MURCan playing a business simulation help you not only survive, but thrive and come out stronger even during a global pandemic? I absolutely believe It can! In fact, you gain insights naturally as a result of playing simulations. Here are the 3 lessons I learnt from playing business simulations.
Confusion Precedes Clarity
When you play a business simulation, you are bombarded with a large amount of information at the beginning of the game. As you are new to the environment, the first ten minutes involve making sense of all the information and learning how to play. Your mind is flooded with unanswered questions regarding the right actions to take. But as you keep playing and moving forward, the questions get answered and the confusion is replaced with better understanding of the game.
The pandemic has forced us to make unprecedented changes in our lives. New changes often create confusion but it is important to remember that confusion is a natural response to such a situation and in time, it will be replaced with more clarity.
Focus On Key Variables
When playing a start-up business simulation, there are different business scenarios thrown at you. Each scenario is a problem from a different domain like marketing, operations, internal staff, competition, market environment, etc. It is easy to get caught in solving individual challenges and lose sight of the larger goal of the game. In order to avoid falling prey to every problem which demands your attention, it is beneficial to identify some key variables that affect your goal achievement. Focusing on a few key variables like revenue achievement, sales, And profitability will ensure that you never go off-track and lose the simulation.
As we get used to the new normal, it is easy to become busy without being productive in our day to day lives. It is essential to be clear on our goals but its not enough. We must identify what actions have the biggest impact on your goals and prioritize them.
Take Feedback
When you play an online simulation, every decision you take has an impact in the game. In a leadership sim, a bad decision can bring down the morale of your team resulting in an overall poor performance. Weather the impact is positive or negative, it definitely helps you in choosing your next set of actions. It becomes a powerful tool of feedback to succeed in the simulation.
When we try out new projects at work, it is crucial to take a step back and obtain some feedback on your actions. It may be positive or negative but it surely benefits us in the long run. A business simulation is not just an inter-active learning experience, but it has the power to bring out the most useful lessons in a safe environment.
