Tailored or Custom Business Simulation?

Should I Go with Tailored or Custom Business Simulation?

This is a great question! But like always, it depends. As a general rule, the more budget you have to spend on a simulation, the better it's going to align with your training content and corporate development goals. But, there is a point where you only have so much to spend.

3 Reasons To Use a Tailored Business Simulation:

1. Limited Budget- If you're on a limited budget, tailored simulations are a great way to get into the world of very aligned, engaging, and applicable training programs.
2. Off the Shelf or Canned Business Simulation Just Don't Fit - In many cases, a canned solution just doesn't do the trick. Its hard to extract what is going on with your corporate development from a generic business that sells widgets. A tailored simulation removes this problem from the world of business simulations and corporate development.
3. Limited Time- You can bring a tailored simulation from concept to training in much less time than a custom business simulation

3 Reasons To Use a reasons to use a Custom Business Simulation:

1. Complex Integration of Corporate Strategy and Corporate Development Goals - When you are looking to combine corporate strategy with business acumen with leadership development, a custom business simulation is pretty much required.
2. Large Organization With A Deep Need For Effective Leadership - When you have a large roll out of a very complex initiative around leadership development, a leadership development simulation is pretty essential.
3. Highly Complex Business or Organization - If you are in a large complex multi-product global organization, a custom business simulation is probably going to be required to simulate your company’s solution and process.

So, in summary, it comes down to price and complexity. If you have a limited budget, it's a no brainer, go tailored. If you have complex needs within a complex organization, again, no brainer... go custom.

Hope this helps!

More Than The Business Simulation

When people think of a Sim training program, they often think of just the software itself. In reality, this is only a part of a leadership development simulation or business training simulation. A very important part of the solution is the case study. The case study often is thought of as secondary when it should be thought of equally important.

Importance of the Case Study for a Leadership Development Simulation or Business Training Simulation

The case study is where the corporate strategy, structure, uniqueness and details are revealed. This is important stuff! Because people often get over excited about the software part of the simulation, the case study is usually sent to the back burner. It is very important to keep the case study in focus or the foundation of your corporate development program will be diluted. Here are some key things to think about:

- Does your case study take into consideration your corporate development needs?
- Does your case study take into consideration the corporate strategy?
- Does your case study have enough information for participants?
- Does your case study have too much information (yes, this can happen)?
- Does your case study share a story and foundation?

These are some important parts of a case study when using a training simulation for corporate development. In many cases, its not a bad idea to hire a copywriter. Adding a sense of reality without duplicating your company verbatim is the balance you're trying to find.

So, in summary, don't put the case study in the background. You'll find its equally as important and needs ample attention.

Hope this helps!

Top 3 Trends We See in Business Simulations Today

Hello World-

Are you asking, "What are the latest trends in the strange world of business simulations?" Of course you are :^). Well, since you probably aren't really asking that, we'll ask for you:

Top 3 Trends in Business Simulations

3. More Focus - We're seeing a trend towards people using a business simulation for a specific outcome or use. For example: Diversity training. This is an example of an application where a business simulation is deployed for 1/2 day. Gone are the monster multi-day business simulation training program. If you're considering getting a huge multi-day simulation, you either must have endless budget to spend or a consultant has taken over the steering wheel of your training program or leadership program.

2. Special Focus on Immediate Knowledge Application - We've been seeing this for some time, but its happening more. There is an increased need to be able to have participants immediately use the skills they learned from practice within the business simulation.

1. More Accessible Business Simulations - We're seeing greater and greater accessibility to business simulations. This is great news and primarily due to lower cost of development and platformization of the technology.

Hope this helps!

Computer Based Business Simulation or Paper?

Hello World-

When most people think about a business simulation, they automatically have visions of computer screens, tablets, phones, mice, and keyboards. They also begin to think about data management, modeling, game theory, equipment setup, financial modeling, reporting, and more. This creates that hot feeling of being completely overwhelmed.

As Bill Hall wrote in his book about getting started with business simulations and serious games, have you ever thought about starting small and starting with a paper based simulation? If not, this is definitely something you should think about. Paper based business simulations can be incredibly compelling and very easy to manage. You don't have to create a board game, game pieces or anything fancy. Just print out some materials and you're on your way.

Paper based simulations are a very effective way to get started using business simulations, strategy simulations, or business gamification. Here are 3 tips to get you started:

1. Clearly define what the participants need to teach. The more tangible and clearly defined the better
2. Work from the goals of the learning backwards. Create all simulation exercises from the goals.
3. Create units of measurement. What this means is there needs to be a means to measure. In very simple terms: Scoring :^)

If you do a search for paper based business simulations, you'll find quite a few examples out there. This might be a great place to start.

