Hello SimDevGroup Community-
How does one go about relating similar or like data and providing incentives to change behavior? Oddly enough, this is usually done in written form by building a story and a set of relevant circumstances. As technical and mathematical as the title of this post may seem, what makes this work for a business simulation is something as simple as a good story. The story really helps connect the quantitative relevancy of the training simulation to the actual real life events the participants are forced to work within on a daily basis.
Why do we bring this up? We want you to understand that you shouldn't worry about the quantitative relevancy model. You should be thinking most about the story, the circumstances, and what you want the participants to learn most. The story really connects participants to the 'why' behind the entire training exercise. Thus, our tip... When you're thinking about creating a custom business simulation, take time to think of the back story of the program. It will be time well spent.
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
Do Business or Leadership Simulations Have To Be Competitive?
Hello SimDevGroup Community!
Definitely not! In fact, many of our leadership development simulations are not competitive. The primary driver behind why some aren't is very simple: Need for more collaboration.
In many leadership development programs, the topic of cross function or cross division collaboration is a very important competency to build. The problem is that so many leadership development simulations or business training simulations are built with the assumption that teams are going to compete against each other. Does this sound like a very good way for participants to learn effective collaboration? We didn't think so either!
How does a collaborative simulation work exactly? Good question. This is very simple. The participants that are going through the business training simulation program are broken into teams, but not competing teams. Instead, they must work together to accomplish a common goal, but one that not a single team can control on their own. Isn't this really simulating how a company actually works? Of course it does. The groups and participants of the leadership simulation are still scored and evaluated, but in a very different way.
Thus, including a business training simulation within your leadership development program does not require the simulation to be based on a competitive model. Actually, we recommend against it. The trick is to build up the case correctly, group to teams in a logical and applicable way, and foster a collaborative environment and not you vs me environment. This creates a very healthy and energetic environment where participants are learning teamwork, cross collaboration, and effective communication skills.
The result is a very effective, applicable, and engaging leadership development simulation that is easy to facilitate, engaging for participants, and applicable to the business requirements.
We hope this helps!
Definitely not! In fact, many of our leadership development simulations are not competitive. The primary driver behind why some aren't is very simple: Need for more collaboration.
In many leadership development programs, the topic of cross function or cross division collaboration is a very important competency to build. The problem is that so many leadership development simulations or business training simulations are built with the assumption that teams are going to compete against each other. Does this sound like a very good way for participants to learn effective collaboration? We didn't think so either!
How does a collaborative simulation work exactly? Good question. This is very simple. The participants that are going through the business training simulation program are broken into teams, but not competing teams. Instead, they must work together to accomplish a common goal, but one that not a single team can control on their own. Isn't this really simulating how a company actually works? Of course it does. The groups and participants of the leadership simulation are still scored and evaluated, but in a very different way.
Thus, including a business training simulation within your leadership development program does not require the simulation to be based on a competitive model. Actually, we recommend against it. The trick is to build up the case correctly, group to teams in a logical and applicable way, and foster a collaborative environment and not you vs me environment. This creates a very healthy and energetic environment where participants are learning teamwork, cross collaboration, and effective communication skills.
The result is a very effective, applicable, and engaging leadership development simulation that is easy to facilitate, engaging for participants, and applicable to the business requirements.
We hope this helps!
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