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The search for online alternatives to (follow-up) training, and other types of education has gathered momentum in the last couple of years. Serious games lend themselves well to this purpose, since they are inherently digital. But how does a serious game actually work? We asked Jeroen Sempel, lecturer in Management Accounting and Financial Analysis at the University of Twente, who has applied the concept of serious gaming in his own education practice for over two decades and has used Simenco game nextOne in a number of business training programs.

Theory made Tangible
Twenty years ago, Sempel realized that genuine motivation to learn didn’t strike most of his students until they made a mistake and were challenged, or felt a little bit lost. To bring out their best, he decided to apply a teaching method which was very innovative back then: the business game.

“We ran a very expansive business game for the students of Industrial Engineering. This was before the internet. Teams of students made business decisions and handed them in on a floppy disk. We let the computer system run the data and it would present the figures for the next quarter. We handed those figures out to the teams and a new cycle of decision making would begin.”

Modern business games (or serious games) may not use floppy disks anymore, their foundation hasn’t changed. Participants are presented with a practical issue and experience the consequences of their decisions based on the issue. The theory that would be merely abstract in a traditional classroom is made tangible, boosting students’ motivation to learn.

Other powerful features of serious games, according to Sempel, are the short feedback loops and the element of competition.

Target Group
Besides lecturing at the University of Twente, Sempel provides custom programs to businesses, in which he gladly uses serious games. The choice for a particular serious game strongly depends on the target audience and the program’s objectives.

“If the target group consists of young potentials who often enjoy being challenged and who are playful, and if the objective is to develop integral (multidisciplinary) business knowledge, with a focus on how everything interrelates, then a business game is a very suitable learning method.

But if the target group are general directors, my preferred method wouldn’t be a business game.”

Sempel has used nextOne in a number of custom programs. This game is about smartphone organizations, a subject that every participant can relate to. One element that Sempel appreciates about the game in particular, is the fact that the teams start the game at a moment in time, in which their organization isn’t doing well. Another valuable asset he mentions, is the sharp alignment. When a team makes a good decision, they quickly move ahead of the other teams. A bad decision, on the other hand, quickly results in dropping figures.

Distance Learning
Location independent education is more important than ever. The threshold to doing things online has lowered. Creators of business games are presented with a far-reaching opportunity that could alter the landscape of education forever. Sempel already notices this in his own, now online classes. Students have a shorter attention span when they receive digital education, which means that the standards for vividness and interactivity of educational activities have risen.

“Teachers have to work especially hard to prepare a class. And a business game that is finished, is very appealing,” Sempel concludes.

For almost a decade, Pieter Verdaasdonk has worked as Senior Consultant at ORMIT, a Dutch organization that offers traineeships and training programs for different types of organizations. Simenco’s The Business Challenge is a frequently used game in ORMIT’s programs.

As a consultant, Verdaasdonk is responsible for educating trainees, but his daily activities entail more. He conducts custom programs for a wide range of organizations and supports employees and managers in their development.

“At ORMIT we always look at personal leadership as a basis for the result.  In that way, training programs are developed from a more personal approach,” Verdaasdonk says.

The Power of the Game

The Business Challenge was created from a very different perspective. It focuses on the business side of value creation in organizations, resulting in a welcome contrast with the other training sessions that are more about individual development.

In the game, participants learn how a business is managed in practice; they learn how to work together from different perspectives and how to make a profit.

According to Verdaasdonk, there are three key elements that make this game so valuable:

• Competition
• Collaboration
• Looking at management from different perspectives.

In The Business Challange, trainees work together in a virtual management team. Each team member has his or her own unique specialism.

“They all look at making profit from a different angle, so they also have different ideas about how to become successful as an organization. Having to deal with these differences, by figuring out how their specialism views profit, combined with winning the game and working together as a team, is a very attractive aspect of this game,” according to Verdaasdonk.

Something Different for Participants

“Participants consider the game a breath of fresh air”, says Verdaasdonk. “What they love about the game, is the fact that they don’t have to worry about what they feel and how they feel about that for a change. But that they can just have fun and play a game that is above all about winning. And by doing so, they learn more about business and about making money.”

“Learning happens in practice, not in a two-day course in some training center,” Verdaasdonk says.

And that is exactly what The Business Challenge aims to simulate: realistic situations with complex decision-making processes.

Benefit for the Trainer

For a trainer, supervising a serious game is very different from teaching in a classroom. “During the game, I am part of the background and make some observations. When we take a break, I give the trainees some pointers. But I make sure to let them play as much as possible, because the three elements (competition, collaboration and different perspectives) are incorporated in the game so well.”