Hope this helps!

Top Tips To Getting Starting With a Business Simulation

Hello World!

Happy New Year! Hope you're well. Let's dive right in!

Are you looking to get started using a business simulation? Great! Here are some of our top 5 tips to getting started:

Top 5 Tips To Using A Business Simulation

1. Start Small! Don't try to do too much too fast. A tightly focused and highly content aligned simulation is the way to go! You might be tempted to do too much too fast. Try to take a step back and make sure you are staying core to the top 3 reasons you're using a business simulation. Or better yet, the top 3 metrics you'd like to measure success against.

2. Go Paper? This might seem strange, but are you sure you really want to go with a computerized business simulation or software business simulation? I'm sure you already know how hard it is to manage technology, now try to imagine creating a business simulation on top of that and then having it all work. Yikes! In many cases, a good solid paper based simulation might go far. It will also potentially save you money as well.

3. Get Aligned. What does this mean? It means to ensure the reasons you think you need a business simulation align with the solution you are looking at. This might seem like common sense, but we can't tell you how often we've seen people far from where they thought they'd be just due to the confusion of getting started using these action learning tools.

4. Get Buy-In. You're going to find that there might be some resistance (or curiosities) about using a business simulation. It is a good idea to get people involved. Getting people involved does add complication up front, but it will make the process easier down the road.

5. Create a budget. Yes, this seems obvious, but it is important. This will automatically create focus for you when getting started using business training simulations.

We hope this helps. Happy New Year!

Top Tips To Getting Starting With a Business Simulation

Hello World!

Happy New Year! Hope you're well. Let's dive right in!

Are you looking to get started using a business simulation? Great! Here are some of our top 5 tips to getting started:

Top 5 Tips To Using A Business Simulation

1. Start Small! Don't try to do too much too fast. A tightly focused and highly content aligned simulation is the way to go! You might be tempted to do too much too fast. Try to take a step back and make sure you are staying core to the top 3 reasons you're using a business simulation. Or better yet, the top 3 metrics you'd like to measure success against.

2. Go Paper? This might seem strange, but are you sure you really want to go with a computerized business simulation or software business simulation? I'm sure you already know how hard it is to manage technology, now try to imagine creating a business simulation on top of that and then having it all work. Yikes! In many cases, a good solid paper based simulation might go far. It will also potentially save you money as well.

3. Get Aligned. What does this mean? It means to ensure the reasons you think you need a business simulation align with the solution you are looking at. This might seem like common sense, but we can't tell you how often we've seen people far from where they thought they'd be just due to the confusion of getting started using these action learning tools.

4. Get Buy-In. You're going to find that there might be some resistance (or curiosities) about using a business simulation. It is a good idea to get people involved. Getting people involved does add complication up front, but it will make the process easier down the road.

5. Create a budget. Yes, this seems obvious, but it is important. This will automatically create focus for you when getting started using business training simulations.

We hope this helps. Happy New Year!

TechTip: Private Cloud Storage: OwnCloud For Simulation Development

Hello World-

This is a little off the beaten path for a post, but we're so thrilled with a piece of technology, we thought it worth sharing.

Do you know of DropBox, GoogleDrive, or Microsoft OneDrive? Of course you do. So do we. But, we take data security extremely seriously. We also believe in technology simplicity and effectiveness. As a result, we took a look at a solution called OwnCloud.

OwnCloud is a solution that lets you create your own version of DropBox, GoogleDrive, and OneDrive (and soooo much more). Best of all, you retain complete and total control over OwnCloud. It is incredibly easy to use and is written by the open source community. We have been testing OwnCloud for Simulation Development and we have two words: It Rocks!

OwnCloud just works and works exceptionally well! Since it's mostly larger companies that read these posts, you'll love the fact the OwnCloud is Open Source, but you might be even more excited to know there is a turnkey commercial version available as well.

We have chosen to run OwnCloud on a $49 open source single board computer called BananaPi. We installed Linux onto an SD card, loaded up OwnCloud, and we had a complete Cloud Storage solution up and running in a matter of an hour or so. The BananaPi/OwnCloud 'server' has 15 computers banging on it all day long. Of course, you'd probably want to run your OwnCloud on serious iron, but this is a nice example of scalability.

We can't recommend OwnCloud enough. Its secure, its fast, and it just works.

You can learn more here:
OwnCloud Open Source
OpenCloud Commercial

Happy Holidays!

