Friday, September 28, 2012

Tips: Business Simulation or Business Game/Serious Games

Hello SimDevGroup Community-

Wow! This is a tough one: Should I choose a Business Simulation or a Business Game? Well, to be very honest, we view these as very similar. This leads us to try to define the difference between the two. Without going into too much detail, here are some points of difference:

Business Simulations and Business Games Defined (high level):
- Business Simulations model a specific strategy, process, procedure or goal set
- Business Games probably don't mimic or present much similarity to your business
- Business Simulations clearly mimic your organization
- Business Games don't necessarily model much to do with your business strategy, process, procedure or goal set
- Both Business Simulations and Business Games will try to reinforce the goals and objectives of your training program

Of course, this may suggest that there are huge differences between the two. In some cases, there is. But it is important to remember that when you're creating a business simulation strategy or a serious games/business games strategy, that both tools have certain gaming elements that are present.

Gaming element? What's that? In summary, a gaming element is a situation where participants are put into challenging situations where they are trying to win something that is tough, but attainable. Think of a basic board game. There are certain things you need to do to win, but a competitor might do it better.

Both business simulations and business games have this serious games element. Business Simulations are usually a little more advanced and if customized, will certainly be far more similar to your actual organization and its challenges.

So, which should you choose? Business Simulation or Business Games? We're going to take the wimpy answer here: They're both a good solution, but if you're looking for something a little more serious, a little more advanced, and a little more applicable to your business, then a custom business simulation is probably the right way to go. Of course, there are exceptions :^).

We hope this helps and have a great week!

Saturday, September 1, 2012

New Leadership Simulation eBook Posted!

Hello SimDevGroup Community-

Have you used a business simulation for corporate learning and development and/or leadership development programs before? Unsure where to start, how to get the most out of it and how to set it up? If you're looking for assistance to learn more about this, great! We just posted a new eBook titled, "All About Business Simulations for Leadership Development". We're quite excited and we really hope this helps you.

How do you get it? That's easy. Just go to the home page: http://www.simdevgroup.com>. You'll see the link to the eBook.

Let us know what you think and also, please, if you have ideas of things you'd like to learn more about, let us know!!

Have a great week.