Simulation games for organizational development

Summary:

At a time when organizations seek to optimize the “intellectual capital” resources of their members, the implementation of adequate training, education and professional development tools are essential to face the changes that the future makes us foresee. It is in this chaotic and changing environment where simulation games prove to be a good solution for those responsible for Human Resources. Simulating reality, or what would be the same, reality-based business simulation games point out as the best solution for a permanent process of review, remodeling, and reformulation of the required capabilities and needs. In the same way that reality changes, that the company changes, the simulation game of reality must adapt to the same changes.

1. Introduction

In an unstoppable process of study and research, in the direction of an exponential improvement, of the use of the capacities of the different human beings that make up our organizations. In an environment in which a good part of the recently incorporated lexicon, "mentoring", "coaching", "knowledge management", "e-learning", "intellectual capital", etc. Their primary objective is to channel or improve the application of what the staff "knows" - of knowing, not of knowing, of wisdom, not of knowledge -, it seems clear that there is a generalized coincidence that the learning and improvement processes, they must go through incorporating the different experiences lived and assimilating them as habits to their own life, in such a way that the necessary capacities,for the performance of the various functions of the position held in the Organization, are something natural and proper to the individual.

In other words, the goal would be for the individual to be able to make the right decisions at all times in a natural way.

However, it is difficult, if not impossible, in an increasingly complex and demanding world, to find the optimal point, by many assessment centers or group dynamics studies that are applied, no matter how much specialization there is in the assessment processes. internal selection and training. And yet, having found the optimum for today, it may not be the optimum for tomorrow, with which, the whole process becomes something that must be permanently present in the culture of the organization: revision, remodeling, and reformulation of the capacities and needs required must be a permanent process.

It is evident that with this type of approach one cannot be more than pessimistic. Well, if you only really learn from lived experience, what risks are organizations willing to take when accepting that individuals are human beings and are often wrong. In reality, very few organizations grant a wide margin.

As an anecdote, a phrase often used by a manager of a reputed company comes to mind:

«In my department we always admit 2 mistakes, the first and the last»

We know that this is the prevailing mindset.

For this reason, in our modest understanding, the organizations that will have a significant differential advantage will only be those that are willing to bear the mistakes of the individuals in their Organization, since it is from the mistakes that most is learned.

The more mistakes that have been made in the past, the fewer mistakes will be made in the future.

For this reason, we accept the following definition of learning:

«Learning is a process that lasts a lifetime and through it, the subject that is the product of motivation, faced with a problem situation, solves it by reaching the goal, modifying itself in a lasting way. This transformation allows transferring what has been learned to new situations. (Hilda Santos)

And for this reason, also, only those companies that include within their organizational culture the concepts of training, education and lifelong learning, will be able to make medium and long-term plans. It is true that the mission of the objectives of most Western companies is focused on surviving the accounting period in force, meeting the objectives set for the current fiscal year, or at most meeting the biannual or five-year planning plans.

In this way, what incentives can managers find to work for the future?

However, all is not lost, it is possible to resort to science and new technologies to accelerate the maturation processes in decision-making. There are various and novel forms, we present below the one that seems most valid at this time.

2. Concept of company simulated game

It is a planned activity where the participants have to face challenges that reproduce the days of each day. All decisions are the responsibility of the individual and reflect situations specific to the business environment.

In the simulated game we can identify all the characteristics of reality: defined rules, presence of competitive spirit, possibilities of identifying winners and losers, fascination and tension.

What differentiates simulated gambling from the real thing is that, ultimately, the penalties are real and can cost the loss of position, trust, prestige and job. In the simulated situation, by contrast, people who make a mistake are encouraged to try again. It is from error and experience that the opportunities to learn are greater.

During the game, your technical skills are put into practice. The process is similar to your everyday life. Possibly it will act within its decision-making pattern and, based on the results achieved, it will be possible to foresee and re-plan actions that exceed it. Such experiences must contribute to improving their performance in a real situation, which requires concrete responses and actions.

To achieve the objectives, the players go through a process of intra and intergroup communication, where everyone is required to use skills, such as:

hear, process, understand and pass on information; give and receive feedback assertively; disagree with courtesy respecting the opinion of others; adopt cooperative positions; give space for colleagues; change your mind; treat conflicting ideas with flexibility and neutrality.

Such experience serves as a laboratory for the development and awareness of individual behavior and attitude change needs.

Regarding Roles, each one assumes the role that is most familiar to him, spontaneously, without interference or external determinations.

