Project Management in the Metaverse – Jump Onto the Bandwagon With Care

Introduction 

A lot has been written about the metaverse, with some of it very useful, some hype, and some outright lies. But regardless of people’s individual views, the metaverse is a new phenomenon that needs to be understood so its impact can be assessed, and its techniques evaluated to determine how the could help implement successful change. 

What is the Metaverse 

Before diving into the details of the article, it is probably best to try to define what the metaverse is. Therefore, the following definition is suggested:

“The metaverse is a term used to describe a collective virtual space that combines aspects of digital worlds, social interaction, augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), and blockchain-based technologies.  It’s envisioned as a persistent, immersive 3D environment where people can work, play, socialise, create, and even trade digital assets”.

How is the Metaverse Being Used Today? 

While it is still a relatively new phenomenon, it is currently being used in several areas, for example:  

• Gaming & Entertainment – for example, (a) Fortnite hosts virtual concerts, like the Travis Scott and Ariana Grande events, attended by millions of players inside the game world, and (b) Roblox allows users to create and explore virtual worlds, attend branded events (e.g., Gucci Garden, NFL events), and buy/sell digital clothing for avatars. 
• Retail & Fashion – Nike launched Nikeland, a virtual space where users play games and wear Nike-branded gear.  Similarly, both Zara and H&M have experimented with digital clothing collections and virtual fitting rooms. 
• Business & Work – Meta Horizon Workrooms is a VR meeting space where remote teams can collaborate in a shared virtual office.    Likewise, Microsoft Mesh allows meetings using holographic avatars in virtual environments, blending AR/VR for workplace collaboration. 
• Healthcare – Organisations like XRHealth offer VR platforms for physical therapy, pain management, and mental health treatments in immersive environments. 
• Education – Institutions like Oxford University have launched metaverse platforms for virtual lectures, classrooms, and immersive historical simulations.  Similarly, Roblox Education have used platforms to teach coding, game design, and even financial literacy through interactive play. 

What are the Pros and Cons of the metaverse?

Like all technologies, the metaverse has several pros and cons. 

The pros are as follows: 

1. Immersive Social Interaction – Enables more engaging virtual meetings, events, and hangouts, especially for remote users. 
2. New Economic Opportunities – Virtual real estate, digital goods, and freelance work (e.g., avatar design, digital fashion) create new income streams. 
3. Education & Training – Provides realistic simulations for learning, from medical procedures to historical reenactments and soft skills. 
4. Global Collaboration – Connects people across the world in shared 3D environments for business, gaming, and creative projects. 
5. Creative Freedom – Users can build virtual worlds, games, experiences, and even economies from scratch. 
6. Accessibility = Allows people with disabilities or geographic limitations to attend events, work, and socialise. 

But the cons are as follows: 

1. Social Acceptance – Like all new technologies, it takes a while for the technology to be accepted entirely across society.  Until this happens, its uptake could be slow and patchy
2. Privacy & Data Concerns – Tracking of user behaviour, biometrics, and interactions could raise serious privacy issues. 
3. Addiction & Escapism – Overuse of immersive environments may lead to detachment from the real world or mental health issues. 
4. Digital Divide – Requires expensive hardware (VR headsets, high-speed internet), potentially excluding lower-income users. 
5. Security & Scams – Risk of identity theft, virtual asset scams, and hacking in decentralised, user-run spaces. 
6. Regulation Challenges – Difficult to police harassment, illegal content, and unethical behaviour in a global, decentralised space. 
7. Environmental Impact – Blockchain-powered metaverses (like those using NFTs) can be energy-intensive, though more eco-friendly models are emerging. 
8. High Costs & Accessibility Barriers – Requires complex hardware (such as VR/AR headsets) and a stable internet connection, making it unfeasible for some organisations, especially in developing regions. 
9. Technical Learning Curve – Not all team members are tech-savvy, which can slow productivity as they navigate virtual platforms at first. 
10. Distraction Risk – The immersive nature can encourage off-task behaviour, especially in less-structured meetings or gamified environments. 
11. Limited Integration – Many management tools (like Jira, Asana, or Trello) or other software packages have not yet integrated smoothly with metaverse platforms. 

So, how can the Metaverse help and/or hinder project and change management?

As many knowledgeable people have said before, change management is a human phenomenon, viz: 

• Change is triggered by people, e.g. demanding a new product or service 
• Change is then implemented by people, e.g. building and launching this product or service. 
• Change then impacts people once they live – e.g. people will use this new service, people could lose their jobs if they supported a previous product and so on. 

To implement successful change, the human factor must be managed effectively, which means project teams need collaboration, and this is an area that the metaverse can help with – namely: 

• Enhanced Collaboration – Virtual environments allow remote teams to meet in real time with avatars, whiteboards, and shared 3D models. 
• Improved Visualisation – complex data, architectural models, or prototypes can be viewed and interacted with in 3D—great for design, construction, or engineering projects. 
• Immersive Training – Onboarding or skill-building for project teams can be done in lifelike simulations, improving retention and engagement. 
• Increased Engagement – Gamified elements and immersive experiences may boost participation and motivation in long or repetitive projects. 
• Global Access – Project team members from around the world can join the same virtual space, improving inclusivity and real-time decision-making. 

However, as noted earlier, the metaverse is not a silver bullet, and several challenges need to be understood and addressed concerning high costs, social acceptance, integration, etc. 

Therefore, the metaverse is not suitable for all types of projects. 

• The metaverse is suitable to support and improve the likelihood of success for
  • Projects that either have a strong visual content, such as creative design, construction training, customer engagement, education and research, or
  • Projects that have teams and stakeholders spread over many locations and time zones. 
• But the metaverse is not suitable for projects that
  • Are they highly regulated, such as finance, medicine, and the military?
  • Do not have a large budget?
  • Have a limited technology infrastructure. If the metaverse is imposed on these projects, it would materially increase the likelihood of project failure. 

Therefore, please select your project with care.