Diane's Business Games Blog

In reflecting on the phrase serious games, I note that at first glance it sounds like an oxymoron with two opposite concepts linked together to form a paradoxical figure of speech, as in hasten slowly, sweet and sour pork or thunderous silence, so I consulted my Macquarie Dictionary, which describes serious as ‘demanding earnest thought or application: serious reading, serious music’. Under game it lists ‘an amusement or pastime: children’s games’’ as the first definition. It also describes game as ‘a contest for amusement in the form of a trial of chance, skill or endurance, according to set rules’ and lists variations of this, referring to game as a trick, joke, gamble or sport. However, it lists less frivolous definitions that refer to a fighting spirit, prey, ‘wild animals hunted for sport or profit’ and a ‘willingness to undertake something hazardous or challenging’. It even includes reference to a game as a business or profession or as a ‘game of diplomacy’. Those references move game closer to a more serious meaning, giving less justification for calling serious games an oxymoron. And taking games seriously is something some people are doing. (Written by Diane Robertson)

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Science has proved that stress relief games play a vital role in relieving stress. Stress relief games are of many types and it varies depending upon the taste of the person. These small games, activities, and exercises are intended to reduce stress. These games are found to offer a faster stress relief than the traditional techniques.

Stress commonly occurs for every person in a workplace ranging from deskbound office workers to managers. It is estimated that around 200 to 300 million dollars are spent annually by the American industry for job stress that occur due to absenteeism, employee turnover, diminished productivity, and accidents. This is where the stress relief games play their role. These games have many plus points. It helps in easing high-pressure situations at home and at work, and they work even better than the ordinary relaxation exercises.

Make the beginning of each day by singing in the shower. Don’t worry about the words and rhymes. Think of it as a stress relief game, which is played before stress takes an opportunity to rear its ugly head. Another way to relieve stress during daily travel is by counting the dogs and any similar object that you see on the way.

There are many varieties of stress relief games available on the Internet. Many of these online computer games, multiplayer games and online tournaments have showed their effectiveness in reducing stress. One can play most of these games online. A person can choose any game according to his/her taste, and download it if necessary to play in the future.

Stress Relief provides detailed information on Stress Relief, Stress Relief Products, Stress Relief Games, Stress Relief Management and more. Stress Relief is affiliated with Stress Management Techniques. (Written by Eric Morris)

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Board Games and Management Skills
Imagine you are screening candidates for a senior executive position. The job demands strategic thinking abilities and complex decision-making skills. You’ve narrowed the search down to 3 candidates, all of whom have impressive educational background, relevant experience and the right personality for the job. You take another look at their resumes and notice an interesting fact about one of the prospective managers - apparently her hobby is playing various board games including Chess, Bridge, and Go (an ancient and complex Japanese game). Will this fact affect who you ultimately choose for the position of manager?

Apparently, characteristics and skills that are required for playing board games are especially relevant for managers of all levels. Quite a few senior managers say that the skills and habits they acquired in playing games give them an extra edge in business and in management. This includes handling fast changes, taking calculated risks, self-discipline, improved memory, “coolness” under pressure, and determination to carry-through the right strategy - even if it leads to short-term loss.

According to different managers, each game has a distinct focus on skills that stem from the nature of the game. Thus, for instance, Backgammon increases the ability to quickly and intuitively calculate odds and risks in situations of uncertainty; The game of cards - Bridge - develops social interaction and communication based on partial information; Chess requires strategic thinking and system vision, as well as experience in exploiting tactical patterns and opportunities.

The skills needed for playing games are not only cognitive. The basic setting of games requires the ability to operate while involved in intense competitive social interaction, with alternating moments of cooperation and confrontation. Obviously, similar skills are needed in the daily functions of people in general and of managers in particular. Improving these skills is a great part of the learning and training managers need to undertake.

Managers Play to Train and Learn
With the abovementioned similarity of the skills required in board games and those required of managers, it is almost natural that board games have indeed become a powerful management training tool. The subjects that may be addressed with this type of learning are diverse, and include effective decision-making, problem-solving techniques, development of creative thinking, improved personal communication, synergetic teamwork, work under pressure, and more.