Business management simulations are powerful learning tools that make it possible for participants in them to learn about the factors that influence the different areas of their businesses by communicating, arguing, negotiating, competing, making decisions, reaching commitments and putting test your ideas creatively without exposing yourself to the risks of a real situation.

Participants have to handle information -quantitative and qualitative- and set objectives that can be fully or partially achieved. They also experience the consequences of their own decisions and actions, facing the multiple uncertainties arising from their incomplete understanding of the situation and the actions of their competitors and other external entities.

The simulations cannot offer a real experience, but they offer the closest thing to it, an indirect experience of an almost addictive nature due to the strong motivation they generate in the participants thanks to their participatory and interactive nature and the competitive factors that produce high levels of commitment.

The vast majority of participants in business simulations mention that participating in them was their most rewarding and memorable learning experience. In 1999, Training Managers and Managers of all types of organizations in the UK were questioned in a survey about the benefits of business simulations as a training tool. The results of the survey showed that the simulations help participants to:

Understand the interrelationship between the different functional areas of your company and better understand those in which they are not specialists. Develop skills for teamwork. Simulations often make it possible to form highly cohesive teams and allow exploring different roles and their impact on team performance. Developing skills for decision-making. Quick and unambiguous reports with the results allow participants to verify very clearly the consequences of their decisions Increase functional knowledge and skills Develop skills to cope with change, risk and uncertainty.

All these factors explain why company simulations are becoming the core of MBA-type courses in numerous European and North American Business Schools, occupying up to 40-50% of the teaching hours, and the basis of numerous Training and Training Seminars. Update for executives.

3. What types of business simulation exist?

There is no unanimous criterion as to a general ranking of simulation games.

According to Ricardo Lucas (RRHHmagazine.com) we could distinguish the following:

1) Role-plays. This type of simulation focuses on human behavior. They enable participants to act out situations that they face at work or that they hope to encounter in the future.

2) Simulation games. A game could be defined as a structured activity in which two or more participants compete within the limitations established by a series of rules to achieve a goal. A simulation game combines the features of games and simulations in a simulation-based game. Simulation games are usually exercises in which the environment is modeled by information sheets, cards, table tops, or a computer program. Simulation games are also often called "business games"

3) Simulations based on reality. They are used to facilitate the change of attitudes and skills in a small group of people, with the aim that this change has a direct impact on job performance. They are usually developed as "in-house" exercises designed by the trainer, in those cases in which the environment and the parameters of the task can be both real and modeled. The objectives of a reality-based simulation are related to the ways in which managers perform their functions within a specific organization, to facilitate organizational change through concrete measures.

4) "Outdoor" simulations. Its objective is to get managers to abandon conditioned ways of perceiving themselves within a team and about the functioning of those same teams. In the “outdoor” exercises, participants have to face a series of challenges making decisions that are very different from those they usually make in their jobs. The process helps participants develop a better vision of everything that is involved in decision-making and the roles played by the environment and its employees.

According to María Rita Gramigna (psicologiacientifica.com) they could be classified as:

1) Behavioral games: They are those whose central theme allows us to work on issues related to behavioral skills. In them, the facilitator emphasizes issues such as: cooperation, inter and intra-group relationships, flexibility, courtesy, affection, trust and self-confidence, among others.

2) Process games: In process games, the major emphasis is on technical skills. They are prepared in such a way that, to achieve their objectives, the teams go through simulated processes.

3) Market games: They have the same characteristics as process games, but are oriented towards activities that reproduce market situations.

4. What characteristics should a simulation game have for multifunctional use?

Without adding new conditions and based on the classifications in the previous section, it could be said:

1) Regarding what we would call behavioral games, it must allow working on behavioral skills, cooperation, inter and intra-group relationships, flexibility, courtesy, affection, confidence and self-confidence, among others.

2) Regarding what we would call process games, it should allow working on technical skills

plan and set goals; agree; apply principles of effective communication; analyze, criticize, classify, organize and synthesize; lead and coordinate groups; manage time and resources; establish work methods; create strategies to make decisions; organize production processes; elaborate sales and marketing schemes, manage finances; implement ideas, projects and plans.

3) Regarding what we would call market games, it should allow the reproduction of real market situations, such as:

competencies; company - supplier relationship; decision making with calculated risk; outsourcing and market implications company - supplier partnership; supplier - consumer relationship; market surveys; strategies and expansion in the market; large-scale negotiation.

4) Regarding what we would call role-play games, they must reproduce real situations that the participant will face in their usual activity.

