In an inspiring keynote, Facebook creator Mark Zuckerberg discussed his outlook on the future of online interaction at the annual Facebook developers conference, held in San Francisco on March 25th and 26th. This field began with simple text over pictures, and currently, videos are the most popular format. The future undoubtedly involves sharing videos, and what better way to share than through real-time streamed VR experiences directly with friends and family?
Facebook has made significant investments in VR technology, including the acquisition of Oculus Rift, and they are heavily involved in related projects. Today, we are pleased to announce that Toptal has become a strategic partner in their mission to connect the world. Our vision of a distributed, office-less company with developers located around the world aligns perfectly with Facebook’s goals of global connectivity.
For the past 4 months, Toptal has been conducting a real-world experiment: creating a global virtual office. We included our 100 top developers in this experiment. We asked these developers to work in the VR office alongside their team members for a few hours each day, comparing this experience to their previous work routines. The findings were surprising and highlighted some shortcomings in Toptal’s approach to remote work.
There and Back Again
One of the most significant discoveries was that remote workers were not as productive as we previously thought. Toptal CEO Taso Du Val commented that the experiment was one of the most important discoveries of his career.
“Toptal has been a champion of remote work culture for years, advocating for the digital nomad lifestyle of its developers worldwide. Surprisingly, the results of our experiment indicated that this might not be the best approach. People appear to be more productive and content while working in an office setting, and we are currently exploring the optimal strategies for establishing our first physical Toptal office.”
The VR office experiment helped us identify some fascinating sociological aspects of remote developers. According to Kenan Salihbegovic, Toptal’s Head of Community, “Developers began communicating primarily through code snippets and rarely engaged with people outside of chat rooms. We are investing substantial effort in supporting conferences and meetups to address this issue. However, developers seem to disregard these events, with very few actually attending.”
How Did We Make It Happen?
While our stance remains that developers are not required to be in the same physical location, the realization that working in an office environment can enhance productivity motivated us to take it a step further. If our assumptions about work environments were inaccurate, could our assumptions about commuting be flawed as well? This question sparked another significant experiment. We challenged our developers to simulate a 1-hour commute on Highway 101 (a well-known San Francisco route) using our virtual bus. The outcome was remarkable! This simulation demonstrated that motivated developers generate exceptional ideas and innovative solutions during their commute when traveling together. This highlighted another advantage of having a physical workplace and commute, provided it’s conducted effectively.
Naturally, this was a significant undertaking for everyone involved, and it came with its share of challenges. Toptal COO Breanden Beneschott oversaw the entire project and provided valuable insights:
“Initially, many participants experienced motion sickness during the first few days. Additionally, the transition to working exclusively with Oculus VR was difficult. However, we ultimately recognized that the traditional approach was correct all along. A physical office environment is indeed crucial for productivity.”
He continued with unconcealed enthusiasm:
“Fortunately, this shift has allowed us to enhance our specialization and focus significantly compared to our remote work setup. As COO, my focus was constantly pulled towards growth and development. Now, I have the opportunity to dedicate myself to creating the most effective virtual seating arrangements and optimizing virtual lighting.”
“Our strategic partnership with Autodesk provided us with access to some of the world’s leading 3D artists, who were thrilled to contribute to the meticulous creation of our virtual 3D office building.”
Our developers collaborated with Facebook’s team to develop the next generation of Oculus software. Our very own Gergely Kalman utilized his extensive expertise in high-performance video streaming to seamlessly integrate the software development environment directly into VR via the Oculus interface.
The Toptal product development team, led by CTO Alexander Danilenko, took this experiment to the next level by opting to utilize VR for the entirety of their work hours. Remarkably, they accomplished some of the most substantial platform improvements in the past two years during this trial period. As Alexander stated, “We’ve generated more code in 4 months using VR than we did in the previous 12 months. The logical next step is installation.”
However, not all teams were as successful. Our Content team, managed by Demir Selmanovic, was among the last to fully embrace the advantages of the VR office. Due to their frequent interactions with the developer community, transitioning between the VR office and the physical world proved challenging. Demir expressed his viewpoint to the Facebook account manager, who was less than pleased. Demir recounted, “He believes that Oculus Rift and VR, in general, should be prohibited because they divert our attention from the real world. He even suggested that our authors submit their articles handwritten if he had it his way.” Nonetheless, we are confident that these issues will be resolved once all our developers join the Oculus project and meetings transition to VR spaces.
Virtually Done
The future is undeniably bright, and VR technology is here to stay. Toptal is committed to being at the forefront of this technological revolution while continuing to provide our clients with exceptional software and services. Once again, our world-class developers, representing the top 3% globally, have demonstrated their ability to rise to the challenge.
We take pride in our pioneering spirit. Toptal was an early adopter of remote work when it emerged as “the way to work,” and now we are leading the way back to the office.
While we acknowledge the need to establish certain limitations and implement fixed office hours for our developers, we believe that this shift is ultimately beneficial. Our research has shown that excessive distractions, travel, and the nomadic lifestyle can hinder productivity. To quote Breanden once more, “My previous writings about the life of a traveling engineer were misguided. Encouraging remote work, travel, and the pursuit of personal aspirations may not be ideal, as the human brain has a limited capacity for distractions.”
Our research also indicates that over 90% of our engineers don’t actually travel extensively. Since they primarily work from home, offering them the opportunity to virtually commute together, collaborate in a shared office setting, and even share virtual lunch breaks is a significant perk.
Toptal’s long-term vision includes establishing a dedicated office building, the Toptalplex, where we aim to accommodate as many of our developers as possible. In the meantime, we are committed to providing all Toptal developers with Oculus Rift headsets by year’s end, making VR the standard platform for collaboration within our company. If you are interested in early access, please email us at oculus(at)toptal.com, and we will prioritize your request.
To all members of the Toptal network, we extend our best wishes for a joyous April 1st, the international day of humor. May the force be with you, live long and prosper.