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6 things you can do to support your hybrid team

6 things you can do to support your hybrid team

by MDI Guide - Hybrid Leadership | Mar 22, 2022 | Best Practice, Leadership Tips, Training Insights | 0 comments

6 things you can do to support your hybrid team

A hybrid environment brings change for all of us. We’re often unfamiliar with certain transitions and can’t keep up with the new pace. That’s why it’s even more important that you, as a leader, keep a cool head and take the pressure off your employees as much as possible. With these 6 tips, you get 6 things you can do to support your hybrid team with their current challenges. 

Empathy and understanding for your employees

In this ever-changing work environment, it’s especially important to pay attention to everyone on your team. We often don’t know under what conditions our employees must do their work at home now. Whether they have screaming children in the background or their partner is playing Playstation loudly on the side – it’s your job as a leader to treat your employees with empathy. This strengthens their sense of well-being and makes them much more motivated to work.

Actively care for the team

In addition to increased empathy, it is also helpful to regularly check in with your employees and ask how they are doing, thus strengthening the informal relationship level.

It is also clear that the transition from present to hybrid working is not easy for most people. So you need to make sure there is a steady balance in the team – this could be in the form of coaching, training or just a “no emails on weekends” policy.

Improve technical equipment

Sure, this is nothing new. We all understand by now that a strong Internet as well as good software are among the basics of hybrid implementation. But new programs are constantly being developed that will make hybrid work even more exciting and effective. Virtual reality, 3D meetings or Microsoft Mesh, among others, are currently being tested to make virtual get-togethers even more exciting later.

Update legal knowledge

It is difficult to adopt laws on hybrid work to work on an international level. Different arrangements apply in each country; but even within a country, it is often difficult to agree on specific regulations. The issues of commuter allowances and the definition of an accident at work alone present challenges. Here, it is up to HR to deal with the legal issues and to work with the leader to crystallize the guidelines for the company.

Optimize self-leadership

As a leader, your most important task is of course to take responsibility for others and lead them in the right direction. But what about the most important leader in your life – yourself? Tools like task managers, time tracking apps and more can help you structure yourself. The advice of Stephen Covey, who always sets up jour fixes with himself, can also be helpful here to improve your own management.

Regularly question the business model

As more tools and technologies for hybrid working come onto the market, it becomes more necessary to go through the existing services and ask yourself some questions: Do I still need this service? Can I make it more efficient, such as through automation? Could someone else provide it better or cheaper? That way, you can make sure the right thing is still being done in the hybrid setup.

Want to learn more?

In our guide Successful hybrid leadership – The 3 success factors of hybrid leadership you will get some more tools and tips to increase trust when working hybrid …

… or join our LinkedIn Leadership Community

What serves you next?

Success Through Change: How to Stay Oriented During Transitions

by Anita Berger | 14. April 2025 | Impuls series, Leadership Impact, Leadership Tips | 0 Comments

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4 Tips on How to Shape Change Processes as a Leader

by Anita Berger | 3. April 2025 | Impuls series, Leadership Impact, Leadership Tips | 0 Comments

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Organize Your Team in a Hybrid Workplace

by Peter Grabuschnig | 14. March 2024 | Impuls series, International leadership development, Leadership in the digital transformation | 0 Comments

Organize Your Team in a Hybrid Workplace Prefer to listen to the article? Click below to access our AI speech-generated audio. However, if you want to read it as usual, keep scrolling.Organize Your Team in a Hybrid Workplace In his new Rise Course, our MDI trainer and...
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Artificial Intelligence as a Co-Trainer in Leadership Development Do you prefer to listen to this blog article? Click below to access our AI-generated version. Artificial Intelligence as a Co-Trainer in Leadership Development In a world that is constantly evolving, we...
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What is Sustainable Individualization in Leadership?