5) Regarding what we would call simulation games, we must find ourselves faced with the possibility of fixed rules and the possibility of setting measurable objectives.

6) Regarding what we would call simulation games based on reality, we must face real situations that force us to verify whether the decisions made are correct or not, promoting the change of attitudes, adapting them to the processes in which positive results are obtained.

7) Regarding what we would call “outdoor” simulations, we must face real but unusual situations or very different from those carried out in the position, allowing us to achieve a general vision of the processes involved.

It should also take place in a controlled environment and with measurable objectives. It should be easy to implement for organizations and easy to access and use for participants.

5. Business simulations are the ideal way to overcome barriers to learning.

An extensive body of literature and empirical research confirms the power of simulations to change behavior by giving managers the opportunity to experiment, test their hypotheses, and learn from their mistakes in a risk-free environment.

Numerous studies have shown that with simulations students achieve higher degrees of knowledge and retention of what they have learned than with other teaching methods. The many advantages of simulations include the following:

Learning by doing Motivation Risk-free environment Teamwork Time compression Realism Intelligent interaction Participant competition Comprehensive learning experience Accelerated learning Scalability Increased attention

There are a variety of options on the market to partially meet the requirements you should meet. Both for internal development in organizations and outsourced.

6. Where is the optimal reality simulation game?

All the previous premises, we have found them only in one place: Civitis.

We are in the presence of a free online strategy game that, unlike other games, in which hypothetical or imaginary situations are recreated, simulates the real functioning of Western cultural societies.

This implies acting as a citizen, as a businessman and even as a politician.

Every citizen manages a company with all the implications that this entails, staff, suppliers, customers, quality, stocks, markets, export, import, tax impact, legislative impact.

In short, a similar operation to that faced by our companies and managers.

Citizens and companies, and even countries, interact in real time with other citizens and companies, therefore, the cost strategy, sales strategies, positioning strategy, planning strategy, etc. must be established at all times. appropriate, and correct them immediately in case of failure.

The game places the apprentice before the need to make dozens of quick decisions, to adapt to reality, which he himself helps to shape. Any action that the participant takes will immediately affect the rest of the players who will also react accordingly immediately.

A low price policy will have an impact in a few minutes. A high quality and segmentation strategy will pay off or not within the same week.

But also, by living, dealing, negotiating, collaborating, competing with other citizens, it adds a social component to the management of the company. The company affects its social environment.

Each player acquires a personal role, to achieve their objectives, a role that can change if it does not give the results that have been set.

The game itself does not begin or end, as in reality. It has neither a beginning nor an end in itself.

It begins when the player joins, having to adapt to an existing social and business reality, having to set his own goals. The success or failure of your strategies is measured according to the degree of achievement of your objectives. Goals that can be adapted or corrected, to establish new benchmarks. With this, it provides a controlled and measurable environment, necessary for monitoring the participant's personal evolution.

It is a structured, changing and hostile environment, which constantly tests the capacities and abilities, both technical and behavioral, of the participants.

It allows to interact and organize as a group, with objectives superimposed on the individual ones.

But also, it is a permanent process. A participant of today who leaves the game, temporarily or permanently, upon returning finds a reality that within the same rules and regulations of the game, can be absolutely different. Different tax policies, different tariff policies, different labor policies, different costs, different suppliers. Whereupon, the game starts over from scratch.

It allows adding components that cannot be incorporated in other types of game, such as social prestige, the politics of relationships and references, espionage, playing the political card of support from the Government.

In short, a social simulation game that recreates circumstances of reality.

The reaction to any action is not conditioned by the attitude of the player towards the trainer or fellow players. The reactions to any situation are real, since the rest of the participants are real people, just like our apprentice.

For companies or trainers it also has other advantages:

The game is always online, that is, it is a tool always available. It has specific online support for organizational learning. It does not require preparation beyond the availability of an internet connection for the players. The trainer has the means to monitor the set social or business objectives The trainer can put the trainee in extreme situations at an economic level He has game support and a specific area of self-training in the application of strategy and business management concepts, which gives him added value. The game facilitates the general understanding of the operation of the company, of society and of its relationship with the markets.

In short, the best tool for practicing strategic and business decision making. The best team integration and monitoring tool.

Because in addition, every time you want to repeat the experience, the rules and regulations will be the same but the initial starting and development conditions will be different.

7. Information of interest:

The game itself:

The set of rules and regulations: http://reglas.civitis.com

The game as a learning and training tool:

8. Bibliography used:

Reference articles on the internet: