Hello SimDev Community-
We hope you've had a terrific summer and are looking forward to gearing up for Fall.
We want to be clear here: Simulation Development Group creates simulations and exercises around your content. We don't try to be something we're not. You are the expert at your discipline and we are experts at building engaging and exciting tools around your leadership, executive, and corporate development needs.
Why do we bring this up? For two reasons:
1. We aren't trying to sell something we can't do a good job at. We're terrible sales people and aren't skilled enough at sales to sell something we don't do.
2. We've been receiving a lot of requests to build entire leadership development program(s). We build the best tools in the world to support incredibly complex programs, but we don't write the courseware. To be honest, you don't want us to. There are exceptionally talented people out there that do this far better than we do.
We hate to un-sell ourselves, but we believe in focus. We create tools, simulations, exercises and solutions that focus on re-inforcing your training content through business applicable action. Who does a great job with content? There are many. There is one that we've been talking with lately that seems to really be on the ball and is a joy to work with. Web site is here: Ratcliff Consultants, Inc. We hope this reference helps. Why this one? Because it's one of the few we've come across that not only is an expert at subject matter, but expert at building a program around tangible outcomes.
We hope this helps you with your leadership development, executive development, or staff development needs.
If you need help creating tools, simulations, exercises and solutions that focus on re-inforcing your training content through business applicable action. Then give a call or drop us a line.
Have a great day!
- Simulation Development Group
.
Monday, August 30, 2010
Sunday, August 22, 2010
Leadership Development Activities vs Simulations vs Games
Hello SimDev Community-
As you can see lately, we've been focusing a bit more on Leadership Development instead of business simulations in general. This is because Leadership Development has come into the spotlight a little more than usual lately. We can't really explain why. The general trend has moved towards reinforcing the importance of leadership development and it's impact on financial results.
This brings us to the topic of this posting: Leadership Development Activities vs Simulations vs Games. What's the difference? There are huge differences depending on what you mean :).
Leadership Development Activities- This is the over arching description (or verb). There are pretty much endless amounts of possible activities. A Leadership Development Activity could include branch activities, speaking activities, teamwork activities, or just about anything. Within these activities might be a Leadership Development Simulation or Game. In general, think about Leadership Development Activities as the container where you choose what type of active learning you want your training participants to choose from.
Leadership Development Simulations- Leadership Development Simulations are simulations that emphasize the impact of the leadership development content on the business or financial results. In a sense, Leadership Development Simulations give the training participants the opportunity to live a day in the life of your CEO. At the executive level, leadership is critical to effective business management. A Leadership Development Simulation will let participants learn by demonstrating the importance of leadership on the business as a whole.
Leadership Games- These tend to lean more to the side of Leadership Development generic examples. This is where a participant will have to run a game such as a lemonade stand or even a board game (pretty outdated in our opinions. But hey, there's a place for everything). As opposed to Leadership Development Simulations, Leadership Development Games tend to be generic one size fits all solutions that aren't customized to a particular organization.
All these definitions are pretty high level and could be open for interpretation differences. The goal here was to get you in the ball park since this is an often asked questions. So, when it comes to Leadership Development Activities, now you'll know which fits you best.
We hope this helps.
This brings us to the topic of this posting: Leadership Development Activities vs Simulations vs Games. What's the difference? There are huge differences depending on what you mean :).
Leadership Development Activities- This is the over arching description (or verb). There are pretty much endless amounts of possible activities. A Leadership Development Activity could include branch activities, speaking activities, teamwork activities, or just about anything. Within these activities might be a Leadership Development Simulation or Game. In general, think about Leadership Development Activities as the container where you choose what type of active learning you want your training participants to choose from.
Leadership Development Simulations- Leadership Development Simulations are simulations that emphasize the impact of the leadership development content on the business or financial results. In a sense, Leadership Development Simulations give the training participants the opportunity to live a day in the life of your CEO. At the executive level, leadership is critical to effective business management. A Leadership Development Simulation will let participants learn by demonstrating the importance of leadership on the business as a whole.
Leadership Games- These tend to lean more to the side of Leadership Development generic examples. This is where a participant will have to run a game such as a lemonade stand or even a board game (pretty outdated in our opinions. But hey, there's a place for everything). As opposed to Leadership Development Simulations, Leadership Development Games tend to be generic one size fits all solutions that aren't customized to a particular organization.
All these definitions are pretty high level and could be open for interpretation differences. The goal here was to get you in the ball park since this is an often asked questions. So, when it comes to Leadership Development Activities, now you'll know which fits you best.
We hope this helps.
Thursday, August 12, 2010
Leadership Development Programs Are Back
Hello SimDev Community
For awhile there, Leadership Development Training Programs seemed to have disappeared. This is obviously because instead of investing in leadership development, companies were investing in survival. This too seems to have passed. In the last six months, the interest in leadership development training activities and leadership development simulations seems to have risen quite a bit.