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Sustainable individualization in leadership - pious hope or real alternative? In line with the last blog post on our MDI website "Inner Development Goals For a Better Leadership World", this time we dedicate ourselves to the megatrend topic of individualization and...
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Why Should We Lead More Sustainably?

by Aline Depoorter, Jana Wölfl | 26. June 2023 | Leadership Impact, Leadership Tips, MDI Inside | 0 Comments

Why Should We Lead More Sustainably? It is hard to imagine most companies today without the concept of "sustainable leadership." Leaders are not only becoming more privately aware of the impact of climate change but also want to fight it on a corporate level. In this...
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5 tips to increase trust when working hybrid

5 tips to increase trust when working hybrid

by MDI Guide - Hybrid Leadership | Mar 22, 2022 | Best Practice, Leadership Tips, Training Insights | 0 comments

5 tips to increase trust when working hybrid

Team cohesion and stability are more important now than ever before. Especially in a hybrid setup, where some new challenges await you and the dynamics of your team are constantly changing, you need to be able to trust each other. Here are 5 tips to increase trust when working hybrid.

Build an informal exchange

Even in a hybrid environment, it’s important to exchange ideas with each other without constantly focusing on work. However, you don’t have to take a coffee break together every day for this – it’s enough to turn on your camera in meetings and engage in conversations. When any kind of communication is cultivated, you can cooperate more easily and effectively as a team.

Attract employees to the office

Especially in times like these, you want to keep the number of office days as short as possible – who wants to commute across town when you can join a meeting from the comfort of your bed? That’s exactly why it’s significant for you as a leader to give your team a reason to take the trip. This could be in the form of a “lunch fix,” for example, where you meet at the office on a specific day of the week to eat lunch together. This way, employees are immediately more interested in doing their work from the office.

Strengthen community in business meetings

In parallel to informal meetings, it is of course just as relevant to strengthen cohesion in business meetings. The most important thing here is not to discuss individual topics with separate employees while others are present. If you’re already sitting down together, you should only discuss areas that affect everyone. In addition, it is legitimate to ask your employees personally what their ideas are and how they think cooperation can best be strengthened.

Encourage development and innovation

People often learn best in a community – this can be a good motivating factor. If you set a goal as a team to further your education and expand your general knowledge, one way to do this would be to learn something new every office day. For example, every week someone else could bring an article or blog post on a current topic and then discuss it in the group with the colleagues. That way, you’ll always be up to date on the most important issues for the company.

Improve structure and organization

To ensure that everyone knows their way around and that working in a hybrid setup runs as smoothly as possible, it is important to create clear structures and stick to them. If all employees adhere to certain rules, they can plan and arrange their lives much better. This way, you can significantly reduce chaos and confusion in the company.

Want to learn more?

In our guide Successful hybrid leadership – The 3 success factors of hybrid leadership you will get some more tools and tips to increase trust when working hybrid …

… or join our LinkedIn Leadership Community:

What serves you next?

Success Through Change: How to Stay Oriented During Transitions

by Anita Berger | 14. April 2025 | Impuls series, Leadership Impact, Leadership Tips | 0 Comments

Success Through Change: How to Stay Oriented During Transitions Do you prefer to listen to this article? Click below to access our AI-generated audio version:Success Through Change: How to Stay Oriented During Transitions Change processes often involve challenges....
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4 Tips on How to Shape Change Processes as a Leader

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Organize Your Team in a Hybrid Workplace

by Peter Grabuschnig | 14. March 2024 | Impuls series, International leadership development, Leadership in the digital transformation | 0 Comments

Organize Your Team in a Hybrid Workplace Prefer to listen to the article? Click below to access our AI speech-generated audio. However, if you want to read it as usual, keep scrolling.Organize Your Team in a Hybrid Workplace In his new Rise Course, our MDI trainer and...
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Exploring the Influence of AI on Leadership Roles – an experiment by a CEO

by Gunther Fürstberger | 14. November 2023 | International leadership development, Leadership and AI, Leadership in the digital transformation | 0 Comments

Exploring the Influence of AI on Leadership Roles: Learn more about the ongoing ChatGPT experiment by MDI CEO Gunther Fürstberger Do you prefer to listen to this article? Click below to access our AI-generated version. Exploring the Influence of AI on Leadership...
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AI as a Co-Trainer in Leadership Development

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by Aline Depoorter, Jana Wölfl | 26. June 2023 | Leadership Impact, Leadership Tips, MDI Inside | 0 Comments

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10 agile ways to make organizational learning more accessible

10 agile ways to make organizational learning more accessible

by Peter Grabuschnig | Jan 26, 2022 | Agile Leadership, Best Practice, learning effectiveness | 0 comments

10 agile ways to promote organizational learning.

