Do‘s and Don’ts in Online Trainings
Successful online training thrives on interaction, structure, and technical preparation. With the right planning and tools, your online training will not only be efficient but also a rewarding learning experience for everyone involved!
Do‘s and Don’ts in Online Trainings
How to Make Your Digital Training a Success
Online training has become an integral part of modern education and professional development. Whether for companies or universities, digital learning offers many advantages but also comes with challenges. At MARGA, we have been offering our business simulation fully online since 2002, making us pioneers in the field of digital learning. Over the years, we have continuously expanded our online portfolio and now also conduct large, interactive seminars entirely virtually. Based on this experience, we have compiled the most important do’s and don’ts for successful online training.
Do’s: How to make your online training work
Encourage participants to actively engage through targeted questions, polls, breakout sessions, or group tasks. Tools like Mentimeter or Slido are perfect for live polls or feedback rounds, making opinions visible. Miro or MURAL provide visual whiteboards for collaborative processes, brainstorming, or project planning. A balanced mix of input and interaction keeps attention high and fosters learning success. Gamified elements such as small challenges or quizzes create a playful atmosphere and help participants stay engaged.
Communicate learning objectives right from the start. A well-structured agenda provides orientation and ensures that everyone can follow the red thread. Tools like Trello or Asana help to structure tasks and milestones transparently, clearly assign responsibilities, and make progress visible.
Long text passages quickly become tiring. Instead, rely on engaging presentations, graphics, and videos. Canva makes it easy to create templates and infographics, while Prezi adds dynamic movement to presentations. Interactive whiteboards like Miro and Figma help visualize complex topics and support collaborative work in real time.
Make sure all technical components run smoothly. Test platforms, microphones, and cameras beforehand and offer participants a short tech check. Loom allows easy recording of short videos for test runs, while OBS Studio helps to professionally test and record audio and video quality.
Online training can be exhausting. Short breaks help maintain concentration and boost learning capacity. Use this time for small movement sessions or interactive energizers. The Moova app offers over 200 targeted exercises, each lasting only about 3 minutes. They can be easily integrated as mini-interactions between theoretical sections to keep participants more active and alert.
Lasting learning only happens through active practice. Incorporate real-life scenarios, simulations, or business games so participants can apply, reflect, and consolidate knowledge. In the MARGA business simulation, participants run a virtual company as a team across all functional areas. MARGA creates realistic learning environments online where participants actively make business decisions and develop entrepreneurial thinking and action through learning by doing. Competing directly with other teams adds ambition, motivation, and engagement.
Don’ts: Mistakes to avoid
Pure lectures quickly lead to fatigue and disinterest. Alternate between input and interaction to make training dynamic. Short impulse presentations followed by reflection or discussion increase engagement.
An unstable connection or malfunctioning microphone can disrupt the entire session. Ensure a reliable internet connection, provide a support hotline, and conduct a short test run in advance. Speedtest.net is a useful tool to check internet stability.
Without a clear thread, online training easily becomes chaotic. Prepare your content well and present it in digestible units. A clear agenda, visual timelines, and guiding questions help participants stay oriented.
Open chats, emails, or social media are disruptive. Ask participants to create a focused environment and turn off notifications. Tools like Cold Turkey can block distracting websites and apps.
Cluttered PowerPoint slides with too much text are counterproductive. Less is more! Use bullet points, images, and concise statements. Include interactive elements like quizzes or quick polls to break things up. With Kahoot! or Quizizz, you can run real-time knowledge checks in a fun way to increase attention.
One-way training without feedback or interaction is demotivating. Provide regular opportunities for participation to keep engagement high. Open discussions or role plays add extra value.
Theory without practice remains abstract. Ensure that content is not only delivered but also applied. Use case studies, simulations, or interactive exercises that transfer learning into real work contexts. In the MARGA business simulation, participants act as decision-makers, make real management decisions, and experience the consequences directly creating lasting learning effects.
Why MARGA is an innovative solution for online trainings
MARGA applies a game-based learning approach to make online training especially interactive, practical, and motivating. By simulating real business decisions, participants experience firsthand how management works in a safe, risk-free environment.
✅ High practical relevance: Participants take charge of running a virtual company and make strategic decisions that directly affect company success.
✅ Interactive learning: Instead of passively consuming content, participants are actively engaged. This boosts motivation and knowledge transfer into practice.
✅ Teamwork and competition: Learning in teams enhances communication and problem-solving skills. The additional element of competition creates engagement, ambition, and a genuine learning boost that goes beyond traditional formats.
✅ Sustainable learning success: Studies show that playful learning significantly increases knowledge retention and motivation. Through direct application, reflection, and feedback, learning becomes anchored for the long term—an advantage over purely theoretical formats.
Successful online training thrives on interaction, structure, and technical preparation. With the right planning and tools, your online training will not only be efficient but also a rewarding learning experience for everyone involved!
Mistakes as an opportunity for further development
Failures are not a dead end, but a valuable opportunity for further development. Business simulations enable managers and teams to accept mistakes as part of the learning process and gain important insights from them.
Innovative team building with business games
Business games as team-building measures create shared experiences and success stories that sustainably strengthen team cohesion. Employees learn to contribute their individual strengths and recognize the value of teamwork in a dynamic environment.
Employee retention through training
Training programs are not just the key to employee development but also a critical factor for retention. They signal appreciation, create perspectives, and significantly enhance employer attractiveness.