The Business Challenge is an existing game, but it can be adapted to meet specifiek learning goals and to focus more on particular skills.

“The game is as solid as a house, but the rooms can be redecorated every time we play,” Verdaasdonk says.

We can make the oil prices rocket or have an MT (management team) dismiss an employee. By making these changes, we can create tension between the different specialisms. How do they deal with that? That is what we want them to learn.”

Serious Games in Times of Distance Education

Learning online has never been as important as it is now. The Business Challenge has had its first completely online session.

“Serious gaming is location independent, so Simenco is prepared for what we are facing right now. The scope of serious games is unlimited. I’m a believer.

Participants experience realistic decision-making processes. Combined with looking at management from a business perspective, it makes a lot of sense to me that we often choose to include serious games in training programs.”

In a day (or part of day) we develop a first prototype of game concept that aligns with a custom learning goal set by the client. This workshop requires close collaboration between the game designers (Simenco) and the subject matter experts (Client).

A typical setup of a day is:

Introduction

• Start with playing of a small game
• Changing the rules of an earlier played game to increase the learning goal and/or to increase the player engagement.
• Simenco presentation on Serious Game Design
  • What is a good game design?
  • How can you integrate learning in a game design?

Game Concepts

• Dividing the workshop participants in to teams and start with initial concept ideas.
  • Working with the format for serious game concepts.
  • Handing out the inspiration cards to start the brainstorm.
• Teams present their initial game concepts to each other.

Prototype

• Participants start by developing a playable prototype.
• Iterations of play and re-design by the teams themselves.
• Teams play each others’ prototypes and score them with the game design score template.

Day closing and a plan to proceed with the game concept.

Some examples of workshop that we have facilitated include:

House of Performance
HoP is a consultancy firm that wanted their employees to learn more about the potential of serious games and see if and how Serious Game Design can benefit their consulting practice. After a successful 1,5 day workshop in Cambridge (UK) this even resulted in the start of a new Gamification Practice within HoP.

Booking.com
Booking.com is one of the many tech firms that originated in the Netherlands and is now leading a global industry. For Booking.com we facilitated a one-day workshop to generate innovative game-ideas om how to train employees on Information Security.

ASML
For ASML we facilitated a one-day workshop to apply game-formats to design new learning solutions for three actual business issues.

Jumbo Retail Stores
Jumbo was looking for expertise to redesign their current Introduction Program for new employees. We proposed and executed a one-day workshop with some immediate enhancements and a template for future improvements.

How do you get students excited about profit and loss accounts? How do they learn immediately from their mistakes, and from each other? These questions motivated teachers at the Saxion University of Applied Sciences to – together with Simenco – develop FinFun; a serious game for the module Finance & Accounting of the International Business studies programme.

Learning business through Serious Games

FinFun enables students to learn financial concepts as they play. They start their own coffee cart and become responsible for the purchase and sale of coffee, maintenance, and for instance, selling coffee at events. In doing so, they face unexpected factors, like sudden downpours and sickness.

Intrinsic motivation

Teachers at Saxion point out that students spend more time on the material than in previous years. Students aren’t just drawing up any balance sheet, they’re doing so for their own company. In addition, they make their own choices, which determine how the game continues. This freedom motivates and invites students to actively consider cause and effect.

Serious games and blended learning

Serious games provide an integrated learning experience. As the game immediately shows students where they are making mistakes, they know which theory they need to read again. At the same time, teachers deal with additional subject material during classes, which helps students perform better during the game.

At Simenco, we believe that the best, most effective way people learn is by experiencing the impact of their decisions. We develop serious games based on the principle ‘learning by doing’.

 

Learning to manage difficult situations

Simenco’s serious games challenge users. Participants are working in a fictional company, where they are faced with several difficult situations. Users find solutions by taking decisions independently, all the while learning about the consequences of their actions – within the safety of a game.

 

Insight into the user’s experience

Participants’ experiences are key. After all, these experiences are what users will apply to their daily life. Simenco provides insights into the participants’ experiences, to both the user and the client.

 

Would you like to know more?

Would you like to know more about the possibilities for your organization? Or would like you to like experience a simulation for yourself? Feel free to get in touch.

Looking for a fun and educational game for your curriculum or organizational transformation?  Simenco has been contributing to the success of organization for over 15 years, by developing a variety of serious games – from business games to management simulations. 