In order to respond to the current challenges in an organization in the best possible way, different learning formats have proven to be strongly supportive in terms of implementation. These enable new knowledge to be shared proactively and flexibly in the form of impulses within the company. They also have a positive effect on the networking of participants, as they can learn from each other and develop results together.

In the following, Peter Grabuschnig presents some methods for learning and networking and their approaches from the new book by MDI: Agile Leadership Development – How Leaders Learn in a Self-Determined and Needs-Oriented Way

 

Knowledge as the foundation for innovation and development

In a world where buzzwords such as VUKA1, BANI2, digitalization and agility have found their way into the operational meetings of HR departments, it is essential to actively address the constantly new and changing realities of our society. Knowledge, which not only lays the foundation for acquiring new competencies but is also essential for strategic and operational decisions, must therefore have the following characteristics:

  • It must be easily understandable and accessible.

  • It must also be transparent and kept up to date.

This poses increasing challenges not only for corporations, but also for small and medium-sized companies.

Information and knowledge alone do not create competence

For this, transfer into practice, application and training are required. So in order to learn new things (development) and create new things (innovation), it is highly relevant not only to know where I can find information, but also to actively engage with it. New things can only be created through new impulses that help us sharpen our perspectives and reflect on them.

Transparency and networking as drivers of leadership development

Every year, companies invest vast sums in the further development of their workforce. Often, large training programs are rolled out that have taken months of painstaking preparation. A common disadvantage of these programs is that in most cases they are quite rigid and fixed.

However, the fact that quite a lot can happen in a year and that circumstances can change completely in just a few weeks has been demonstrated not only by previous economic crises and the Corona pandemic. This is not to say that such measures are not useful.

Nevertheless, tomorrow’s leadership development should be able to be more agile and thus more adaptive and inclusive.

In many companies, a lot of knowledge is already available through ongoing training offerings and the experiences of employees. This now needs to be leveraged and put “on the road.” This requires courageous, new and participative concepts that link employees with each other, provide them with new impulses and give them the opportunity to learn from each other. In addition to the classic transfer of knowledge and the training of methods and models, agile management development also relies above all on transparent networking of the target group and flexible adaptation of the content to the current, actual needs of the leaders involved.

10 agile ways to make organizational learning more accessible

The following are some methods for learning and networking and their approaches.

1. Leader Camps

The most successful format for networking is the Leader Camp – a modification of the Barcamp. This is a method that originated in software development. The Leader Camp is titled with a current umbrella topic and offers participants the opportunity to discuss their own issues and challenges in correlation with the umbrella topic. The format itself can either take place in presence as a large event or be conducted as an online congress.

2. Web Camp

The Web Camp is a shorter online version of the Leader Camp in which a specific topic is covered. For example, topics that have come up as a result of a Leader Camp, a survey, or even strategic or operational operational need can be further explored and worked on quickly and without much effort with a larger group of interested participants.

3. Hackathon

The Hackathon, like the Barcamp, is a format that has its origins in the field of software product development. Here, first and foremost, a basic question is asked about a topic. An example of this would be, “How can we – as a company – manage to integrate flexible working models?” An answer to this main question is then developed using a predefined creative process.

In the first step, the problem is examined, analyzed and described in detail. Then possible solutions are collected together. Clearly defined, tightly held time phases prevent the participants from getting too caught up in discussions, so the focus is always on solving the problem. The third step involves the concrete implementation of these solutions. Here, an attempt is made to develop a directly implementable option from the ideas collected. Finally, the groups present their results to each other. The hackathon is thus an ideal method for achieving results and implementation possibilities quickly, agilely and in a solution-oriented manner.

