How Virtual Reality Tools Are Helping with Soft Skills Training Part 2: How to Use VR
What soft skills can be practiced using virtual reality?
- By Jason Martinez
- Mar 20, 2023
Businesses can use virtual reality (VR) training for many different kinds of soft skills. Here are a few examples of the types of soft skills employees could practice using VR.
1. Communication
Employers can use VR to help employees practice communication skills by immersing them in simulations of common workplace scenarios. For example, employees could be exposed to different types of interpersonal situations such as customer support interactions, meetings with colleagues or managers, or presentations. By allowing them to explore these scenarios and make mistakes without any real-world consequences, employers can empower their employees to develop effective communication strategies that they can apply in their day-to-day work life.
2. Navigating Difficult Interactions
Another practical use for VR soft skills training is helping employees learn to manage challenging interactions they may encounter at work. For example, a training course could include a VR scenario in which an employee is having a disagreement with another team member about how best to complete a task or project. As a result, the employee can practice communicating effectively and respectfully to develop a solution that works for both parties involved and be better equipped to apply this skill in real collaborative situations.
An employer could also incorporate VR training tools to help customer service representatives practice dealing with angry customers. A simulation can help employees develop active listening and de-escalation techniques in a controlled but realistic environment, making them more prepared to resolve volatile customer interactions in real life gracefully.
3. Giving Constructive Criticism
VR is also an excellent tool for training managers or senior employees who must practice providing feedback to their team members. For example, a senior employee could learn how to give feedback to a junior employee using a VR simulation, so they don’t have to worry about offending their real coworkers if they make a mistake during the learning process.
In a similar VR scenario, a manager could practice giving a performance review to an underperforming team member. This can allow the manager to learn how to offer criticism in a way that professionally and constructively helps the team member understand how to improve in the future in a much lower-stakes environment than a real performance review.
VR Could be the Future of Soft Skill Training
VR training is still gaining momentum in the workplace, but there’s evidence that it may become an essential tool in the onboarding process - both for hard and soft skills alike. For larger scaled companies, diving into VR-based training at a broad scale could be just around the corner.