FOR EFFICIENT MEETINGS AND TRAININGS: vitero as Virtual
Meeting Point CASE STUDY: APPLICATION OF VITERO AT THE OSTDEUTSCHE SPARKASSENAKADEMIE
The Ostdeutsche Sparkassenakademie (Academy of East German Savings Banks) is part of the Ostdeutsche Sparkassenverband (OSV, Union of the East German Savings Banks). The OSV is a full-service provider for its members – savings banks and their local agencies. The OSV members consist of more than 1,500 offi ces with about 23,000 employees for the local customers. The Ostdeutsche Sparkassenakademie (OSA) provides education for the provident bank’s employees and supports on-the-job training. More than 1,000 practically oriented events are offered per year – from one-day seminars up to multi-year study courses. Experienced lecturers transfer detailed knowledge and support the analysis and assessment of new developments.
In-service training for junior managers
The goal of the study course ‘business economist’ at OSA is to technically prepare the potential junior managers for upcoming demands. Within the 1 ½ year study course the lectures take place on Saturdays. The students come from different provident banks and federal states. Accordingly, their time on the road should not be underestimated. Webinar sessions are actively used during the study course. The 2-hour-sessions support the transfer of knowledge and are subdivided into team work periods.
Short distances for consultations and road shows
Furthermore, vitero is used for so-called road shows, in which potential participants are presented the contents and goals of the study course. vitero also has proven itself worth for collecting short intermediate results. Previously, short visits to every offi ce had to be made; now, participants can give feedback as the crow fl ies. Last, vitero’s f l exibility is a gain for the study courses. When shortages in the schedule occur, a webinar can be used as replacement for lectures.
Prioritisation of possible deployment scenarios is enabled by various anonymous polling objects (circle, triangle, square, etc.).
Regular internal exchange becomes possible
Within OSA vitero is actively used, too. To enable employees to interchange among offi ces, monthly meetings in vitero take place. Here, the employees can interchange on a personal and professional level. The participants take part at their own workplace, organize groups in conference rooms, use their home offi ces, or take part at hotels when on business trips. The high fl exibility regarding the possibilities to connect is a huge advantage in this context. Within these meetings, protocols are created collaboratively via application sharing. Afterwards, those protocols can be made available to all participants. Anonymous and personalized queries belong to the mainly used functions as well.
Self-organized meetings in the ‘Corporate Café’
Besides the fi xed monthly meetings a Corporate Café is provided for OSA employees. The virtual café contains 40 breakout rooms and is open all the time for all employees. The members of staff arrange meetings by themselves in a breakout room. The main room serves as virtual ‘reception room’, the meetings take place in one of the adjoining rooms. Thus, spontaneous interchange is possible all the time and the efforts for organization and administration are insignifi cant. Altogether vitero allows for consistent and comprising communication within OSA. It ensures effi ciency within the academy and likewise uniform external communication.
Timeliness for savings banks
OSA offers its savings banks comprising consulting services. Besides the standard repertoire, many up-to-date topics belong to the education offer of OSA. Legal innovations are a special challenge. Here, OSA counts on vitero. Afterwards, the webinar participants can operate as multiplier and legally upto-date. The webcam picture for salutation creates a personal atmosphere. Afterwards, vitero avatars (portrait pictures with name plate) are being used. This has the advantage that a personal vicinity to the conversational partners is conserved without being detracted from the discussion contents by a live image. Furthermore, less bandwidth is needed than with the display of live images. vitero supports to inform savings banks comprehensively and at short notice about recent topics. Here, questions about sensible legal areas can be clarif i ed on a steady basis.
Further Case Studies
Well-known customers and partners from a wide variety of sectors and industries speak for the diversity of vitero inspire. The numerous possibilities of vitero are also evident from the variety of our application settings.