4. Masterclasses

In music, the masterclass is used as a format to learn from the best and get new impulses and ideas for your own progress. The Masterclass for Leaders has been inspired by just that. Online in a short, 90 – minute webinar format, but also implementable in presence, it thus offers many different possibilities. For example, participants can learn new things from experts and have the opportunity to reflect on knowledge they already know. They can also ask questions and exchange ideas on the topic.

The procedure is as follows: As a rule, the expert gives a keynote speech. Afterwards, they have the opportunity to ask questions and discuss the topic with her. The short duration of the format makes it easy to integrate into the daily routine of executives, who are often very busy. Participation is based on voluntariness, and if someone is unable to attend, a recording can be provided.

5. Internal Masterclasses

To make existing knowledge in the company more accessible, the format of the internal masterclass is equally suitable. It does not make sense in every area, nor is it necessary, to buy in expertise from outside. There are many experts within the company who are willing and able to share their knowledge with others. Internally organized masterclasses, conducted by colleagues, create a good mix in the formats of continuing education programs, show appreciation for the expertise of individuals and offer the opportunity to effectively share important, company-specific information with a large group of people. Possible uses for internal masterclasses from the field include a financial review with the CFO and his team at the end of the fiscal year, etc.

6. The virtual implementation of the masterclasses

enables leaders to participate independently of locations and thus, for example, a better relationship, but also a better understanding, can develop between headquarters and countries. Particularly with regard to a hybrid working model, this format is suitable for bringing information to the workforce and providing them with news and impetus. This not only creates more transparency, but also promotes trust.

7. Online training

In 2020, the rapid technological adaptation of many companies to the realities of the pandemic led to the widespread acceptance of online training and online development activities. This digitization push has enabled us to now see training formats in virtual space as an actual alternative and extension to traditional classroom training. The big challenge will be to develop quality standards for online training. Nevertheless, online training is a very good way to get to know new methods and models and to train them in a virtual set-up in an entertaining and cost-reducing way.

8. Online courses

The online course as a form of asynchronous e-learning has been on the rise for some time. Platforms such as Masterplan, Udemy, Skillshare and LinkedIn Learning have recognized this and offer a variety of courses with different licensing models for use. With online courses, knowledge on a wide variety of topics can be made available on demand, quickly and without barriers.

However, the major challenge for personnel development is now not only the quality requirements for the content conveyed, but above all the large number of courses on offer. Curating the courses requires expertise that is not yet available in most cases. In addition, the lack of quality standards for online courses makes selection even more difficult. The professional field that will deal with this selection in the future are so-called learning curators. However, here, too, the question arises as to when an artificial intelligence with suitable algorithms à la Netflix will automatically offer our continuing education program adapted to the individual needs of the individual.

9. Breakthrough Sessions

Another way to make knowledge accessible and motivate leaders to transfer what they have learned is through Breakthrough Sessions (BTS). These are short sessions for reflection, sharing and getting feedback. Let’s assume a Web Camp is held, which leads to three specific projects. The project groups work on their topics and then have the opportunity in a BTS to present their progress or results and get feedback from other interested parties. Another option would be to bring in new projects, celebrate successes that have already occurred, or simply discuss new ideas together. Essentially, it’s about reflecting back on what you’ve learned from the learning pathway and discussing together what helped with implementation, what may have been missing, or where you still need support.

10. E-Coach

Making an additional learning offering alongside live formats compact and easy to access – this is the opportunity offered by the E-Coach. The E-Coach can be seen as an info and learning package. It can take the form of a newsletter, be embedded in the intranet or LMS, or be integrated into MS Teams as an MS SharePoint page. The goal is to provide leaders with additional learning opportunities or with necessary information.