Top 10 Uses For a Business Simulation

Hello World-

Let's just jump right in:

Top 10 Uses For a Business Simulation

- Business Simulation for Leadership Development
- Business Simulation for High Potential Leaders
- Business Simulation for Business War Games
- Business Simulation for Sales Training
- Business Simulation for Strategy Testing
- Business Simulation for Operational Excellence
- Business Simulation for Strategy Exploration
- Business Simulation within Business Gamification
- Business Simulation for Business Strategy Gamification

"What can a business simulation actually be used for?" There you go: Just 10 ideas. Of course, there are many more, but this guideline should inspire some ideas for you to think about. We've even heard of using a business simulation to teach fifth graders about money and business. Interesting....

Let us know if you have other ideas of how to use these valuable tools and we'll add it to the list.

Have a great weekend!

Business War Games: Business Simulation for Strategy Testing

Hello World-

This has been written about a few time, but thought it was worth bringing up again.

Using Business War Games

What: What is a Business War Game? Business War Games are a tool that is used to test and 'play' with a potential future strategy. These don't necessarily have to be a simulation, but they often share the same characteristics with a business simulation. Business War Games also don't have to be computer based either. In many cases, these can be simple paper based solutions. This helps save money. But what these tools are is effective. They are also complex to create. There are a lot of moving parts to a business war game. The same is true for a business strategy simulation as well. Business War Games let executives test their strategy before they commit to it 100%.

How: How is a business war game used? Business War Games are used like this: Traditionally, you'll bring in a few executives that are involved in creating the strategy. You don't need many. Just a few. You'll have each person take on the role of a different company that only includes 1 ‘version’ of your actual company. You'll actually begin competing against each other testing your strategy. You can see why it's similar to a business strategy simulation.

Why: Why use a Business War Game? This is to enable you to squeeze out strategic elements you hadn't considered while creating the strategy. Most importantly, this includes the human reaction to a new strategy. This is often the least thought of during strategy development.

As you can see, a Business War Game is very similar to a Business Strategy Simulation or a Business Training Simulation.

Hope this helps!

Business Simulation for Sales Training or Sales Conferences

Hello World- Once again, too long between posts. Sorry about that!

We've seen quite the uptick in companies using business simulations for sales training and/or within sales conferences. These sales training simulations are a lot of fun and very educational for the sales managers. What happens in many cases is that the head of sales wants to introduce their sales force to the challenges above or across from their position. Doing so gives sales managers a far wider perspective of what it's like to manage a sales team or company.

Three Components to a Successful Sales Training Simulation

1. Competitive business simulation is preferred - A competitive sales training simulation aligns with the position of a sales manager. This makes the game relevant and real.
2. Ensure you have the customer needs- As a sales manager, you're often focused on quota. Don't forget to integrate a strong focus on meeting customers needs and demonstrating why this is important.
3. Have fun! A sales training simulation should have a spirit of competitive fun. If it's serious and boring, sales managers will probably disengage.

Sales training simulations are a great use of time at a sales conference. Utilizing a business simulation can make the content of the conference relevant and unforgettable. It will be the part of the conference participants won't forget.

Hope this helps!

Business Training Simulations for Leadership Development

Hello World!

Once again, it's been too long. We've simply had too much work than we can handle. Sorry! The good news is that we've just hired 3 people to help work on things. Thanks for your patience. Ok, the topic of the day:

Business Training Simulation for Leadership Development Overview

Isn't this a leadership development simulation you might ask? Well, yes it is. But there seems to be a misunderstanding about what/when/where/how. Let's take a look.

First, the definition: A leadership development simulation is simply a business simulation that has been customized to a specific leadership development program. This includes utilizing specific leadership competency and tools. In many cases, these business training simulations will have a business portion of the simulation as well. There has to be a business to use the leadership tools, right?

These tools are traditionally used within corporate leadership development programs. In some cases, they might be used for strategy training. Why? Because there is traditionally a large people component of business strategy. While we're talking about tools, business simulations are often used to help people learn HR people development tools such as assessment and more. Business training simulations for leadership development is a great development tool to get people up and running quickly using your models andor tools.

You'll start to see more and longer posts once we get the people up to speed.

Have a great August!

5 Tips to Applying Human Resource Tools to the Business

Hello World-

Are you thinking of increasing the adoption of your Human Resource tools? This trend seems to be on the upswing at the moment. We have seen a lot of tool development and application within large enterprises. We have a few tips from an outsiders perspective:

5 Tips to Human Resource Tool Adoption

1. Keep the tools simple to use- This probably goes without saying, but it's a good reminder. Remember, managers have a very busy job. Unless the tools are easy to naturally use, they won't be used. Keep the tools you choose to use simple and easy to utilize.

