Experiential Learning through Business Simulations Where Strategy and Practice Bring Action and Results
Why Experiential Learning Should Be a Critical Part of Your Next Training Program “To acquire behavior, the student must engage in behavior.” - B.F. Skinner Experiential learning by way of a business simulation takes leaders and teams out of their regular environment and explores interactive scenarios that allow participants to: Replicate real-life business scenarios Make mistakes in a safe-to-fail environment
Work through evolving challenges Take on multiple roles to gain perspective
Create applied strategies for development
Why Experiential Learning Works Adult learning retention research indicates that learning by doing is a highly effective training method that can lead to changed behavior, encourage engagement, and can impact organizations over the long term.
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Demonstration
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Discussion Group
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Learning By Doing
“Your Case for Training: Adult Learning Retention Statistics.” Office Dynamics March 25, 2015
Working with our clients to understand the unique nature of their business and specific needs, we collaborate to create a customized learning solution. Explore MHS’ line of business simulations in the following pages and learn how you can introduce them to your organization as standalone offerings or in conjunction with others tools to build dynamic, high performing teams and leaders. Be it an aspiring leader working their way up the corporate ladder, a newly formed team challenged by conflict, or a company affected by a disruptive change, our talent solutions help professionals within any industry and organizational level. MHS’ talent assessment tools and simulations center around a variety of subjects such as Emotional Intelligence, Change Management, Leadership Development, Succession Planning, Business Simulations, Hardiness, Sales, Customer Service, Entrepreneurship, and many more. MHS can design your learning offering from the ground up to capture sustained learning or we can leverage your experience to build evaluation criteria and measurement points to show the return on your investment.
Your Organizational Challenges, Our Personalized Solutions
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Looking for external support in facilitating workshops or simulations or wish to be certified in-house to run your own workshops? Our solutions suit both needs. Learn more at mhs.com/ISPA
Build high performing teams with a simulation focusing on teamwork and collaboration
mhs.com/paperplanes
Overview Paper Planes, Inc. focuses on teamwork, collaboration, organizational effectiveness, breaking down silos, engagement, and customer service. This award-winning change management simulation allows groups to learn the value of redesigning how they work, internalize those insights and bring them back to their jobs while also providing insights on how an organization or team can prepare for changes within their organizations. During the simulation, participants play the roles of employees in an aircraft manufacturing company — assembler, inspector, tester and so forth. Teams have an opportunity to sell as many planes as they can make that meet specific visual and performance quality standards defined by the customer and also have the opportunity to redesign the process. The Paper Planes Inc. materials come in a kit geared towards the number of participants involved.
Outcomes Gain first hand understanding of how engagement and collaboration can improve key organizational outcomes, including cost, quality, customer experience and employee satisfaction. Learn how to work together across functional boundaries, becoming more invested in team and organizational success. Break down barriers to organizational success and team-based change while reinforcing the power of teamwork and communication. Participants: 15-32 participants
Time: 6 hours
Partner with: Change Style Indicator (CSI); Influence Style Indicator (ISI); Change Navigator (CN)
mhs.com/paperscrapers
Overview
Explore how individuals and teams approach project development, design and implementation
Paper Scrapers is an engaging team-building simulation that explores project development, design, and implementation. Teams compete against one another to design, build, and market a tower using supplied materials. After construction, teams present their structures and choose the one that best meets specified criteria. Participants learn the value of creating, planning, implementing, and selling their team’s respective project.
Outcomes Emphasizes the value of careful planning prior to implementation Highlights the necessity of good communication and decision making Enables participants to understand and value the need to sell ideas Confronts tradeoffs between creativity and implementation Examines the differences in how people deal with rules, regulations, and structure
Participants: Up to 100 participants in groups of 4-9
Time: 2 hours
Partner with: Change Style Indicator (CSI); Influence Style Indicator (ISI); Decision Style Profile (DSP)
Navigate dynamic relationships, conflicts and trade-offs
mhs.com/edgework
Overview Edgework is an innovative corporate team building exercise, that increases the capacity of individuals and teams to perform in cross-organizational and cross-functional contexts. As its name suggests, Edgework explores how those on the edges of organizations can build better working relationships with their counterparts in other organizations, given their respective goals, conflicts, and interdependencies. Edgework offers substantial opportunities for participants to learn as they complete assignments, overcome hardships, and work with others over the course of several distinct phases.