Games such as Chess, Go and Bridge usually require more than a basic understanding and quite a long period of learning in order to reach a level that enables significant practical management learning. However, there is a large number of games with simpler rules, that may be understood in minutes, and can still be used as powerful learning tools. Examples of such games are included in the second part of this article.
Using this unconventional method of management training carries several advantages:

A. Exposing Patterns of Thinking and Action
As managers play different board games, their patterns of thinking and action, as well as the results of those actions, are brought to the surface. This makes it possible to analyze these habits and point out group tendencies as well. Thus, for instance, a tendency to make decisions based on partial information and without dialogue may lead to grave result in the game, teaching the manager that he needs to improve his communication skills in the game and in life.

B. Real-time Feedback
The link between action and its results in games is almost instant. This makes it possible to examine in real-time the results of using thinking tools and structured patterns of action and behavior, A team that has to solve a game problem quickly and effectively, can learn to use problem-solving techniques and see their immediate effect. In addition, team members may evaluate the personal qualities each of them brings into problem-solving situations, and train in using those abilities in game and life processes.

C. Personal, Team & Group Learning
Training managers through board games simultaneously works on personal skills, small team and large group interaction. Game situations may be planned and built so that learning is focused on personal learning (even through one-on-one coaching), team interaction (two pairs playing against one another, and required to make unanimous decisions), or group aspects (presenting a game position on a screen and holding a discussion on the recommended course of action). This kind of flexibility lets us achieve a variety of learning goals on all levels.

D. Powerful Emotional Learning
Most of the subjects learned through board can certainly be presented in other, more conventional, ways. An added advantage of using board games is the strong emotional involvement of the participants. The cognitive challenges, the state of competition, the hands-on approach all contribute to greater awareness, openness to change and to fun and interest in the learning process.

Plato summarized these principles of learning in the following quote:
“You can discover more about a person in an hour of play
than in a year of conversation”

Continue to part 2 of the article:
See examples of Management Training Games and their uses.
Amir Elion is a management and innovation consultant and facilitator. He was a part of a group that developed a unique method for training diverse skills through the use of board games. He has a degree in Philosophy and General studies and an MA in organizational behavior. He maintains and updates the best100ideas.com website on creative ideas for business, workplace and personal uses.

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A well-designed, well-delivered training game can get your audience involved with your topic – and with each other.

Here are ten great reasons to use a training game at your next conference or special event.

1. Break and melt the ice.

Games give everyone the opportunity to break out of traditional roles and express themselves more freely. New staff can step up to lead. Senior managers can let go and let loose. A great way to begin!

2. Draw out quiet or new participants.

Games can require everyone to contribute in order for anyone to achieve success. New or quiet participants will have to participate ‘more than usual’ and can quickly become valued members of the group.

3. Reveal hidden issues.

What isn’t seen, discussed or understood in ‘real life’ can come screaming to the surface through a well-designed training activity or game. Expert processing can then help participants recognize the real issues at stake and openly discuss the implications.

4. Reveal hidden talents.

Who knows what skills and talents lie just below the surface of your colleagues? The right game roles, rules and conditions can set everyone loose to invent, create, design, negotiate, set new targets, take bold actions and succeed.

5. Generate a mood of energy and enjoyment.

Conference games let people have fun. A good game will deliver key learning points with involvement, energy, excitement and entertainment. What a great way to launch your program or wrap up the entire event!

6. Establish a reference point or introduce a metaphor.

People refer to effective training games and activities for many years. Insights from your conference game can become a positive anchor for long-term understanding and cooperation.

7. Highlight a specific theme.

Whether your focus is teamwork, leadership, customer service, competition, motivation or innovation, an effectively designed game can bring that theme to ‘front of mind’ – and keep it there throughout your event.

8. Gather new ideas.

Games put participants in a totally different context. All kinds of new ideas and insights tend to appear. The best ideas can be captured at the conference and pursued long after it is over.

9. Game solutions can become work solutions.

What succeeds in a game may succeed in the real world, too. Lessons learned in conference games can be useful throughout the year. Be sure to note the link between work and games when all the fun is over.

