Business simulations are most commonly utilized for three reasons:
To increase engagement and learning retention with corporate training or employee development.
To apply highly complex and theoretical topics in an effort to increase corporate training learning retention and understanding.
To increase the speed and effectiveness or corporate change initiatives. This is often referred to as strategy acceleration.
Business simulations are most commonly used within corporate training and employee development initiatives. In many instances, these tools are used within corporate leadership development programs in an effort to increase learning, learning retention, and accelerate corporate change initiatives (strategy acceleration).
The highly distilled summary is that active learning is far better than passive learning. Putting all the fancy research aside, most naturally accept that corporate training participants intuitively understand and agree with this: adults learn better by doing (trial and error). A business simulation and puts this fact into action with exceptionally low risk. Utilizing a leadership development business simulation is an exceptionally effective learning tool. With the exception of either teaching the subject matter yourself or learning through real-life trial and error, a business simulation is one of the most effective ways to learn new subject matter. The ultimate goal is to enable learners to immediately start using the subject matter being introduced. By using the subject matter in a safe and lifelike situation (i.e. within a business simulations), people begin to change their behavior naturally. This is why mission-critical disciplines such as military or aviation industries rely so heavily on simulations. Business simulations within leadership development are the fastest and most effective means to safely apply complex training theory and rapidly transform it into natural behavior.
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These business training simulations are most often used within leadership development corporate training programs and/or strategic alignment initiatives. Leadership development business simulations incorporate complicated training topics such as optimal leadership behavior, strategy development, strategy execution, strategic thinking, financial acumen, business acumen, cross functional collaboration, innovative thinking, and more. Business simulations are most often used due to their ability to enable today’s digital audience to learn, try, reflect, and apply. Corporate training simulations are an engaging tool to adds great benefits to existing corporate leadership development programs. These corporate learning tools are helping bridge the growing leadership gap. Business strategy simulations are engaging that should align very closely with the corporate training goals and objectives.
Tip: Keep your leadership development business simulations small and focused. Large multi-day simulations should be reserved for very specific cases. In most cases, a very focused business training simulation will provide the greatest benefits with the lowest associated time and expense. Strategic business training simulations are the most widely requested solutions and most popular with participants. This is largely due to their highly engaging learning methods and extreme level of job applicability. Using a strategic business simulation within leadership development as become far more normal and some of the top companies globally use these solutions whenever possible.
Advantages Strategic Business Simulations:
Disadvantages of Strategic Business Simulations:
Do you remember reading those adventure storybooks in which you had to choose from several options at the end of each chapter? Each choice would send you in a different direction, presenting its own challenges. This is basically a branching story business simulation. The general idea is that people learn by doing. People try, fail, learn, and try again. Branching story business training simulations are an exceptionally inexpensive way to achieve outcome-oriented learning in an entertaining way. Team-based branching stories are recommended where possible, because participants will have to utilize teamwork skills as well as logic. Business simulations that use branching story methods can be created using simple pen and paper. These do not need to be computer based and are exceptional for teambuilding. Additionally, these business simulations are very adept within scenario or situational based corporate training. Branching story training simulations can also be created in digital tools such as a slide development application within popular office solutions.
Tip: Provide three rounds of a branching story simulations and pause to gain insights and reflections. After the pause, start the training simulation up again for another three rounds and repeat. This reinforces the do, learn, and apply method mentioned in the strategic business simulations above.
Advantages of using branching story business training simulation:
Disadvantages of using branching story business training simulation:
