Business Simulations and Active Learning

Pink Elephant offers many options for learning in a highly interactive way. Learning by doing means that participants are behaviorally and cognitively very active as they role play through a meaningful business situation to solve a specific problem. This type of learning complements theoretical education by providing a dynamic, reactive, risk-free environment for attendees to engage in, which helps to close the gap between the knowledge acquired during a traditional course and the actual skills required in real-life on-the-job work situations.

Benefits of Learning by Doing with Business Simulations

Experiential learning – where you are actually called upon to experience real work situations – has been shown to be very effective. A simulation allows participants to learn by experiencing the consequences of their actions because there is opportunity to execute different approaches and strategies to see different outcomes. Other benefits of business simulations include:

• Simulations are a learning tool that replicate on-the-job, real-life experiences; learning by doing has been proven to effectively exemplify theoretical business concepts
• The activities involved promote increased thinking and engagement (and enjoyment!)
• Simulations allow students to learn as if they were really positioned in a specific role within an organisation, except the mistakes made don’t have any costly consequences to the business!
• The lessons learned and mistakes made enable improved knowledge retention, decision-making, and communication skills
• The teamwork required to solve problems has the advantage of creating a common culture among the participants. It pushes them to think together, make decisions together, and resolve conflicts together

The Format of Business Simulations

Pink Elephant’s business simulations all include the following components:

• A business simulation is typically one day in duration
• Each business simulation focuses on a specific subject area such as DevOps, ITIL^® 4, Lean IT, etc.
• Because of the role playing format, there is a set maximum and minimum number of attendees required
• Participants are assigned roles that mirror real-life jobs and work teams
• A business situation is presented to the group, which involves a specific problem that has to be resolved
• A Pink facilitator is on hand during the entire period of time to guide and direct the discussions
• Checkpoints along the way provide an opportunity to assess what teams have done well and what has not worked well, with an opportunity to take corrective action
• An end-of-day lessons-learned discussion highlights the key learning points

Online Virtual Format

Today’s challenging times call for creative approaches to team training. Some of Pink’s business simulations are now available in a virtual, live online format. Here’s how it works:

• The same overall approach and activities are involved as described above for onsite delivery.
• Participants are given online access to their “room” one week before the workshop and are given easy-to-follow instructions for pre-workshop activities to get them used to various aspects of maneuvering their way around.
• Pink Elephant’s skilled facilitator provides clear guidance and direction throughout the entire virtual workshop, which enables the participants to enjoy a very meaningful educational experience. “It’s just like being together” is a common theme heard from attendees who have participated in the virtual online simulation.

List of Business Simulations Available

Questions?

Contact us at info@pinkelephant.com.