10. Games add energy to the mix.

Every conference should include a healthy mix of methods and techniques: speeches, workshops, exhibitions, demonstrations, meals and breaks, social gatherings, interactive presentations. And, in the right situations, effective, entertaining and energizing training games.

Ron Kaufman is an internationally acclaimed educator and motivator for partnerships and quality customer service. He is author of the bestselling “UP Your Service!” and founder of “UP Your Service College”. Visit www.UpYourService.com for more such Customer Service articles, subscribe to his Newsletter, or to buy his bestselling Books, Videos, Audio CDs on Customer Service from his secure Online Store. You can also watch Ron live or listen to him at www.RonKaufman.com.

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While many parents think that online games have corrupted their child’s imaginations, studies are now showing that the free online entertainment actually helps with IQ development. Although there are many online games that encourage violence, other games help children and adults improve their memory and increase their intelligence.

Surprisingly, many free online games actually focus on an individual’s reasoning and logic. Through particular online games, internet junkies can easily become a better person just by going to a website and playing an online game or two. For many, Tetris serves as a foundation for IQ development games. For instance, in order to win a level of Tetris, it requires you to think on your feet and analyze the patterns. When the game starts to speed up, you have to think even faster, while trying to get the blocks to match up. Without having the ability to think quickly, you automatically lose and have to start over. Therefore, online games like Tetris can actually improve your logic and help you master skills that need more work.

Although Tetris is a wonderful tool for IQ development, there are dozens of other free online games. For example, Backgammon helps people work on their logic, as if they were playing a chess game. In order to win, players must analyze not only their moves, but also their components. By thinking of what their competitor will do next, they can actually manipulate and win the game. Fortunately for parents and children, Backgammon is a great game for working on your skills and also having fun at the same time.

While Tetris and Backgammon are fun games to play for many different reasons, online memory games actually are the most beneficial. Many studies have shown that having a good memory is actually a skill and not related to IQ. After all, the more you work that part of your brain, the easier time you will have organizing events and then storing them for later use. While this skill can be worked on through many different activities, studies show that online games can also enhance the brain. For instance, there are dozens of memory games which including matching pictures or remembering where items were placed on a shelf. For many, these games are not only enjoyable, but they help you improve your memory in real life situations. We all have experienced memory setbacks, especially when we can’t remember someone’s phone number or where we last parked our car. Surprisingly, playing these free online games can enhance our recollection of events and help us remember more clearly in the long run.

Many adults feel that their children should not be playing video games or online games frequently. With violence and harsh language, it is difficult to let our kids be brought into that type of environment. However, intelligent online games can actually help children learn and acquire new skills. From Backgammon to Tetris, these logic bursting activities will help us later in life. For children, this is a dream come true, as they always want to find another excuse to keep playing their games. If parents don’t enjoy this idea, at least they’ll be pleased.

Natalie Aranda writes on motivation and self-improvement. While many parents think that online games have corrupted their child’s imaginations, studies are now showing that the free online entertainment actually helps with IQ development. Although there are many online games that encourage violence, other games help children and adults improve their memory and increase their intelligence. While Tetris and Backgammon are fun games to play for many different reasons, online memory games actually are the most beneficial. Many studies have shown that having a good memory is actually a skill and not related to IQ.

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At any corporate party, games are great for two reasons – they allow workmates to bond and have fun together, and they are an ice-breaker for people who may not know each other. Here are 2 corporate party games to play at your next corporate party:

“The Gift Game” Corporate Party Game

This is one of the simplest corporate party games, but is still loads of fun. Prior to the event, purchase and wrap 10 cheap gift items for the game. Before guests arrive, hide 10 coins in and around where the party is being held. Guests have to search for the coins, and the people who find them can exchange their coin for one of the gifts, as long as they don’t open them yet. All the partygoers stand or sit in a circle, with one person reading a made-up story containing the words “left” and “right” many times. Every time the word “right” is mentioned, guests have to pass their gifts to the right, and the same with the word “left”. Once the story is finished, the people left holding the presents keep them.

“Pass the Hat” Corporate Party Game

This, more than many other corporate party games, requires cooperation and imagination. Party guests have to stand in 2 circles, one inside the other. One player from each circle starts the game wearing a hat, which has to be passed around the circle without anyone using their hands. The first team to pass their hat all the way round is the winner.

At almost any corporate party, games can generate laughs and make the event really enjoyable for everyone. All that’s needed is a bit of imagination, and people willing to ‘have a go’ for the sake of team building and having a good time.

Mrs. Party… Gail Leino takes a common sense approach to planning and organizing events, celebrations and holiday parties with unique ideas for Corporate party supplies and fun free educational party games She explains proper etiquette and living a healthy life while also teaching organizational skills and fun facts. The Party Supplies Shop has lots of party ideas with hundreds of free holiday printable games and free birthday party activities. Over 100 adorable Party Themes to fit your birthday celebration, holiday event, or “just because” parties is at the Party Theme Shop. Party themes include cartoon characters, sports, movie, TV shows, luau, western, holidays, and unique crazy fun theme ideas. (Written by Gail Leino)

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Teams lie at the heart of corporate success. Whether these are management teams, sales teams or the team in the office, you will find effective teams in the most profitable organisations. But these teams don’t just function well internally, they connect with each other - I have seen many companies in which the different departments hardly speak to each other! And when they do, it is usually through the managers. So how can you ensure that your workforce is contented, connected and devoted to the company?

Corporate entertainment, fun days and stealth team building is the answer.

Corporate entertainment and stealth team building is of benefit to all sizes of company. Including the management on a corporate entertainment day will help to break down barriers and allow you staff to overcome obstacles in the work place. It is not possible for individuals to perform to their potential unless they have a good team and work environment so the creation of a team atmosphere is very important.

But what is stealth team building? Essentially, it is team building without ramming it down people’s throats. Pick the right type of team building activity and the right provider and team building is corporate entertainment. The events should motivate and challenge the delegates, using the skills the need to function effectively as a team - communication, encouraging each other, lateral thinking … Do this enough and it becomes second nature. The teams for the event should be randomly picked so that employees get to interact with people from other departments, management etc. There should be some worthwhile reward for the victorious team.

OK, now what sort of corporate entertainment events are the best? Conventional barrel and plank activities, stacking crates and so on are great for a few minutes then people just end up standing around whilst the dominant ones direct everything. Same with outdoors types of activities, there is a load of safety then you have to watch for ages as one by one the rest of the company abseil down a cliff or off a bridge. Wow, exciting for about 30 seconds! Motorised events are great fun but again there is the involvement aspect, or rather lack of it.

Good solutions are treasure hunts and scavenger hunts, especially on foot and in cities or towns as the teams stay together for the duration of the event and are also continually occupied. Then there are the silly photographs, tasks and shopping lists to add the fun element. Also very good team building comes from having a series of short, snappy activities such as the Enigma Project from Spy Games. Here teams compete in a series of challenges requiring team work for success.

Team building ensures greater success in all areas of your business. Regular corporate entertainment of this sort creates a fulfilled, happy workforce, reducing the expense and time needed for the recruitment and training of new staff.

Don’t let your staff be bored by mediocre team building - contact Spy Games now for all of your London and Home Counties corporate entertainment needs. (Written by Kevin Woodward)

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Business simulations – the next generation of computer games, or the next generation of corporate training? Well, perhaps they are both.

Business Simulations are essentially computer “games” which are designed to replicate a certain aspect of your industry, and are used for training employees, honing your skills, or learning new ones.

There are many different types of business simulators – here are a few, just to give you an idea of how business simulations can help you in your business.

Role playing simulations - Role playing programs allow your employees to interact with a “person” on the other end of a “phone”. Role playing simulations are ideal for phone sales, call center employees, customer service employees, secretaries, etc.

Leadership Training Simulators - Business simulators can also be used to train your leadership staff in leadership principles. These programs will teach you leadership principles, then allow you to test your skills by making a series of real world like decisions.

Employment Simulators – Ever wish you could find a shortcut to hiring the right people every time, without getting any incompetent, lazy, dishonest employees? With an employee assessment simulator, you can do very in-depth assessments of employees before you hire them.

There are many other types of business simulators. Virtually every aspect of a business, from product development to legal compliance, can be improved in your company with business simulators.

Of course, a business simulation will not replace real world experience, but simulators can assist you in making employees more prepared for real world experience. Plus, errors made on the simulators won’t cost you a penny.

Business simulations can be integrated into your company in many ways. Some are designed to be used before the employee is hired. Others are designed for use in the initial training program, while others can be used for ongoing training or pre-advancement training.

If you want to improve your employee training, try business simulations!

Streamline your business with business simulations. It saves time. (www.bluelinesimulations.com) (Written by Gabriel J Adams)

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The use of simulation learning tools to educate employees is growing rapidly due to the decisive success rates of their targeted commercial content. Increasingly they are teaching management teams improved business acumen and decision making in a risk-free real-world setting.

These simulation tools will often take two forms; either a manual business game – often requiring business decisions to be repeatedly made and providing learning measures alongside the exercise or using electronic media to provide business simulations (either fictional or realistic) dependent on the skill sets being targeted. These simulations are increasingly being referred to as ‘Serious Games’ which can sometimes be misleading; however this reflects the growing awareness of the simulation tool in the training market.

Today’s simulations should actively engage and respond to the trainee, creating an effective and lasting learning experience, reducing the resources needed to create training materials and improving the impact (and often depth) of the training budget.

Simulation is one of the most effective ways to teach high-level skills with off-the-shelf training materiel no longer being perceived as the most effective method in teaching skills— most effective when building awareness, that is, you can outline new legislation well with traditional training; however to develop improved commercial decision making involves developing and mastering new skills, and that requires practice, and often time that a commercial undertaking or a senior level post holder cannot afford. Simulation is the most effective way to do that.

Business simulation games have a high level of user interaction that work faster than traditional training or e-learning methods and are increasingly becoming a solution of choice amongst discerning training purchasers.

Simulation content can easily get out of hand ,though, so it’s important to know the key organisational requirements before purchasing a business simulation:

- Who is the target audience?
- What are the objectives of the training to be undertaken?
- How do I plan out what this user experience is going to be?
- Where is the learning going to take place?

Simulations are built step-by-step whether it be a manual game or an electronic simulation so you must have a process that builds content page by page, so you wind up with a high-quality simulation that’s well thought out from start to finish.

For instance, recently we were asked to develop training for customer call-center agents on the complexities of call flow segmentation and how to use tools in the call flow to handle customer scenario interactions. To develop the traditional training material involved several weeks of complex Instructional Design with the end result needing train-the-trainer material, and all of the associated hand-outs, overheads/power points, exercises and knowledge base articles and at the end of this process you have spent a fortune and have developed a laborious process to pass on the required knowledge.

Surely better to develop a electronic simulation product that creates an interactive environment exactly as a real call would take place, perhaps with a coaching module inside the simulation so that when you make a mistake, there’s a coach that comes on screen, and hints at improvements in your response. Or, if something simpler is required, a coach that takes you out of the training session and puts you into a learning centre where the trainee can be exposed to the necessary information about the situation they are currently handling.

Simulation training guarantees the same quality of interaction from incident to incident and from person to person so when you talk about the ROI of simulation training you should be evaluating against improved customer satisfaction, up selling of new products and services, and establishing customer service best practices for an organisation. The trainer/ coach can tell trainees exactly what they have done right and what they have done wrong during the simulation and will also be able to listen to all of their questions and answers and grade their performance.

Simulation training is not meant to replace the function of a training department; but is intended to make training much more efficient and completely immersion-based so that the trainee can leave saying, ‘I understand.’ Simulations engage users emotionally so that the impact of training is internalised more completely than in other training methods and allows repeated attempts until performance levels have improved to the required standard.

The inherent value of simulation training is that learners can practice strategic and commercial business skills and apply them in a risk-free training environment. This kind of efficiency-and performance-focused theme means that simulations are starting to heat up the commercial learning arena with buyers of training recognising how it’s better to create custom-based simulations that deliver skills to the workforce. Business performance depends on workforce performance and the most efficient way to increase workforce performance is with simulations tailored to your market and its customers.

