Using Simulation to Accelerate Transformation
How a Global Financial Services Firm used see6 Virtual Simulations to Unlock the Value of AI
Summary
Capco, a global management and technology consultancy specializing in the financial services industry, was looking for a way to engage a geographically dispersed global leadership team for a large Wall Street organization. They partnered with see6 to deliver a simulation to improve the functioning of the virtual team and improve process, insight and communication.
I wholeheartedly recommend see6 virtual simulations for L&D leaders. Not only is it a brilliant and memorable learning experience for our teams, but our learners were completely engaged by the simulation itself.
What we did
Challenge
Challenge
A large Wall Street financial services organization was experiencing unprecedented growth, but was having difficulty breaking down functional silos and improving critical thinking in their virtual global leadership team. Challenge 3 The firm looked to Capco, an internationally-recognized consulting firm, to provide results-oriented leadership training that would provide a measurable impact on the team’s listening skills, critical thinking, and interpreting data for actionable insights. Capco then sought to partner with an innovative digital engagement solution to stage a results-driven virtual team experience, focused on participation, engagement, and speed-to-insight
What we did
Solution
Solution
When the simulation - proctored by Capco, delivered on the see6 platform - started, the leadership team was divided into three groups that were in competition with one another for the duration of the four-round, 3.5-hour simulation.
Round 1: Alignment
Round 1: Alignment
The first phase of the simulation plunged the teams into an environment of uncertainty, complexity, and vast amounts of data. This not only reflected (in a concentrated, focused way) an actual work environment, it also highlighted a team struggle to define goals, roles, and responsibilities. In a post-round breakout room, the teams recognized that they needed to improve: Trust, Communication, Feedback.
Round 2: Race Sessions
Round 2: Race Sessions
After preparation, the teams participated in three races, each followed by a breakout session where the teams could evaluate their performance in the race, and plan their strategy for the next. To apply lessons learned in each of the racing sessions, and plan a winning strategy for the next, the teams need to make specific insights
Challenging assumptions
Challenging assumptions
Capturing different perspectives in a virtual team setting is really difficult, especially through virtual meeting and communication tools. Relevant team insight: When we came together as a team and challenged our assumptions and biases, we were able to make better decisions.
Asking better questions
Asking better questions
Overwhelming teams with enormous amounts of data - only some of it pertinent - is a deliberate strategy in the simulation. This is a reflection of the business environment, and the challenge of finding the right data. Relevant team insight: We have to value insights over information. We must process information ourselves and share insights that will support the rest of the team - and not just pass information around.
Breaking silos
Breaking silos
In the simulation, informational and functional silos are created deliberately. In order to succeed, teams must overcome these silos and share information and insights to improve team performance. We deliberately create silos to gamify and reflet the challenges that teams face in the real virtual world. Relevant team insight: Virtual teams need to proactively think about the impact of our actions on the wider team; which is both more difficult and more important in a virtual setting.
Roles and responsibilities
Roles and responsibilities
Another purpose-built aspect of the see6 virtual simulation is having participants enter the simulation ‘blind’ - without any information about the structure of the experience, or their role within it. Team members must define their own roles and recognize others on the fly, in a high-pressure environment. Relevant team insight: The importance of clear roles and responsibilities can’t be underestimated, and is so important for us back in the business!
The Key to Effective Learning
The Key to Effective Learning
Real time virtual experience can include any number of tasks; from communicating with one another, interacting with AI, making decisions, to holding meetings. However, the point is not to complete the task - it is to capture insights around how the tasks are completed, in an engaging and highly-participative way. Immediate real-time feedback gives powerful insights to teams about the weaknesses of their default processes, and ways they can be improved.
Results
The Capco and see6 partnership in delivering a virtual simulation had a powerful impact on the global leadership team, setting them on the path to becoming a high-performing team and setting a positive example for the company as a whole. According to team members themselves:
We saw a shift in trust in the team
There was a shift from “I” to “we”
There was more impactful communication
Silos were broken
Our collective intelligence helps us make more forward-looking decisions
Our team will commit to asking for more diverse perspectives, sharing best practices and granting permission to challenge assumptions across the team. We will do this in a way that is more respectful (asking more questions), not defensive (active listening) and in the spirit of breaking down silos to make better decisions (collective intelligence rather than individual excellence)
The Start of the AI Journey to Virtual High Performance
The see6 and Capco partnership engaged the global leadership team, increasing awareness and motivation and guiding the team to a place of clarity and commitment. The clarity was the point of the virtual simulation: to highlight to the team members how their current default measures work and how they can be improved. Critically, this realization is driven through real-world experiential learning inside the team, increasing the impact of the learning and the commitment to change.
The global leadership team made the following commitments:
We will continue to communicate regular, challenge status quo, offer unique perspectives, and seek help from the broader team
We will take ownership of the leader agenda and use our time together more strategically.
We will seek out diverse perspectives from not only our people, but also by externally asking“ what are our peers doing?”
We will commit to more dynamic, diverse, forward thinking ideas and learn from failure as a team.