Accelerating high-performing team skills through business simulations
By Ken Thompson, Aug 21, 2019 Last updated Jun 11, 2025
We just debriefed an exciting 8-week intensive programme with a group of new and experienced managers in a global technology and services company.
The programme was based around the very popular Cohesion high-performing teams business simulation which allows learners to experience the ‘ups and downs’ of building and leading high-performing teams.
Cohesion is quite unique in that it addresses both the change management and process improvement aspects of creating great teams.
How did the participants rate the Business Simulation?
The participants scored the simulation itself, its usability and its functionality very positively:
- How would you rate your experience with the simulation-based learning tool? 4.38/5
- How would you rate the user friendliness of the interface? 4.44/5
- How would you rate the features of the user interface? 4.38/5
How did the participants rate the overall learning experience?
Participants were positive about the whole learning experience - particularly about the effectiveness of learning through gamification and the return on own their time invested in the programme.
- How would you rate the concept of learning using gamification? 4.2/5
- How would you rate this programme's value for time committed? 4.15/5
- How would you rate this programme's impact on your confidence in building a high-performing team? 4.2/5
- How would you rate this programme's impact on your confidence in change management? 4.1/5
- How would you rate this programme's impact on your confidence in improving team leadership skills? 3.9/5
Participant comments on the programme
At the end of the programme, delegates were asked what they found most valuable about their eight-week simulation-based learning experience - here are some of the main things they said:
Working out each intervention with the team members and the team overall was brilliant and reminded me of taking incremental steps to change management.
Sometimes I push people to move too quickly - the simulation has helped me reflect and be more self-aware about bringing people along with me.
The ability to focus on people and process without the distraction of other things helped my understanding of the whole team engagement aspect
Sponsor feedback
This was a good investment and an excellent use of busy manager time. We were delighted with the feedback as business simulations are a relatively new area for us. It is difficult to overstate the difference between completing a simulation like this and typical e-learning programmes in terms of both learner engagement levels and learning value. There simply is no comparison! We are currently looking to see where else we can use these simulations within the group.
For further information on our Cohesion simulation please get in touch or read more
About the Author
Ken is an expert practitioner, author and speaker on collaboration, high-performing teams and game based learning.