We're glad leadership development is back! This is what we do best and enjoy the most. Combining leadership development content with a leadership simulation is a blast. It's exciting, rewarding, and challenging for the participants.
Leadership Development: Welcome back. We missed you :^)
We're glad leadership development is back! This is what we do best and enjoy the most. Combining leadership development content with a leadership simulation is a blast. It's exciting, rewarding, and challenging for the participants.
Leadership Development: Welcome back. We missed you :^)
Saturday, August 7, 2010
Leadership Development Simulations and Games
Hello SimDevGroup Community-
For the next few postings, we're going focus on using a business simulation within leadership development programs. We'll focus on:
- What exactly is a leadership development simulation?
- How do people use leadership development business simulations?
- What are the advantages and disadvantages to using a leadership development simulation?
- How do I get started using a leadership development simulation
We're busy outlining what we'll write so stay tuned. Another post is coming soon.
- SimDevGroup
.
For the next few postings, we're going focus on using a business simulation within leadership development programs. We'll focus on:
- What exactly is a leadership development simulation?
- How do people use leadership development business simulations?
- What are the advantages and disadvantages to using a leadership development simulation?
- How do I get started using a leadership development simulation
We're busy outlining what we'll write so stay tuned. Another post is coming soon.
- SimDevGroup
.
Friday, July 30, 2010
Business Training Simulations: Various Types
Hello SimDev Community-
When people contact us that are new to simulations, they are often uncertain about the various types of training simulations. There really are many, but for ease of classifications, we'll highlight the top 3. These are:
1. Virtual
2. Game Based
3. Branching Stories
Let's take a quick review of these types of business simulations:
1. Virtual Business Simulation ($$$): These tend to be sensory in nature. Most people would argue that a virtual business simulation is visual, but we disagree. What happens if the participant is visually impaired? Does this mean they can't participate? To get back to the point, a virtual business simulation enables participants to interact at a sensory level. Some easy examples of a virtual business simulation is a flight simulator. Here, participants feel and see their environment and must learn to keep the plane in flight or safely landed (for example). When it comes to a business scenario, some companies have played with Second Life. We think this is expensive and a bit "far out" for now. Maybe some day this will be useful. That being said, there are definitely edge cases where this is useful for a business simulation.
2. Game Based Business Simulation ($$): This covers A LOT of territory. This spans from actual games that include a goal of learning through online interactive simulations. Some common tools for building a game based simulation are Flex, Flash, Java, C/C++ (various tools), and many many others. This is the bulk of what is used within a business simulation or business training simulation.
3. Branching Stories Business Simulation ($): These are often the least expensive and very easy to implement. They can be a little unnatural, but they are more effective than a lecture. In a Branching Stories Business Simulation, participants are given a scenario and a few choices to decide from. After each decision, the participant will be given additional information and more choices. In the end, they will realize if the outcome of the business simulation was successful or not. Branching story business simulations are often used for scenario or reaction training. This is especially the case within HR.
Please keep in mind, this is a very very brief overview and not designed to be inclusive. This give you a general idea of some of the more popular types of business simulations that are used for training and development.
We hope this helps and have a nice weekend.
1. Virtual
2. Game Based
3. Branching Stories
Let's take a quick review of these types of business simulations:
1. Virtual Business Simulation ($$$): These tend to be sensory in nature. Most people would argue that a virtual business simulation is visual, but we disagree. What happens if the participant is visually impaired? Does this mean they can't participate? To get back to the point, a virtual business simulation enables participants to interact at a sensory level. Some easy examples of a virtual business simulation is a flight simulator. Here, participants feel and see their environment and must learn to keep the plane in flight or safely landed (for example). When it comes to a business scenario, some companies have played with Second Life. We think this is expensive and a bit "far out" for now. Maybe some day this will be useful. That being said, there are definitely edge cases where this is useful for a business simulation.
2. Game Based Business Simulation ($$): This covers A LOT of territory. This spans from actual games that include a goal of learning through online interactive simulations. Some common tools for building a game based simulation are Flex, Flash, Java, C/C++ (various tools), and many many others. This is the bulk of what is used within a business simulation or business training simulation.
3. Branching Stories Business Simulation ($): These are often the least expensive and very easy to implement. They can be a little unnatural, but they are more effective than a lecture. In a Branching Stories Business Simulation, participants are given a scenario and a few choices to decide from. After each decision, the participant will be given additional information and more choices. In the end, they will realize if the outcome of the business simulation was successful or not. Branching story business simulations are often used for scenario or reaction training. This is especially the case within HR.
Please keep in mind, this is a very very brief overview and not designed to be inclusive. This give you a general idea of some of the more popular types of business simulations that are used for training and development.
We hope this helps and have a nice weekend.
Friday, July 23, 2010
Multi Day, 1 Day, or Segmented Business Training Simulation?
Hello SimDev Community-
To build on our last post, we've decided to address the question of, "What's better: Muliti-day, 1 day, or segmented business training simulations or leadership development simulations?"