The future of business training may include widespread deployment of simulations as simulation-training becomes more commonplace. Already we are starting to see a huge impact in some of the less traditional training areas like customer service and sales, because if you say “Let’s work through this sales situation and I’ll coach you as you go”, it resonates with the employees and they start to rapidly take on board the learning. Employees are increasingly becoming more and more discriminating in their choice of employers and look for organisations where the training meets their needs as employees – so that they can join a new business with confidence that they will receive effective and time efficient training support.

So for the employer then the key to success is all about the content. If we can be clear about the training needs of our teams and use skilled personnel to develop suitable business simulations and games then we’re going to open it up to all sorts of tasks, and we’ll truly see it become a significant portion of the training mix.

When costs are tight, overheads being watched and every penny of the margin being monitored and you want to invest in people development then why would you opt for traditional lecture type training—you’re going to put them in simulations You can have a choice of off-the-shelf simulations or custom simulations each with their benefits and drawbacks; off-the-shelf is cheap, immediate and if you are clever in selecting the right publisher you will get extended use from their licenses.

If you opt for custom-made then you will pay more but you will get simulations with your metrics, your market and your business model.

If you want to get serious about your management development so they understand what levers and knobs they can pull in the company to drive profitability and shareholder value, then simulation training offers a vital solution to discerning employers.

John Stuart
Summit
John is the lead Instructional Designer for Summit, a speciality Development business who develop custom training and sell off the shelf business games.

http://www.summitpeople.co.uk

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Sometimes I use games theory to help the owners of small businesses gain an insight into business behaviour.

Often they start by denying any games are invovled and we always have an enlightening discussion. There are three rough groups of games that I usually see played in business:

Zero sum - I win, you loose

The Zero Sum game is the common situation where one player’s success reduces the returns for the others. Typically this happens anywhere where people compete in a limited market.
Recently in my home town, the two resident butchers have been impacted by the arrival of another butcher: a sales increase for any butcher reduces the sales made by the others.
Similarly, as the supermarket at the edge of town sells only high-volume, low-price goods, our independent hardware store has been restricted to high-priced, low-volume lines.
Many UK charities have suffered since the National Lottery creamed off a lot of the ‘pocket money’ that the public used to put into charity donation boxes.

For the Zero Sum Game, wherever the size of the cake is fixed, if I cut a big slice, you always get less.

Unconditional contracts - we win or loose together

Wherever people share goals that lead to common outcomes, they can trade by swapping something that the other values.
This happens every time I trade my cash for a shopkeeper’s goods that I want to buy - we both benefit.
It also happens where team members contribute their individual skills and knowledge to the team effort - the MD, sales person and production worker need each other for the whole business to thrive.

For Unconditional contracts, the size of the cake is elastic, and if we work together, we all get larger slices.

Conditional positive sums - we choose how we win or loose

The ‘prisoners dilemma’ is a sophisticated game with three possible outcomes - if I move, I do OK at your cost; if we both move, we lose together, but if we both hold fast, we both maximise our benefits.
In ‘free riding’, some car drivers are uninsured so the cost of their traffic accidents is paid for by the insurance premium of law-abiding drivers.
Currently our fishermen are suffering the ‘tragedy of the commons’: the more fish each boat takes, the less fish others find, and without common management, the sea becomes over-fished.
In a business network, I can help other business people link to market opportunities that I know about. They can do the same for me. Where we both help each other, we both thrive. However if either of us feel we are doing all the giving without sufficient getting, we will drop out of the network.

For Conditional positive sums, the size of the cake is determined by our cooperation and mutual trust, and selfish actions can damage everyone’s livelihood.

We all have market forces that control our freedom to pursue our business. If you identify which games are going on around you, you may gain sufficient insight to put yourself on the winning side as the game is played out.

Adrian Pepper specialises in helping small business to sharpen their marketing, increase their sales and grow their income. You can contact him through Help4You Ltd, through his website at http://www.help4you.ltd.uk or by phone +44-7773-380133 . At http://feeds.feedburner.com/help4you, you can listen to his podcast for small businesses.

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