Thus, with access to curated content such as e-learnings in the form of online courses or web-based trainings, podcasts, video lectures or interesting technical articles, the e-coach offers many supplementary tips and assistance for the daily management routine. In addition, it can be used as an information page to publish training dates, enable registration for individual measures, or provide direct access links to virtual events. In this way, participants can find all the important information about their development measures in one place.

Want to learn even more?

Learn more about Agile Leadership Development in our new book (german) or simply send us an inquiry to contact@mdi-training.com.

About the book
Peter Grabuschnig

Peter Grabuschnig

MDI Partner, trainer, mindset coach and consultant.

Peter is a partner and trainer at MDI, advising major international corporations on implementing hybrid work policies and building a hybrid work and leadership culture.

He is considered an expert in training design. With his Webinar Guru Framework he has developed a tool that helps to design training content for successful and activating virtual learning.

 

  • LinkedIn

By the way, Peter will also be moderating our upcoming Leadership Horizon Conference 😉 

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Our journey of becoming CO2 neutral – reasons and tips

Our journey of becoming CO2 neutral – reasons and tips

by Alexandra Eichler, Gunther Fürstberger | Dec 10, 2021 | Leadership Impact, MDI Inside | 0 comments

MDI is CO2 neutral

The pandemic has made us more thoughtful.

Adult education in presence is connected with traveling. Often these are only short distances, but we also had seminar weeks where participants came together from all over the world. With the Pandemic Lockdowns, we switched to virtual delivery and realized that continuing education is fun and effective this way, too. Of course, it’s not quite the same. Still, we know from several of our customers that they want to continue delivering our programs virtually in the future.

If we conduct about half of the measures online, then

 

  • we reduce the CO2 footprint,
  • we save participants’ and trainers’ travel time
  • the company saves travel and hotel costs
  • we still get the opportunity to meet in person from time to time, exchange ideas, network and have great experiences in the real world.

We don’t want to say goodbye to travel either, as travel itself is an important learning tool. But we are striving for a balance between being present and online. It’s win-win-win! 

For the main lever travel, we want to make sure that

  • when choosing the means of travel, we give higher priority to the ecological impact than to personal convenience, e.g. public transport whenever possible.
  • the location of the seminar is deliberately chosen in order to optimize the average travel time of the participants.
  • the relation of travel expenses to implementation time is taken into account, e.g. a 2-day module instead of 4 half-days. Or if it has to be half-days, that these are, if possible, arranged in such a way that the trainer can supervise several groups one after the other.

Online meetings also cost energy and cause a CO2 footprint

but significantly less than most face-to-face meetings. While energy use could be reduced by switching away video, we strongly discourage this, at least for seminars.

Good video and audio transmission is what makes online seminars a truly effective alternative and prevents unnecessary travel. But here, too, we see a few levers we can pull:

Tips for hosting more sustainable online meetings

 

  • Video quality does not have to be excessive.
  • People who are in the same office can get together in one room and have a hybrid conference with the online participants.
  • The choice of technology has a massive impact on energy consumption: using a fiber optic line is several times more environmentally friendly than using 3G mobile Internet, for example.

Despite all efforts, MDI produces an annual CO2 emission of 119 tons.

To neutralize this, we support the following projects

  • We have neutralized our greenhouse gas emissions by purchasing certificates from the “VCS & CCBS Forest Conservation Brazil” project. Here we support the strict monitoring of the management of forests in Para.
  • In addition, we also wanted to do something at our site. So we also signed a bee patronage and are privileged to enjoy the honey of our bees as well.

MDI’s vision is to work on a sustainable leadership culture for a better world.

For us, sustainability includes several aspects, but ecology is a very central one. Growth can no longer be the main paradigm of economic activity. Renewable resources and the calculation of long-term environmental costs should be natural components of any corporate strategy.

As an executive development institute, we see ourselves as having a special responsibility here. In the sense of Walk the Talk, CO2 neutrality is actually an overdue requirement for us.