That's easy to answer: It depends ;)
In reality, this is actually hard for us to answer. It really does depend. But to communicate our thoughts, we'll address the advantages and disadvantages of each.
Multi-day Custom Business Training Simulation- These are good if you want participants to really learn your entire business. We mean REALLY learn it. These usually require many many decision within the simulation and are very detailed. The goal here is to mimic the business within your training and development program. These are traditionally very expensive and exceptionally thorough. Our opinion: Good in some places, but not where trends seem to be moving when it comes to training and development and business training simulations.
1-Day Custom Business Training Simulation- These are very effective. These do a great job of balancing reinforcing your business training content and learning how the business functions. These are a very exciting and compressed day within your training program. This is a fantastic way to apply all the training content from previous days within the program. Our opinion: This is one of the more popular solutions and they work very well (cost effective too).
Segmented Business Training Simulation- These are also very effective. Running little versions of a larger training simulation at the end of each one of your leadership development days is incredibly exciting, applicable, and effective. This trend has grown in the last 2 or so years. Basically, you'll take a portion of the simulation that focuses on the content of that day and run it at the end. People get very fired up and its a great way to end the day. Our opinion: This is very effective and exciting.
We hope this helps you better understand various business training simulations and leadership development simulations. Feel free to contact us if you have any questions.
That's easy to answer: It depends ;)
In reality, this is actually hard for us to answer. It really does depend. But to communicate our thoughts, we'll address the advantages and disadvantages of each.
Multi-day Custom Business Training Simulation- These are good if you want participants to really learn your entire business. We mean REALLY learn it. These usually require many many decision within the simulation and are very detailed. The goal here is to mimic the business within your training and development program. These are traditionally very expensive and exceptionally thorough. Our opinion: Good in some places, but not where trends seem to be moving when it comes to training and development and business training simulations.
1-Day Custom Business Training Simulation- These are very effective. These do a great job of balancing reinforcing your business training content and learning how the business functions. These are a very exciting and compressed day within your training program. This is a fantastic way to apply all the training content from previous days within the program. Our opinion: This is one of the more popular solutions and they work very well (cost effective too).
Segmented Business Training Simulation- These are also very effective. Running little versions of a larger training simulation at the end of each one of your leadership development days is incredibly exciting, applicable, and effective. This trend has grown in the last 2 or so years. Basically, you'll take a portion of the simulation that focuses on the content of that day and run it at the end. People get very fired up and its a great way to end the day. Our opinion: This is very effective and exciting.
We hope this helps you better understand various business training simulations and leadership development simulations. Feel free to contact us if you have any questions.
Thursday, July 8, 2010
Business Training Simulations- Where to learn what?
Hello SimDev Community-
We have recently been receiving calls from people interested in working with a business training simulation or leadership development training simulation for the first time. It seems people are generally more aware of them, but uncertain where to start. A common question is, "Where can I learn more?" Unfortunately, I can't recommend any books or online resources. The books are a bit "out there" and there aren't any online learning how to's that we know of. But we have a top 5 things to know about a business simulations for training and development.
5. Be prepared with content 1st! Keep in mind, the simulation is NOT the training program. It is a reinforcement tool.
4. Pick the right type of simulation provider. Ask yourself if you want canned, customized, facilitation, or no facilitation. Many business simulation providers will want to supply their own facilitators. This is understandable, but not required. Also, do you need customized or canned? Customized is more expensive, but usually more effective.
3. Virtual or in person? This doesn't need a lot of explaining. We've found companies tried to do virtual and it just didn't work very well (not very engaging). Thus, the trend seems to be moving back towards in person. But there are different types of sims depending on location needs.
2. Have a clear idea of what you want out of the training program. Similar to what we mentioned in 5, you need to have a clear goal of what you want out of the training. The business simulation will reinforce this, but not teach it.
1. Have fun! Business simulations are an amazingly engaging tool. Have fun with the simulation and the program that surrounds it. Relax, the simulation won't bite and if the provider is good, they'll do their best to take care of the rest.
Hope this helps.
5. Be prepared with content 1st! Keep in mind, the simulation is NOT the training program. It is a reinforcement tool.
4. Pick the right type of simulation provider. Ask yourself if you want canned, customized, facilitation, or no facilitation. Many business simulation providers will want to supply their own facilitators. This is understandable, but not required. Also, do you need customized or canned? Customized is more expensive, but usually more effective.
3. Virtual or in person? This doesn't need a lot of explaining. We've found companies tried to do virtual and it just didn't work very well (not very engaging). Thus, the trend seems to be moving back towards in person. But there are different types of sims depending on location needs.
2. Have a clear idea of what you want out of the training program. Similar to what we mentioned in 5, you need to have a clear goal of what you want out of the training. The business simulation will reinforce this, but not teach it.
1. Have fun! Business simulations are an amazingly engaging tool. Have fun with the simulation and the program that surrounds it. Relax, the simulation won't bite and if the provider is good, they'll do their best to take care of the rest.
Hope this helps.
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