The Next Generation of Leadership Development
After decades of traditional management and leadership development, organisations are starting to create the next generation of programmes by introducing and integrating realistic business simulations. It seems that there are two main drivers for this, both of which have progressed with some pace over the last 12 months. Firstly organisations and especially the Executive Management Team are realising that there is a serious lack of business and commercial acumen training missing in most development programmes. And secondly, technology has now made such rich and realistic experiential simulations a cost effective solution. “Unfortunately, change does not come readily to adults. Lectures, training modules, and workshops may lay bare the mechanics of organisational change, but they are unlikely to revolutionise people’s work practices. Most of the time, we learn only through experience. But everyday business is seldom conducive to such learning, since delays and the complexity of most companies tend to obscure the link between decisions and their consequences. Under normal conditions, managers are rarely able to see the full effect of their actions.
Realistic Business Simulations
With the advance of technology and the development of more sophisticated approaches to learning, business simulations have now gained popularity as a powerful tool for organisational trainers. The growth is being driven by the speed in which learners develop new capabilities and the immediate impact their new learning can have on organisational performance. A realistic simulation is a powerful tool that facilitates individual and group learning in a simulated environment that replicates a typical organisation. It allows learners to be placed in a role that challenges them to discover how they can improve their decision-making, communication, leadership and team working all in a completely safe environment. And with the ability of simulations to compress the time line, learners can experiment with different strategies and techniques and see the consequences of them in the very next round. And as most simulations call for learners to work in teams they are also seeing the impact they have on others throughout the process.
How Business Simulations are now being used
Because advanced simulations can replicate and simulate most functions of an organisation they can facilitate learning in just about all of the training and development areas commonly requested by managers and employees. And due to the relatively low cost per head of simulations they are also being used as an integrated enhancement within current training programmes.
Team Building
If you are an employee you’re probably in a team, if you’re a manager you probably manage a team. In fact you are probably not just in one team; it’s more than likely in that you are in several teams. With the emphasis on teams in today’s organisations it’s not surprising that many trainers seek to find training activities that can help build a team, bond a team, strengthen a team and raise the game of team. But taking a ‘chalk and talk’ approach to team building rarely delivers the impact needed. Many trainers now prefer to use team-building exercises that connect with the team on an emotional level as well as intellectual level, but caution must be used in choosing the activity if it is also to have a longer lasting benefit for the team and the organisation.
Commercial Awareness, Financial Literacy and Business Acumen
Improved business results rely on better business decision-making and this often means analysing financial or commercial information and assessing the possible implications. Many trainers would see commercial awareness or finance literacy as a very dry topic and would prefer not to personally facilitate such a training session. That may be a wise decision as trainers often find teaching this topic a dry and non-engaging experience, as a classroom lecture simply does not bring the topic alive. Organisations who wish to bring the topic alive and demonstrate the full value of increased business acumen are rapidly introducing simulations into such programmes. An advantage with using an advanced simulation for developing commercial awareness and business acumen is the ability for learners to see the effect their decisions have on the financial as well as other areas of the business. Through a number of rounds they are also able to test different scenarios and strategies and learn which have the greatest impact on the organisations results. This tends to be why many senior managers and executives are keen for their managers to take part in an advanced simulation. People learn a tremendous amount; they learn a different vocabulary. They can talk to accountants more comfortably; they can read financial reports where they couldn’t before. The tangible results? Better decision making, where people are challenging the norms instead of saying, ‘Well that’s just the way it is.’
Organisations find innovative ways of using Business Simulations
It is surprising how creative organisations are becoming in the use of simulations and apart from the areas listed above some of the more inventive approaches include:
Team Away Days and Conferences
Organisations are now building simulation events in to team away days and conferences as a way of providing a business focused team activity that is challenging and fun for everyone involved, and when they add in the competitive element it delivers an event that is energetic and memorable.
Profit improvement programmes
Some organisations are keen to engage their managers in delivering immediate top or bottom-line results and are using simulations as a tool to teach them about business and how critical the need for better results. This is also blended with a simulation project that focuses on their actual organisation and requires the managers and teams to each identify, researched and validated projects that will drive significant results in the short term. Many trainers even have the teams present their plans to the executives and then follow the progress of each plan over the coming months.
Measuring learner progress
With the advanced simulations incorporating some of the latest technology it has become possible for trainers to observe and monitor the growth of knowledge, skills and capability of their learners. Previous board based simulation have been limited in the analysis and reporting functions which have made it more difficult to evaluate the growth in learning throughout the activities. The level of analysis and reporting has advanced greatly and it’s possible to measure:
• Retention of knowledge
• Functional capability of individuals and teams
• Growth in of individuals and team skill levels
• Strength and weaknesses of individuals and teams
• Decision making speed and ability
• Review and evaluation of team & business strategy • Peer evaluations and feedback
• Ability to respond to change
• Plus many of the more traditional training measures are available in more readily accessible formats
This level of measurement, analysis and reporting provides a powerful feature for trainers and managers who can now view the detailed progress and development of individuals and teams.
In conclusion
It appears that business simulations have now caught the attention of trainers and executives because of their ability to take experiential learning to a new level and also because they are 100% relevant to the business and every manager’s role.