Today, businesses have access to endless data and analytics that enable informed decision-making. Despite the abundance of measurement resources, critical decision making remains challenging for leaders. While drawing on past experiences and intuition is helpful, it can also be risky as the pace of change accelerates infinitely. Bridging the gap between strategy and execution, simulations are the secret sauce that future-ready organizations are pouring into their learning cultures. In this post, we'll explore the advantages of using simulations to influence business decision making and how they can help organizations stay ahead of the curve.

‍Simulations reduce risk and cost

‍Simulations allow businesses to predict the outcome of various scenarios without having to take any remissible action. When leaders participate in simulations, they gain new critical insights that help them with scenario-planning and alignment. Simulations are a tool through which businesses can easily identify potential roadblocks and pitfalls before committing large amounts of resources or funds.

‍Real-world simulations provide real-time feedback

‍Simulations are designed to mirror real life workplace situations; they make it possible for individual contributors to test a myriad of scenarios safely in a controlled, risk-free environment. By running simulations, decision-makers can get real-time feedback on their decisions that boosts confidence and promotes creative problem-solving. As an opportunity for practice, simulation helps leaders to build a learning culture that promotes better-informed decision-making practices that are more likely to yield positive results.

‍Employee growth

‍A safe and controlled simulation environment creates an opportunity for employees to level-up and practice better decision making, communication, and collaboration. This experience prepares teams to handle challenging, unforeseen situations in the with confidence. As participants engage in the simulated experience, they are able to “learn-by-doing” and practice new techniques and methodologies that they can bring with them into their day-to-day operations.

‍Increased productivity and support of strategic planning

‍Simulations help to increase productivity by providing nuanced insights. This tinkering promotes skills that help top teams quickly identify the best course of action in any given scenario. Simulation helps streamline business process, resulting in increased efficiency, reduced costs, a more productive workforce, and effective long-term strategy formulation and deployment.

‍Improve communication

‍Simulations are a great tool to help decision-makers communicate more effectively in cross-functional collaboration scenarios. Leveraging this technology helps managers learn to effectively to share better data stories across team boundaries, improve collaboration, and overcome communication barriers. Simulations also bring transparency to your decision-making culture, which helps stakeholders throughout the business feel aligned and to the greater vision, mission, and strategy of the organization.

Using simulations to make business decisions reduces risk, saves time, and improves communication broadly. These competitive advantages gained through simulated practice help organizations make informed decisions in a variety of scenarios to ultimately realize the best path forward. The future of business decision-making relies on simulation. Without it, making informed decisions that improve productivity, efficiency, and, ultimately, profits will become increasingly impossible. Are your stakeholders ready to lead your organization into a thriving future?  Consider your simulation strategy as the cornerstone of that preparedness.