Virtual office: Kumospace or Gather (part 1)

In our company, we prioritize daily learning as a core activity. Every team member dedicates 10 minutes daily to exploring new topics without any restrictions on the subject matter or depth of inquiry. This culture of continuous learning led a junior team member to discover Kumospace, an application believed to enhance our work's social interaction. With our team being 90% remote, the absence of casual office interactions, such as quick chats near the coffee machine or casual conversations in the office area, was felt deeply. This gap resulted in an overload of scheduled meetings, often leading us to jump from one to another throughout the day.

Exploring Virtual Offices: A New Approach

Motivated by the desire to recreate these missing casual interactions, we decided to explore the concept of a virtual office. Our goal was to find a platform that would best suit our needs, narrowing our options to Kumospace and Gather.

Here is our office from Kumospace:

Here is our office in Gather:

The team committed to spending two weeks with each platform, conducting our daily stand-ups and even scheduling some meetings within these virtual spaces. However, for more formal meetings, we continued using Teams, integrated with Outlook, to ensure availability.

The virtual office spaces became the venues for our unscheduled conversations. We encouraged team members to keep their availability status updated, making it easier for others to initiate spontaneous discussions. Some chose to virtually sit in open spaces, allowing anyone passing by to stop for a chat about weekend plans or daily tasks. This feature recreated the experience of having brief office chats or stopping by a colleague's desk for a quick catch-up.

A Decision in the Making

Currently, in the middle of our trial period, we are eagerly exploring these innovative applications. We plan to conduct a survey for feedback, along with team and all-hands meetings, to ensure every team member's voice is heard in this decision-making process.

Ultimately, we will decide whether to:

• Continue solely with Teams

• Adopt Gather

• Choose Kumospace

Stay tuned and subscribe to my blog to not miss the update on our journey towards enhancing our remote work environment with the best virtual office experience.