Authors:

Gunther Fürstberger

Gunther Fürstberger

CEO , MDI Management Development International

Gunther Fürstberger is a management trainer, book author and CEO of MDI, a global leadership development institute and managing director of Metaforum. His core competence is leadership in the digital transformation. He gained his own leadership experience as HR manager of McDonald’s Central Europe/Central Asia, among others.

  • LinkedIn
Alexandra Eichler

Alexandra Eichler

Senior Project Management & Management Assistance & Office Management

Alexandra Eichler  is not only a Senior Project Management, Management Assistance & Office Manager. At the same time, she is passionate about sustainability and demonstrates it throughout the MDI office. She has led the major Co2 neutrality project and completed it at record speed, setting many steps towards a more sustainable mdi.

  • LinkedIn

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How can VR help with leadership training?

How can VR help with leadership training?

by Anita Berger, Dominik Etzl | Oct 11, 2021 | Leadership Impact, Leadership in the digital transformation, Leadership Tips | 0 comments

How can VR help with leadership training?

Our Virtual Reality & Leadership Development Experts Anita Berger & Dominik Etzl talk in this Interview about Leadership Impact through VR.

Immersive learning through virtual reality

can help organizations address some of today’s key leadership challenges.

Why is virtual reality for leaders on the rise?

Dominik Etzl: Apart from the fact that VR is cool and is guaranteed to remain in every participant’s memory for a long time, VR leadership training solves a long unsolved problem: bringing virtual teams together in a (virtual) room where they can work together on problems and solutions – not just via the camera in front of the screen – but with full physical engagement and an almost face-to-face feeling.

What do new VR leadership trainings look like in practice?

Anita Berger: Some of the training experiences are designed to be “played” alone, practicing individual situations for yourself over and over again and constantly improving – for example, giving a presentation in front of a virtual audience or even the board of directors.

Other VR trainings involve the whole team and you can think of it more like a virtual escape room.

Others you do alone, but you have physical coaches next to you who guide you through the various scenarios and reflect on what you’ve experienced between VR experiences.

In addition, a distinction can be made between those VR trainings that are tailored to one’s own company and learning situations and those that are standardized and can thus be used in a variety of ways.

In order to have the greatest possible impact, it makes sense – as is already known from face-to-face training – not to view VR leadership training as a stand-alone solution, but to integrate it into a learning process that includes a good mix of synchronous and

What opportunities and possibilities does VR offer?

Anita Berger: VR offers the opportunity to engage with a broad range of content topics in an experiential way from different perspectives in iterative loops.

Different perspectives: Currently at MDI we work with 3 roles:

  • the space travelers
  • the guides/coaches 
  • the observers.

All have the opportunity to immerse themselves in all roles.

The space travelers are the players who, if you use the soccer analogy, are supposed to be on the field scoring the goals. The space mission is about saving others.

The guides/coaches have the opportunity to help the space travelers accomplish the mission. They are the coaches on the sidelines who do not play themselves, but are instrumental in the success of the mission by recognizing and responding to what the spacewalkers need.

Observers are tasked with watching what is happening on the field and on the sidelines, and sharing it in debriefings. One can also use the role of observers for assessment or development settings.

After each mission, participants switch roles and therefore gather lessons learned from the different perspectives.

Iterative Loops:

As in real life, there are many uncertainties, knowledge, and information that must first be acquired. Participants experience certain phases as exciting, fascinating, frustrating or chaotic.

After each round, what is experienced is reflected upon, processed and placed in the respective context of the content. The mission is started repeatedly until it succeeds. Therefore, the knowledge gained from the previous mission can be implemented right away.

Content topics:

The Apollo mission makes it possible to work on various topics and sets of questions.

For example, if the content context refers to “Overcoming Disruption” the different phases of

  • “Fail Fast”
  • Learning Together”
  • “Performing together”

in the different missions can be experienced by the participants.