Outcomes Challenges groups to think about working together in new ways to produce results Provides a setting for teams to discuss their organizational challenges Confronts participants with a rapidly changing environment that demands fluid boundaries and boundary-spanning discussions Challenges participants to evaluate a diversity of perspectives and values
Participants: 15-24 participants
Time: 6 hours
Partner with: Change Style Indicator (CSI); Influence Style Indicator (ISI)
mhs.com/presstime
Overview
Operate a business threatened with loss of market share in a high-stakes environment
PressTime is an in-depth business problem in the form of a simulation. This executive-level simulation is run in groups of six to eight participants, who are tasked with bringing a new product to market while dealing with competitors, financial decisions, and personnel issues. PressTime touches on many important leadership competencies and includes a very thorough debrief, discussing topics ranging from the team’s strategy to individual feedback. When used with self-assessments or 360 instruments, it is one of the most powerful management simulations available.
Outcomes Develop strategic leadership and problem-solving skills Develop improved decision-making capabilities Identify participants’ team leadership strengths and developmental needs Enhance participants’ ability to lead critical organizational projects Improve teamwork and interpersonal communication skills Enhance understanding of the value of cross-functional teams
Participants: 6-8 per team
Time: 1.5 days
Partner with: Decision Style Profile (DSP); Influence Style Indicator (ISI); Discovery Leadership Profile (DLP)
Think critically, make timely decisions, manage risk and react to changing market demands
mhs.com/exchange
Overview The Exchange challenges participants to work together within an environment of complex data, ambiguity, and time pressure. Each participant is a member of a team that earns points by trading Combos. The Combos are formed by assembling colored medallions into predefined groupings. The Combos have an initial value as well as emerging values and liabilities. The assignment is to collect as many points as possible by trading Combos over four trading sessions. To succeed, participants must engage in critical thinking, work effectively with their colleagues, mine available data, recognize emerging trends, maintain flexibility, and act decisively.
Outcomes Creates awareness of team’s biases toward reactive versus innovative change Reveals a group’s ability to work effectively in a dynamic and evolving environment Highlights the need for efficient and effective decision-making processes Examines the impact of risk and uncertainty on strategy and execution
Participants: 12-32 participants
Time: 2-2.5 hours
Partner with: Risk Type Compass (RTC); Decision Style Profile (DSP); Influence Style Indicator (ISI)
mhs.com/acquisition
Overview
Compare the quality of decisions reached by consensus and those made individually
The Acquisition explores group problem solving and decision making. This short exercise compares the quality of decisions reached by consensus and those made individually. It also teaches participants how to work more effectively as teams while using the expertise of individual team members. In the business case, a board of directors calls for a detailed outline of critical steps to be taken to ensure a successful acquisition. Each participant decides individually on the order in which these steps should be carried out. The participants then meet as a group to agree on the order they will present to the board. The result reached by consensus is then compared to an expert solution. Reaching this collective decision engages participants in group dynamics and provides an opportunity for individuals to exercise their influencing skills.
Outcomes Explores effective team problem solving and decision making Enables individuals to become better contributors to a group Compares individual decision making to group decision making Helps participants test their ability to influence others
Participants: 3-5 participants per group
Time: 1-2 hours
Partner with: Influence Style Indicator (ISI); Decision Style Profile (DSP); Emerging Leader Profile (ELP)
Consider pairing these tools with our Business Simulations:
And many more at mhs.com/talent
From Resistance to Resilience
About MHS | Intelligent Solutions for People Analytics Combining the power of people analytics with proven training and development best practices, we help organizations attract, retain, and develop top talent.
Contact Us | Meet Your MHS Talent Solutions Consultants
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Find out more at mhs.com/talent USA Tel: 1.800.456.3003 . CAN Tel: 1.800.268.6011 . INT Tel: 1.800.456.3003 mhs.com/talent . growyourbusiness@mhs.com