The benefits of workplace simulation

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the demand for upskilling through professional development grew.

At the same time, creativity, innovation, and agile thinking have become critical skillsets for productivity and economic growth. As such, taking the correct steps to equip your people with the resources needed to function and speak with confidence in the workplace is crucial for businesses.

Business simulation aids this movement. Simulation prepares staff for the use of a versatile range of skills to a variety of difficult scenarios they might find themselves in at work.

By artificially recreating workplace experiences using simulation-based education, such as having difficult conversations, the necessary skills employees need to cope and excel can be cultivated.

Common skills addressed through simulation include communication skills for difficult conversations. Participants take turns in the ‘hot spot,’ interacting with the facilitator/actor in a stop-start simulation process.

During the simulation, there are opportunities provided for reflection and experimentation, and for contributions from observers, such as other participants, to explore alternative outcomes to the scenario.

Attendees know the conversations within the training are not real, but the situations presented are. This is the bedrock on which simulation is built.

The greater the perception of authenticity in the simulation experience, the greater the gains for authentic learning.

Why simulation works

Simulation is a teaching and learning technique that relies on sharing knowledge and experience in a setting where you can nominate the level of risk you wish to take, and try out strategies you would usually hesitate to engage in.

Therefore, it provides participants with a high level of control over the experience; something which life experience alone does not often afford.

As a pedagogy, simulation training also enables deliberate and repeated practice to happen within a structured and safe environment.

It is a highly engaging and interactive learning experience, and provides the opportunity to spend time on practice, receive feedback, discuss scenarios, explore alternative courses of action, as well as build confidence.

It works because most of us gain confidence in facing different situations because of previous experiences: good or bad.  Simulation is a way of accelerating this process, by using a format which allows us to learn from others’ experiences and train our own muscle memory.

Simulation bridges the gap between the theoretical training of skills and the application of these skills in the workplace.

As such, it can help develop work readiness, including developing some of the most wanted employability skills by employers, such as creativity and communication already mentioned, as well as problem solving and teamwork.

Alternatively, simulation may address factors that can negatively affect work readiness, such as stress.

Research has shown that simulation education can reduce the anxiety students experience during internships, facilitate adjustment to a professional role, enable emotional preparation for difficult situations, and improve professional competence, all of which can undermine confidence.

This type of training offers participants a level of exposure to ‘real life’ situations that can be stressful to deal with. By simulating these experiences within a training context, related stress can be managed, and appropriate coping mechanisms, such as making use of good working relationships, taking precautions to avoid certain outcomes, taking care of the self by seeking support, and staying physically safe, can be harnessed.

Indeed, this paper on emotions and simulation purports that “…simulation-based sessions are particularly well suited for stress inoculation and other forms of emotional regulation training”.

In sum, realistic expectations of the world of work are created, so participants can use their resources effectively to deal with emerging challenges.

The proof is in the… feedback

The effectiveness of simulation as a learning tool has been proven and examples of its application are many. In industries like medicine, the military and aviation this method has long been used to facilitate effective and safe performance in challenging and hazardous situations.

There is an abundance of evidence that shows that simulations are effective in training people to do highly process-driven tasks and perform procedural skills, but it would be a mistake to assume that’s the only thing they’re good for.

In a study published in British Journal of Medical Practitioners, medical trainees tried to manage complex communication scenarios simulated in role-playing exercises with professional actors assuming the roles of patients.

All participants reported that their skills and confidence has increased, with 100% reporting that they found the exercise useful.

Similarly, in research conducted with health service board members, simulation-based training was used to improve communication skills during board meetings.

Published in BMJ Open, the results showed that board members’ skills and confidence in communicating during board meetings improved, and their familiarity with the situations and scenarios they could expect to experience at work strengthened.

A greater competence in managing those scenarios, and confidence in reaching desirable outcomes was also demonstrated.

The potential of simulations to develop soft skills has also been praised by professional consultants, including industry heavyweights like McKinsey. Many consultancies offer simulation games and exercises, all based on the premise that practice makes perfect.

But the use of learning theories and pedagogical frameworks based on research evidence to deliver simulation is the critical piece that makes the difference between effectively and ineffectively executed simulation attempts.

Such frameworks enable educators and trainers to plan, prepare, communicate, execute, and evaluate the effectiveness of simulation-based training, and to make evidence informed improvements.

Simulation training is not just for the C-Suite

Simulation is a versatile tool that can be applied to almost any role and any staff member. It has been a critical learning tool across a number of fields and is now a growing learning approach in business.

Whilst the context, participants, and scenarios may change, the use of a pedagogical framework facilitates the application of simulation reliably each time.

This involves preparing logistically, briefing, and talking through the content of the scenario, simulating the scenario, debriefing on the simulation experience, and providing feedback to participants, observers, and facilitators in an effort to improve outcomes and processes, and evaluate success.

Within this structure, almost anything can be worked on. Anyone, in any workplace, has difficult conversations they wish they could explore and prepare for; that is what simulation training is designed to achieve.

Looking forward

There is an extensive body of evidence supporting the effectiveness of simulation as a learning tool across a range of disciplines.

In the world of business, where the stakes are often high, where negotiations can be critical, it pays to engage in deliberate practice.

The training gives participants an opportunity to simultaneously learn from peers and from themselves in a low-risk environment that allows for repetition in a way real life doesn’t.

As with any training and development opportunity, businesses need to plan and prepare based on clearly articulated training needs, learning outcomes, and organizational support.

The more prepared the organization is to approve, deliver, and utilize the outcomes of this type of training, the better.

And, unlike in the fields of medicine or aviation, there are no necessary infrastructure or equipment costs in business. Simulation can be used with as little as a group of participants seated around a table, and an experienced facilitator.

Participants need to prepare too, mentally. When participants are prepared to step outside their comfort zones (or at least, closer to the edges), they will learn more about themselves and their capabilities.

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