2. Pair down the number of tools- Tools are great frameworks for people to work from. But in reality, there is certainly such a thing as too many. In reality, managers will probably utilize three at the most. Pick your top three and focus on implementing these first.

3. Train managers!- Of course, this goes without saying. But to dig a little deeper, you should think about giving managers the opportunity to use the tools before they are expected to use them in the workplace. This will help naturalize the usage of the tools.

4. Practice and followup- Give managers the opportunity to practice the tools and get used to using them. If they don't have the opportunity to try before they buy, they simply won't buy.

5. Make them relevant and real- Demonstrating how these tools impact their business is critical. If they can experience the positive results of using the tools, utilization will become natural.

Even though this doesn't directly impact business simulations, it does correlate. We create a lot of simulations that focus on utilizing Human Resource tools. We thought it would be helpful to share what we've seen work and not work.

Hope this helps!

New Solution Offering: Tailored Business Simulations

Hello World-

Have you ever wanted the power of a custom business simulation, but didn't want the complexity or time of building one from scratch? Have you thought to yourself, "I really want to use my leadership model, but don't want the expense and time of a custom solution?" Great! Here's a potential solution for you. Have you looked at a Tailored Business simulation instead of a Custom Business Simulation? If not, it might be worth a look.

Should I go Tailored Business Simulation or Custom Business Simulation?
Let's start by looking at a simple graphic that outlines some of the difference:


Even though this is a generalization, it might help give you a general idea. You should look at a tailored business simulation if any of the following occur:
- Limited Budget
- No Need For Licensing
- Quick Turnaround
- Still Use Your Leadership Tools

If this is something that is interesting, you should drop us an note and we can help guide you through the what, what not's, and how's. Happy to answer any questions.

Hope this helps! Let us know what you think.

Business Simulations for All Companies

Hello World-

So, do you think that using a business simulation is only for fortune 500 companies? Not necessarily so. Modern application development tools have taken drastic leaps forward over the past 10 years. This has made application development far more effective and less time consuming. As a result, a business simulation for training and development or human resources is far more accessible than even five years ago.

If you've ever thought that gaining access to modern a custom strategy simulation (or strategy gamification) was impossible, it would be time well spent to take another look around and ask questions.

Quick post this week. More to come soon.

Business Simulation or Business Gamification

Hello World- Yup, once again, its been awhile since a post. Again, very busy, but there will be more soon.

You've probably heard the fancy term: Business Gamification. It's all the rage, very catchy, and marketing managers just LOVE it. But what is it exactly? First of all, don't be overwhelmed. It's simply a very fancy term for turning something into a game.

Let's look at an example: Online forums. Ya know, those places you go to ask questions and get answers. You've probably noticed that certain people get points or prizes, or 'badges'. That's it! That's a game. What they've done is turned the use of a forum into a game via points and/or rewards. The goal is to get people to come back more and increase engagement. We're back in a technology boom so it's all about eye balls once again. Thus, if a company can keep people on their web site, the idea is this means they are an 'engaged' customer. This is gamification.

But, how does this relate to simulations or serious games? Great question. As has been repeated many times here, for simplicity purposes, don't get too caught up on the fancy terms. In many cases (not all) a business simulation is a form of game theory. Gamification is based on game theory. Serious Games are based on game theory. They aren't necessarily 100% all the same, but they share 98% of the same DNA.

A Business Simulation is going to be used to simulate a business or a function of a business. Serious games or gamification may not (but certainly could). This is why you shouldn't get too caught up on the terminology. If you are looking to simulate something in your business, call it a business simulation. If you're looking to engage people around a specific topic, maybe call it gamification. It's up to you, but don't get too caught up in it. You probably have much better things to worry about.

Hope this helps!

Business Simulation and Gamification Trends

Hello World-

Now that we're heading into a new year, what are some trends in the world of business simulations, serious games, and business gamfication. Great question, lets look at the top 5.

Top 5 Trends in Business Simulations and Business Gamfication

5. Business Simulations and Business Gamification are becoming more main stream- With the computer generation entering management, business simulations and gamification are being used more than ever. This is especially the case for custom built solution (trend 4).
4. Custom is the New Standard- With the cost of development getting lower and lower, most companies are requiring a custom built business simulation or business gamification solution. Today's learners are used to a high level of customization and this is no different in the world of sims and games.
3. Business Simulation Partners not Business Simulation Vendors- Companies are seeking out more of a partner over just a contract. This is especially the case where the sim provider is on site. The last thing a company wants is a sales person in house. The days of trolling inside a company for more sales are very much frowned upon. A strategic partner is critical.
2. Smaller Sims are More Popular- Companies have clearly learned that larger sims is like buying handcuffs without the keys. Thus, companies are looking for tight and easy to control solutions
1. Full Ownership- Business Simulation solutions where companies have to pay and then rent (licensing fee) are out! This model is leftover from the 90s and companies simply won't stand for it any longer. Pay for it once and use when and how the owner wishes is critical.

