Can a Business Simulation energise your next virtual team event?

Article by Ken Thompson, last updated February 2021

We get asked a lot if we have any business simulations which can be used for virtual events and conferences? For example virtual team away days, "kickstart-the-new-year" events and even Christmas celebrations.

When you drill-down into this request you will find there are actually 10 specific requirements which are needed for a business simulation to be effective in this setting.

A simulation suitable for a virtual event should:

  1. Provide light (but not deep nor complex) learning on a relevant business topic
  2. Be able to be explained and demoed in 10 minutes maximum 
  3. Not require any downloads and work on any device including mobile phones 
  4. Offer a team-building and networking experience for a group as a whole
  5. Be playable by multiple teams concurrently
  6. Provide a real-time leaderboard so teams can see how they are doing against each other
  7. Be fun, exciting and competitive (or collaborative)
  8. Be suitable for large groups (50-500)
  9. Be fully completed in two hours (or less)
  10. Work for virtual events with all participants attending remotely via technologies such as Zoom.

So do such business simulations exist?

The answer is a definite YES ....however you do need to choose your simulation carefully and make sure you are adequately prepared in terms of technology setup, facilitation and time management of the event.

So if you need some professional “edutainment” for a larger group over a short time window we can suggest 3 excellent business simulation options:

1. Pulse Simulations

We split the group into up to 50 teams of 4-5 players per team.

Each team is the leadership team of a cruise ship which will encounter an unexpected major incident. (We can also create a custom Pulse Simulation on a topic of your choice but we would need at least 6 weeks notice).

Key Pulse Learning Areas:

High Performing Teams, Customer Focus and Values Conflicts.

More details on Pulse Simulations

2. CompeteXL

Here we split the group into up to 18 teams of 4-5 players per team. Each team is the management of a busy coffee shop competing for market share in a highly competitive market.

Key CompeteXL Learning Areas:

High Performing Teams, Business Acumen/Business Strategy and Collaboration.

More details on CompeteXL

3. PlayOff

We split the room into sub-groups each of which consists of 4 teams of 4-5 players per team. Each team is a professional soccer team competing in a champions league style competition against the other 3 teams with a unique twist on normal rules of the game which allows collaboration. The winning teams from each group go forward into a grand finale.

Key PlayOff Learning Areas:

High Performing Teams, Agile Strategy/Game Theory and Collaboration.

More details on PlayOff

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More about Ken Thompson

Ken Thompson

Ken is a practitioner, author and speaker on Leadership, Collaborative Working, High Performing Teams, Change Management, Project Management and Business Acumen. His work has featured in major publications including The Guardian , Wired Magazine, The Huffington Post and The Henry Ford Magazine. Ken has also spoken at many international events including TEDx, the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI), Learn Tech (London) and NASA.

Ken is Founder of Business Simulations Ltd.

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We transform Leadership Development using Business Simulations, guided by three principles:

Goals, Roles & Souls

Why Choose Business Simulations?

We champion Business Simulations as an effective and engaging form of Leadership Development. 'Learn by doing' hones skills in a safe and controlled environment.

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