The Corona crisis managed one thing in just a few days - to move work into the virtual space to the greatest possible extent. Daily video and telephone conferences as well as work from home became the norm. But what opportunities are there, beyond the usual formats, to make work in virtual space more creative? How does a good virtual team work? And what are the advantages of working in virtual space?

Prof. Ulrich Weinberg, director of the HPI School of Design Thinking (HPI D-School), and Dr. Claudia Nicolai, co-director of the HPI D-School, answer these and other questions in the new podcast episode Neuland (https://podcast.hpi.de) on Design Thinking and creative collaboration in virtual space (in German). In a conversation with moderator Leon Stebe, they talk about the changes in everyday working life, productivity in virtual spaces, dwindling hierarchical levels and what the new normal in everyday working life might look like in the future.

"As bad as the Corona crisis is for everyone - I believe there is also a great opportunity here to learn at an incredibly fast pace that it is not so dangerous or difficult to meet in virtual space," Prof. Ulrich Weinberg says. Surely it would be great if teams could meet again in physical space. But: "There are certainly tools to create virtual spaces and to work together very meaningfully there, to make decisions and invent things.”

"It is important that we continue to try to bring the whole person into the virtual space," says Dr. Claudia Nicolai. Often there is no room for non-verbals in virtual space. "But this is absolutely necessary for good collaboration. It makes a big difference when you work standing up and using your hands even in virtual space." In addition, a good virtual team is one that does not act purely virtually: "Here, breaks are important, sometimes doing stretching exercises together or showing the home office and allowing a glimpse into the private sphere.”

Sound knowledge about the digital world, explained in a clear and understandable way - this is what the knowledge podcast "Neuland" with experts from the Hasso Plattner Institute (HPI) offers at: https://podcast.hpi.de, on iTunes and Spotify. Once a month, at Neuland, they talk about current and socially relevant digital topics, their research work and the opportunities and challenges of digital trends and developments.