Hope this helps and Happy New Year!

Business Simulation Games - Game?

Happy Holidays World!

'Business Simulations'. Is this the same as a 'Business Simulation Games'? Simple answer is: Yes. Business Simulations and Business Simulation Games are basically the same thing. In reality, these are both a game (usually) and are based on basic game theory principles. Thus, if you see something that says business simulation game, this doesn't mean its a game in the sense its childish. Quite the opposite. A business simulation game could be one of the most advanced business modeling simulations you'll ever come across.

A Business Simulation Game is the Same as a Business Simulation

The military seems to be far more comfortable with using the word 'game' than the business world. The military has many more years utilizing games and simulations for real world purposes. This may be the reason they are perfectly comfortable using the word game when mixed with simulation. The business world is a little more hesitant due to the perception that it is childish. A business simulation game is not childish at all. Business simulation games can challenge the most seasoned business executive without much difficulty.

Thus, if you're ever in a conversation and someone says, "Business Simulation Game", you needn't worry about the validity of the conversation. This is perfectly ok.

Just another tip on business simulation naming conventions which is as confusing as ever.

Hope this helps.

Business Simulations for Business Strategy? Talk to HR.

Hello World-

There are many uses for a business simulation. There is definitely a trend towards using business simulation games for working on your corporate strategy (AKA: Strategy Gamification). Traditionally, these tools work their way to being managed by HR/T&D. If you're a business manager who oversees corporate strategy in one form or another, it is usually easiest to manage using a business simulation through Human Resources. This is because it usually involves many employees and cross divisional collaboration. This is also because using a business simulation takes up a lot of time and HR traditionally has already been exposed to these tools. Thus, it really becomes a matter of efficiency.

Human Resources not only has the capacity to manage the project, they also have the ability to deliver the solution to your employees company wide. In most cases, business simulations are utilized as a training tool. This is the primary reason why Human Resources and/or Training and Development/Leadership Development is a good fit. In terms of the different types of strategy business simulations, this is really as broad as the number of corporate strategies out there.

No matter the corporate strategy, using a business simulation for strategy development is best in the customized form. This is simply because of the uniqueness of your strategy, company, and people. Trying to utilize an off the shelf solution for strategy work is usually ineffective. Of course, this depends on your goals and objectives.

Another quick post. There will be more posts soon.

Business Simulations- You Bought It, Don't Re-Rent It!

Hello World-

This article specifically applies to custom business simulations. When you are looking to purchase a business simulation, it is important to understand the topic of licensing and/or ownership. It basically comes down to this: If you have paid to create a custom business simulation, you should have unlimited licensing rights. In other words: You should not be re-charged for something you already purchased.

If you paid for business simulation development, you should not pay to use it!

This is like buying a house and then renting it from the buyer. Its simply not a nice thing to do. Its actually quite astounding that people are even asked to rent after buying. It smells like greed. Maybe there's something missing here, but maybe not.

So, if you're looking for a business simulation, make sure if you've paid for development, you don't have to pay to re-use it. That's simply bad business.

Hope this helps!

Business Acumen Simulations for Strategy Development

Hello World-

Yes, its been two weeks. Sorry about that. Very very busy and everything is getting back on schedule (for now).

Let's talk about:

Business Acumen Simulations for Strategic Development

Yes, this is a mouthful. Business acumen simulations are most often used when a company is trying to execute a strategy, but the people simply don't have the business acumen skills necessary to make it happen. When this is the case, you often have a couple choices. First, you can go with a canned business acumen or financial acumen for non acumen people. Another option is to make the business acumen content applicable to what they do in their jobs. The second option (learning application), is by far more popular these days. If this is the case, utilizing a business acumen simulation is a great option.

Utilizing a business acumen simulation will enable your participants to actually try the learning content in the context of their business (or job). The results are a far more applicable learning experience and faster strategic execution. In a sense, you get a twofer. Not too bad. Keep in mind, these are often a full blown business simulation solution. Thus, they are not to be taken lightly. They are usually quite complex because they need to encapsulate your business. Thus, take the complexity of your business and bottle it. Not too easy of a task. That being said, they are exceptionally well received and very worth the effort.

Short post for now. Still digging out of deadlines, but everything will be back on track soon.

Hope this helps!