 

Types of serious games

Each of our serious games is given careful consideration, with a focus on particular learning aspects, for specific learning insights. Users learn about the consequences of their decisions and how to effectively resolve problems, providing them with invaluable insights.

At the core of all our games is active participation and user engagement. After all, it’s not about the game, it’s about the experience users take away from it.

Browse through our serious games to find examples of existing games, each with its own learning goal. Are you looking for a specific game, fully customized to the needs of your organization? Each game can be adapted, or we can develop a new, tailor-made game.

 

Would you like to know more?

Simenco develops your serious game, but it is possible to participate in the process. Would you like to know more about the possibilities for your organization, or watch a demo? Feel free to get in touch.

Want to increase employee efficiency? Improve performance by exposing employees to difficult situations, uncertainty, and tough decisions – through business simulations. People learn business by doing business. That is the foundation of Simenco’s business simulation games.

 

What are your organization’s learning goals?

What is key to for your organization’s learning programme? Mastering different management disciplines? The importance of teamwork? Project management? Browse our existing business simulations or opt for a tailor-made one, for a simulation that meets your specific training needs – for both experienced and junior employees.

 

Examples of business simulations

Simenco offers a variety of business simulation games, such as:

• Simulations aimed at Management Development and project management;
• Council simulations;
• Simulations for higher education students, aimed at entrepreneurship and management awareness.

 

Would you like to know more?

Would you like to know more about the possibilities for your organization? Or would like you to like experience a simulation for yourself? Feel free to get in touch.

Managing a company, department, or a team is a subject in its own right. Sure, a manager could learn it over the years, through trial and error. But a more effective way would be to simulate daily management reality. That way, (future) managers gain experience handling various situations in a relatively short amount of time. In a safe environment, without direct consequences for the organization. 

 

Learning how to handle problematic situations

Management simulations mimic reality and teach users how to handle problematic situations, for instance when it comes to teamwork, project management, and management disciplines. Users experience the consequences of their actions and learn to deal with uncertainties.

 

What management simulation suits your organization?

You’re looking for a management simulation that fits with your organization and employees. Simenco offers standard management simulations, as well as adapted versions and newly developed games, fully adapted to the requirements and goals of your organization.

 

For junior and experienced managers

Not everyone is equally experienced as a manager. That is why Simenco develops simulations for both experienced and junior managers. Have a look at our product range, to see which ones are available for a demo.

 

Experience it for yourself

Want to find out which serious game suits your organization? Would you like to know more about the possibilities? Or would like you to like experience the games for yourself? Feel free to get in touch.

Becoming a manager requires experience – experience employees can obtain through management games. In these games, users apply their theoretical knowledge, laying the foundation for successful leadership.

 

What is a management game?

Management games offer an engaging link between practice and theory. By playing these games, users apply theoretical know-how in a simplified version of reality. (Potential) managers get a chance to test their knowledge, without directly bearing responsibility for the running of a real organization.

 

Insight into management potential

Managers take tough decisions, of which the effects are not always known upfront. Playing a management game provides users with insights into the consequences of their actions. These lessons are valuable to the user, and they also give organizations an indication of their employees’ management potential.

 

Standard or tailor-made

Simenco’s management games are based on valuable learning experiences and providing insight into management potential. Simenco develops both standard and custom-made games for a variety of industries – including yours. Have a look at our existing games, which can be modified to your needs, or opt for a completely new, tailor-made game.

Join the growing list of companies that have chosen Simenco. Check out our existing games. 

 

Experience it for yourself

Do you have questions about management games? Would you like to know more about the possibilities? Or would like you to like experience the games for yourself? Feel free to get in touch.

How do employees respond when they are faced with decisions, and not all factors are known? Ideally, they could practice in a stimulating, safe environment. That’s where Simenco’s business games come in – inspiring games that provide valuable contributions to education and organizational transformation processes.

 

A simplified reality

Business games demonstrate the complexity and dynamics of a simplified reality. Employees are presented with various problems, and they are encouraged to find solutions independently.

 

Fun and educational

Simenco’s serious games are fun and educational. With over 15 years of experience, our developers know exactly how to guide participants towards important insights. Users experience the outcomes of their decisions and learn how best to solve problems.

 

Learning by doing

Each of our business games is given careful consideration. Whether it’s making decisions, defining policy, or increasing management awareness – each game features different aspects, based on the learning goals.

Participation and engagement are at the core of our games. After all, it’s not about the game, it’s about the experience users take away from it.

 

Would you like to know more?

Simenco develops business games for different organizations. Would you like to know which game is most suitable for your organization? Are you looking for a custom made game? Feel free to get in touch.