Reflection phase:

In addition, a content-related discussion can take place, for example on topics such as:

  • Dealing with and coping with uncertainty, complexity and (over-)demanding situations.
  • Performance as a (virtual) team
  • Leading (virtual) teams to performance, through communication, collaboration, inclusion
  • situationally adapted leadership
  • Strengthening (self-)confidence and resilience
  • taking and transferring responsibility

The novel setting offers attractive and exciting development opportunities for leaders at all seniority levels up to top executives and for entire teams.

Can you actually learn better with VR?

Anita Berger: It’s best to let the results of studies speak for themselves

  • Learning takes place up to 4 times faster than in a traditional seminar setting.
  • VR learners are up to 275% more confident in implementing what they have learned after training
  • a 40% improvement over classroom training and
  • a 35% improvement over e-learning training.
  • VR participants felt 3.75 times more emotionally connected to the content than face-to-face learners and 2.3 times more than e-learners.
  • Three-quarters of participants surveyed said they had a wake-up call during the VR course on diversity and inclusion and realized they were not as inclusive as they thought.
  • During VR learning, participants were significantly less likely to drift off with their attention.
  • In the PWC study, participants in the VR setting were up to 4 times more focused during training than their e-learning peers and 1.5 times more focused than their face-to-face training peers.
PwC VR Soft Skills Training Efficacy Study

Virtual Reality for Leaders | Hands-on VR Workshop on 26.11.2021

In this compact hands-on workshop, we will show how leaders learn immersively using VR.

Experience three exciting perspectives for leadership & development in one day:

As an active participant, as a coach and as an observer.

Secure your workshop seat now!

What technology and requirements do you need for implementation?

Dominik Etzl: Until recently, the hurdle to working with VR in your own company was relatively high.

In addition to the special VR hardware from Oculus, Vive, or Sony, for example, you also needed a powerful PC to start the system in the first place. In addition, there were a lot of cables and sensors. If, on top of that, you didn’t have a permanent VR room available, but had to set up and take down again and again, or even move to a different location, you can imagine that this was partly off-putting and only suitable for a niche.

However, these times have largely been history since 2021 the latest. Nowadays, you can buy a powerful VR set starting at €350 and it includes everything you need in terms of hardware to get started. Processing power and sensors have been built into the headset in the latest models, e.g. the Oculus Quest 2, so that a PC, cables or external sensors are no longer necessary.

This makes it very easy and uncomplicated to set up and transport – even for those who have no experience with VR. In the past, it was still common to rent VR hardware – today, a purchase makes much more sense in most cases, because the price difference is cancelled out by the effort. The only requirement is now a room of about 2.5 x 2.5 meters per player, which can easily be found in most offices.

Can every company afford this?

Dominik Etzl: As already written above, one can distinguish between those VR training experiences that are tailored to one’s own company and those that can be purchased in a standardized way.

Which one is right for one’s needs depends primarily on whether the skills that are to be learned with it concern very specific processes in the company, or whether it is about, the general ability to collaborate, agile principles, handling resistance, etc.

Whereas the former usually requires several months of production time and corresponding financial resources, VR leadership training aimed at general soft skills is already available at a slightly higher normal daily training rate. Then you also have trained VR experts to ensure that the VR training is effective. 

The original german article was written for magazintraining by

Anita Berger

Anita Berger

Executive Coach, Consultant, Trainer & Managing Partner MDI

Anita Berger is an executive coach, consultant and trainer specialising in leadership development and international human resource management. She is a partner of MDI Management Development International. For more than 15 years she has worked in management and leadership positions (among others as HR-
Director at Coca-Cola Hellenic and HR Manager at Konica Minolta Business Solutions).

  • LinkedIn
Dominik Etzl

Dominik Etzl

Trainer & Solution Development Manager MDI & Manager Metaforum International.

​Dominik Etzl is Solution Development Manager and Trainer at MDI Management Development GmbH and Managing Director of Metaforum International. His focus is on topics of digital transformation, as well as OKR (Objectives & Key Results), agile leadership and lateral leadership. His goal is to support managers in leading a valuable contribution to their environment: on an individual, corporate and societal level.

  • LinkedIn

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