Free leadership apps: 11 browser-based tools for leaders and teams

Free and browser-based

These are the free leadership apps from Business Simulations, built for learning and development (L&D) managers, senior leaders, and the teams they develop. Every app runs in the browser and is designed to work on mobile phones as well as laptops and tablets, so there is nothing to download.

None of the apps require registration or installation. Simply click and experience.

Use them on their own for a quick self-assessment, or alongside a leadership development programme to give participants something practical to work with between sessions. They are the same tools we use in our own business simulation workshops.

'The unexamined life is not worth living.' Socrates (470 to 399 BC)

Apps for leading change

DICE change management calculator

The DICE calculator assesses the risk of any proposed major change programme using the well-regarded DICE model, originally developed by the Boston Consulting Group from research into more than 200 major change initiatives.

Score four attributes and the calculator places your programme into one of three risk categories:

• Project duration
• Team integrity
• Organisational commitment
• Additional effort required

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Stakeholder analysis tool

A stakeholder map is a very useful technique at the start of any major programme involving change. You analyse the key stakeholders who may be affected by, or have an interest in, the programme, so you know:

• Who you need to influence
• In what way
• In which priority

This free app supports the construction of these stakeholder maps.

Launch app

Change leadership assessment

This app gives a quick assessment of change leadership skills on any phone, tablet, or device with internet access. Use it as a stand-alone check or alongside a group learning intervention such as a business simulation.

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If these three tools show a gap, the change management challenge page sets out how our simulations, including Influence and Cohesion, build change leadership in practice.

Apps for teams and collaboration

Leadership collaborative skills diagnostic

A quick collaboration skills assessment covering 12 collaborative skills, giving leaders a broader view of what it means to be an effective collaborator. Use the list to assess how effective you and your colleagues are at this vital management discipline.

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Leadership feedback app

The team leader check lets a team lead capture and consolidate feedback on their leadership from peers and team members across seven key areas, covering both the management of individual team members and the management of the team as a whole.

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Skill will matrix

The skill will matrix helps a manager decide how to lead each person on a given task. Place each person by their skill (can they do it?) and their will (do they want to?), and the quadrant they land in tells you whether to direct, guide, excite, or delegate.

Name the task as well as the person, because the same person can sit in a different quadrant for each part of their job.

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TELSA assessment

TELSA, the Twelve Essential Leadership Skills Assessment, is a 12-point assessment for managers and leaders to rate themselves on their interaction with team members, their interaction with non-team members, and how they manage themselves.

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For teams, the high-performing teams challenge page shows how Cohesion and Crew turn these diagnostics into lasting learning.

Apps for decisions and risk

Risk-cost-reward map

Performing a risk-cost-reward analysis is a very useful way to evaluate different courses of action. Each option is placed on a simple three-by-three matrix, with the axes showing the risks and costs associated with it.

This free app supports the construction of shareable risk-cost-reward maps, and can be used alongside training simulations.

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Risk analysis tool

A risk map helps you identify the potential risks that could hit any major project. Once you have identified them, classify each risk by its impact on the programme (high, medium, or low) and its likelihood of happening (high, medium, or low).

You are then well placed to decide what mitigation is needed for each risk, starting with the highest priority.

Launch app

For leaders who want to practise these judgements under pressure, the strategic thinking challenge page covers simulations such as Dilemma.

Apps for self-reflection

Stress management app

This self-diagnostic app lets individuals set stress tolerance levels and monitor perceived stress on their phones during a group activity, such as a business simulation.

Launch app

Self-reflection cards for leaders

These leadership self-reflection cards, or 'iCards', support one of the most important parts of any group learning session: self-reflection.

Most reflection exercises happen at a few set points, such as the end of an in-simulation round. iCards let participants reflect between those points, which increases their potential learning effectiveness.

Launch iCards

Need something built around your own business?

If you want tools and simulations that use your own industry, products, and terminology, our tailor-made simulation service builds them for you. To talk it through, get in touch.