Enhance Worker Abilities With Lifelike Simulations
Improve the skills of your employees with realistic simulations
The past year has brought many changes for everyone due to COVID-19. Our domestic and social life has changed almost beyond recognition, but perhaps the biggest change has been our work life. Many of us now work from home, attending hour-long virtual meetings every day, and building relationships with colleagues remotely.
As we gradually get used to communicating online, there are still many situations that can feel more difficult to run remotely, such as: B. dealing with difficult customers, feedback from employees or the provision of presentations. As employees return to the office after months (or even over a year) of working from home, they may lack other communication skills that are critical to face-to-face communication.
In this article, we’ll explore how simulations can be a great learning tool to develop key communication skills of employees both remotely and from the office through risk-free practice and feedback on their performance in the simulated environments.
1. Employees can practice the skills they have learned
Simulations are a fantastic way to create the same environment that employees will encounter in their daily work lives, both in person and via video calls. This means that in a safe and risk-free environment, employees can practice different approaches to real-world situations in order to learn from mistakes and find out what works best for them.
For example, learners can try different techniques to deliver a sales pitch online or defuse a difficult customer interaction and see what sounds best and what is most likely to work in their own area.
Example of a conference room simulation where employees can practice giving a presentation and get feedback on their speech.
Employees may not be sure that in real life they can have high-level sales pitches, give negative feedback to a coworker, or even give a presentation to an entire group of coworkers. With a simulation, they can practice as often as they want to feel comfortable and secure when these situations occur in their real daily life.
Simulation-based learning also gives employees the opportunity to practice more practical aspects of communication, such as: B. How best to set up your workspace and use storytelling techniques to improve your messaging. The low pressure environment of simulations is a great way to build both skills and confidence and ensure better overall performance in the workplace.
2. Employees receive feedback on their performance
One of the best things about simulation-based learning is that employees can get feedback on their performance while the simulation is running, as well as after the experience is complete. For example, if an employee speaks too quickly or if he hesitates and uses a lot of filler words such as “umm” and “ah”.
These are things that you may not notice yourself, but that are an important part of making successful presentations, that clearly state what you want to say, and that appear more confident in front of a client or colleague.
Continuing with the sales pitch example will help provide your reps with keywords they should use in their sales pitch and see if they are using them correctly and if they are using them adequately. All of these are important when you work in a sales role or in a customer service environment.
Feedback can also include whether employees are able to answer the right questions and speak in the right tone to spread situations or create a higher level of engagement.
Example of a simulated zoom call in which employees can practice giving a presentation in front of a virtual audience.
This type of feedback is particularly useful for virtual communication, as online platforms remove many of the easy-to-read body language cues that we are used to in face-to-face interactions.
After practicing simulations, when the real situation arises, employees should be provided with the correct answers and feel confident about answering unexpected questions they might encounter during a pitch or presentation.
3. Simulations can easily be combined with eLearning
Simulations are the perfect way to put knowledge into action. Combined with eLearning courses, employees can get to know certain topics thoroughly before they can practice using a simulation to display their knowledge.
eLearning can cover a range of business needs, and simulations can provide the role play or on-demand practice needed to improve skills. This means that an employee can take a course on a subject such as delivering presentations and then learn through experience by practicing what they have learned in simulated environments.
Example of an eLearning course with simulation practice at certain points.
This provides a rich learning experience and allows learners to get feedback on how they are performing and how much eLearning they have absorbed and therefore likely to incorporate into daily life.
This type of knowledge consolidation means that employees learn more effectively because they learn through experience and can see immediately how they can best apply their newfound learning in their professional role.
Learning how to do things in a whole new way may feel difficult at first, but using simulations can help anyone gain a deeper understanding of how to do the same great job online or in person.
In an increasingly hybrid work environment, knowing how to communicate personally and through digital communication platforms is an important professional skill. When you give your employees the opportunity to learn, develop and practice these new skills, you will have a team that knows how to communicate and work together for business success effectively and easily in different environments.
Whether you work in the office, work remotely, or take a hybrid approach, better communication means greater success for individuals, teams and, ultimately, at an organizational level!
