The Dividing Line Between Simulation Success and Failure

Patrick Mileham, director of editorial development for learning simulations vendor NexLearn, provided us with the following response to Tech Talk's Sept. 2 profile of The Coca-Cola Company's simulation training:

“It’s no surprise The Coca-Cola Company is experiencing great success incorporating simulations into its training strategy. Mr. Hildebrand is absolutely correct when he says “the more realistic the simulation, the easier it is for people to…apply their new capabilities and knowledge.” Realistic scenarios, storylines, and dialog help disguise the learning, which encourages users to be more open to participating in the training process.

The benefits of a story-centered curriculum have been touted for many years. However, recent advancements in simulation development technology now make it easier to replicate on-the-job environments, processes, and—most importantly—decision-making opportunities that are truly meaningful to individual learners.

More companies are using simulation-based training because it promotes active participation. Instead of passively learning about the skills required for effective negotiating, communicating, and decision-making, simulation users actively learn to be better negotiators, communicators, and decision-makers by practicing the behavior until it becomes routine.

Here a few tips for developing effective simulations:

• Create specific goals and relevant challenges to keep users engaged and emotionally attached to the outcomes.
• Avoid the tendency to push knowledge to users (i.e., telling them what they need to know). Simulations are not PowerPoint presentations. Rather, motivate users to want to acquire the information they need to make the best decision at the right time to complete the simulation successfully. To accomplish this, work into the storyline access to important information via devices such as character dialog, performance-based feedback, hyperlinks, and resource folders.
• Develop an interesting scenario with believable characters, settings, and decision-making opportunities. It’s often easier to retain information when it’s wrapped neatly in an appealing storyline and delivered in an engaging format.”
• Don’t be afraid to challenge employees with tough scenarios. Just as in the real world, many “aha!” learning moments are generated by mistakes. Of course, mistakes are risk-free in simulated environments.