Introduction
Developing business communication skills is an important step in improving one’s chances of rapidly becoming a successful part of the global economic environment (Ghutke, Jaiswal, & Thakur, 2014). Since business decisions are rarely made in a vacuum, it is important to learn to be a part of a team. The simulation served as a means of informing all people involved about the significance of using appropriate negotiation strategies and designing a flexible leadership approach.
One might argue that using a physical activity—and in particular a game—as the means of developing management skills in the participants and encouraging them to acquire the skills that will help them cooperate in the business environment may not be the best idea. Indeed, there is a significant gap between the coordination of actions of people involved in a game and the participants in an entrepreneurial project. However, a close evaluation of the skills and information gained in the course of the simulation has shown that the members of the team, in fact, have developed abilities that can be viewed as relatively pliable and, therefore, applicable to the realm of the global economy in general, and a company in particular. Because of the emphasis on cooperation, as well as on the need to transfer the relevant information in as fast and efficient a manner as possible, the simulation has created the prerequisites for a successful training of the relevant management skills (Ehnert, Harry, & Zink, 2013).
Challenges
It should be noted, however, that working as a member of a team requires impressive communication skills in general, as well as conflict management skills in particular. Finding a solution that could satisfy all participants while practicing the negotiation techniques that could lead to a compromise was admittedly the most complicated task that being a member of the team involved.
As stressed above, there was a significant time constraint in all of the activities in which the participants were involved. As a result, it was crucial to employ language in a way that could help transfer the necessary data within the shortest amount of time possible and avoid misunderstandings. Although the identified task seemed very challenging, the identification of the essential pieces of information, their categorization and the further design of several essential signs that could be used to manage the information rapidly turned out to be the perfect solution. In particular, we used nods to identify the point at which we were ready to start the task (Fleisher & Bensoussan, 2015).
The issue of trust should also be brought up as one of the primary stumbling blocks on our way to completing the tasks. For example, the first assignment, which required holding the lid, also made it evident that one of the group members should help the other by supporting their partner. In other words, the issue of trust was raised during the game. Very similar to a trust exercise, the identified activity could help us realise the significance of cooperation as the foundation for striving toward a common goal. Finally, the idea of overcoming some of the issues related to self-esteem such as the fear of delivering a poor result in dodge ball was addressed with each of the participants individually.
Furthermore, the issues related to the conflict management process need to be brought up. Specifically, the cooperation issue needs to be addressed. During the second part of the game, which involved interlocking our hands, the participants often failed to carry out the task since there was no synchronisation between them. As a result, the entire process was completely disorganised, leading to no tangible effect until the leader suggested a pattern of holding hands. As a result, the task was finally completed, and at a rather impressive speed at that. Therefore, there was an obvious need to introduce a conflict management strategy and a communication approach that could reduce the threat of discord that could disrupt the process.
New Opportunities
Although it was relatively difficult to tackle the issues related to the conflicts between the team members, the implications of the interaction between the participants opened a plethora of chances for each of the team members to improve their skills. The areas for possible improvement include not only communication and negotiation but also leadership abilities, in general. For instance, the process of decision-making, the adoption of a more responsible attitude and the ability to acquire and process information faster and more efficiently need to be listed among the essential options (Jex & Britt, 2014).
The chances for creating an environment in which the participants could acquire the relevant time-management skills should also be brought up as an important opportunity for all people involved. As stressed above, the members of the team had to work under rather stressful conditions and under significant time pressure. As a result, strategies that could help us manage our time in a more careful and elaborate manner were designed (Brewster, Sparrow, Vernon, & Houldsworth, 2011). Particularly, the process of data transfer from one person to another was improved significantly. Furthermore, the approach toward understanding the task and implementing it was reconsidered. As a result, each of the people involved had an opportunity to use their strengths to create a strategy that they could use in the future (Jasso, 2012).
Finally, and most importantly, the significance of prioritising tasks was addressed and resolved in the course of the simulation. Because of the competitive nature of the process, it was quite complicated to determine who would play the part of a leader, as well as how the roles and responsibilities would be distributed among the participants.
Conclusion
The interaction between the participants has shown that essential business decisions need to be taken by the people who have a range of communication- and leadership-related skills. The necessity to reconsider the current approach to data management in favour of information-sharing principles and the use of negotiation techniques based on compromising can be viewed as crucial outcomes.
The results of the game have shown that leadership and self-management skills are not intrinsic. Therefore, there is a need for these skills to be developed in every person so that one is able to successfully enter the realm of the global economy and become a part of the business world, feeling comfortable in it. In light of the fact that the recent tendencies in the identified environment have been pointing to the increasing significance of globalisation, there is evident necessity to help people acquire the skills that will help them communicate successfully and cooperate in an efficient manner. Moreover, the results of the activity have proven that the relevant abilities, knowledge and skills can be acquired by participating in games, simulations and having similar experiences. However, one must bear in mind that, no matter how good it might be, a model of actual relationships needs further testing in the environment of the real world.
References
Brewster, C., Sparrow, P., Vernon, G., & Houldsworth, E. (2011). International human resource management. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Education.
Ehnert, I., Harry, W., & Zink, K. L. (2013). Sustainability and human resource management: Developing sustainable business organizations. New York, NY: Springer Science & Business Media.
Fleisher, C. S., & Bensoussan, B. E. (2015). Business and competitive analysis: Effective application of new and classic methods. New York, NY: FT Press.
Ghutke, S., Jaiswal, R., & Thakur, A. (2014). Case analysis of 360 degree feedback. International Journal of Advance Research in Education, Technology & Management, 2(3), 202-206.
Jasso, S. D. (2012). Toward corporate preeminence: The greatness of corporate soul. Philosophy for Business, 71(1), 1-5.
Jex, S. M., & Britt, T. W. (2014). Organizational psychology: a scientist-practitioner approach. New York, NY: John Wiley & Sons.