YMA’s Learning and Development team has partnered with DDI, a global leadership consulting firm, to pilot a virtual reality program for leadership training. DDI is piloting the technology with several organizations, but Yale is the first university to participate.
About a dozen managers from Yale Medicine and Yale University recently donned virtual reality headsets and tried out the innovative program, which puts them in a 3D simulation where they talk to an employee who is chronically late.
Once they put on the headsets, the pilot participants find themselves sitting at a virtual conference table across from an avatar of the tardy employee, whose name is Joe. As they talk to Joe about his chronic lateness, they can turn their heads to the side to see a guide who gives them tips on how to best handle the situation. At the end of the exercise, the participants receive a score, along with feedback on how they could improve their interaction with Joe.
"This is much more than just having someone stand in front of a classroom teaching about leadership,” says Yon Sugiharto, YM director of Learning and Development. “By trying out these new approaches, we are putting Yale Medicine’s values of innovation and collaboration into practice. Managers can ‘try out’ what they might say and do in a safe and realistic manner through virtual reality.
"We’re just excited to have Yale be included in this pilot opportunity,” Sugiharto adds.
At the same time, DDI is extremely happy to have Yale Medicine as one of its pilot groups for the virtual reality program, says Stephanie Neal, senior research consultant in the DDI Innovation Lab. While the leadership training program is still in the testing phase, its potential is very promising, she adds. “We’re at the beginning of a pretty exciting curve.”
One of the advantages of the technology is that it allows all participants to have a standardized experience and talk about it afterward, Neal says. In a traditional training session, participants may each have very different experiences depending on factors like who they are partnered with.
“This was fascinating. I’m blown away,” said Travis Holyfield, a training specialist for Yale University Human Resources and a participant in the pilot. Holyfield and other participants said they would like to see more sophisticated scenarios—for example, a contract negotiation—and a variety of different responses and results based on what the participant says and does.
“This technology definitely has a ‘wow’ factor,” Sugiharto said. “I didn’t realize how far virtual reality has progressed and how much potential it could have with enhancing leadership skills.”