varying levels of current immersion in technology, but learning via spaced repetition is a common denominator. For digital natives, it happened from birth. For new adopters, it can happen now.
To see how quickly teams can onboard to virtual worlds, book a tour of VirBELA or contact a sales representative.
