A Fortune 150 pharmaceutical company was navigating the new hybrid working environment with a mix of on-site and remote working arrangements. The client needed to prepare leaders to address common challenges, lead hybrid teams effectively, and avoid proximity bias.
The company’s aim was to help leaders shift employees’ mindsets and provide them with tools to manage the new hybrid world of work.
We started our engagement by conducting interviews with HR and leadership development subject matter experts to identify the challenges leaders were most likely to face moving into the new normal. Next, we conducted a series of focus groups with other HR and work leaders to vet and prioritize those challenges, and share best practices and common mistakes.
Based on this information, we used Blueline’s ExperienceBUILDERTM digital design and delivery platform to produce two robust simulations made up of a total of twelve of the most likely dilemmas that leaders would face.
The first simulation focused on leading teams in the hybrid workplace, dealing with issues such as ensuring equality of opportunities and information; preventing proximity bias; dilemmas that may arise and how to fix them; etc.
The second simulation centered on leading individuals in the hybrid workplace, with topics such as giving feedback; monitoring performance when you’re not working in the same place; concerns individuals were likely to have; etc.
The client had a strict requirement that each simulation could be no more than 90 minutes. In a 90-minute session, teams can typically work through three to four scenarios—not the six we identified from the subject matter expert interviews. We solved this problem by applying a “choose your own adventure” approach. Each team in a session could choose three of the six scenarios that they determined were most relevant or important for them to explore.
With the flexible and scalable nature of Blueline’s ExperienceBUILDER, teams working quickly through the scenarios were rewarded with access to a fourth. On the other hand, if the facilitator determined that most teams would not get to a fourth simulation (which frequently happened as teams engaged in deep and meaningful discussions), she could turn off that option on the fly without negatively impacting the learner experience.
The client had deployed other ExperienceBUILDER simulations recently and wanted to ensure the new experience would feel just as novel and engaging as others. The goal of the new simulations was to get people engaged in discussions about the challenges of people coming back to the office (or continuing to work remotely in some cases). To keep the interaction fresh and engaging, the new simulations included short reading sections, multiple-choice sections, videos, and other media. The “choose your own adventure” design and addition of low-cost video segments were highly successful with the project team and participants.
The participant response to the immersive and collaborative learning experience has been overwhelmingly positive, and thousands of participants have given it an average rating of 4.5 out of a potential 5.
The client continues to use the simulations we developed to enhance their hybrid working environment dynamics. After the initial rollout in English, we translated both simulations into 10 additional languages so that they could be used globally.
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