As many companies have over the past several years, HubSpot has moved to a hybrid work model, where most of their workforce has opted to work remotely. The leading marketing software company has mainly relied on video conferencing and other remote work tools in order to connect their global workforce. But this year, several teams have decided to try something new: virtual reality employee events. 

Remio provides an all-in-one solution for remote team building collaboration in the metaverse with a specific focus on enterprise customers and large groups. In an effort to help their employees spend time together in a more realistic and meaningful way, Barrett King, formerly the Sales Manager of the Enterprise Team and now currently Senior Manager of GTM Strategy - Global Partner Ecosystem at HubSpot, connected with Remio to create an environment where people could interact and learn from each other even if they were located thousands of miles away from one another. The participants included members who work within the Frontline Sales & Customer Support teams; these individuals constantly do different team-building exercises monthly as this is how Hubspot builds toward cultivating strong working relationships among all people throughout the company. Using Remio's VR platform, Barrett was able to create engaging and fun events to help bring his remote employees together in a meaningful way.

The first group experience from Barrett’s team in Remio’s VR platform was with the sales team leadership, and these people let leaders lead so they played well together as they navigated through various games that were created for them by Remio, including one where players defend their castle. The second group Barrett brought in were people in the roles of direct sales, engineering, business development representatives, so it’s a very diverse group with different dimensions. Within this group, they played a game where one player can see the course and the other person can’t, so the first person helps the second person navigate blindly through the course and offers directions - all achieved through hand eye coordination skills. Barrett said: "Players are having fun, and they’re also practicing communication and problem solving; both giving and taking instructions.”

Through these VR experiences, Remio helped Barrett’s team create a safe and inclusive environment where every employee regardless of skills or background could have the opportunity to learn, grow together as well as build teamwork skills. Event outcomes included feeling more connected with their coworkers due to its immersive qualities that allow for collective collaboration on challenges faced at work without actually being there face-to-face (which some might find intimidating). People were able to bring more of themselves to the experience. It also served an additional purpose; skill development among direct sellers and their BDRs and engineers in communicating effectively both verbally AND nonverbally during meetings--a true win. In their everyday roles, these team members need to collaborate on challenges and devise solutions together for their customers - skills that they could simulate and practice while having fun in a VR game.

While Barrett’s virtual reality event was a new experiment for his team at HubSpot, it was an overwhelming success. Barrett said: "The immersive and engaging qualities of VR helped to bring our remote employees together in a meaningful way. We felt more connected to one another as a result.”

HubSpot's experience with Remio’s VR have been so successful that they’ve run 55 VR events in the past year and expanded across several teams within the organization.

VR events are an excellent way to engage employees and drive collaboration that it's likely that other companies will want to try VR events too. If you're looking for a way to bring your team together, or if you're looking for a new and exciting way to engage your employees, consider using VR. Remio can help you create a virtual reality event that is fun, engaging, and productive.