The high intensity of delivering ten 4-hour virtual connections over a two-week period to 56 participants
working remotely and in offices throughout Europe and Asia at 2:30 AM eastern time felt vaguely familiar.
At some point during the 4th and final round of the customized business simulation, when participants were figuring out their final attempts to execute their business strategy and maximize their Enterprise Value, I heard in my head the voice of my favorite Peloton instructor (Sam Yo) say, “This is where it gets sticky and you are going to get a little breathless. If you can, and you know you should, raise the resistance by 1-3.”
And so, the participants did. The teams, running their own global manufacturing business gave it everything they had by analyzing the markets, assessing their competitors, and making their decisions in pricing, marketing, manufacturing, supply chain, and finance. And we (participants and me the instructor) were all breathless when the intense workout was over.
Welcome to the New World of HIIT Corporate Training through Simulations
As the name suggests, high-intensity interval training (HIIT) is challenging. It takes workouts to an entirely new level as you push your body through and out of your normal comfort zone. The concept is straightforward: if you are training for an event like a marathon, boxing match, squash match, or any sort of competitive athletic endeavor, you embrace the science of how the human body reacts to training and you engage in intense intervals of work to teach your body to optimize oxygen and grow muscles. The high intensity intervals are followed by a slower recovery period, and then followed up by another round of high intensity. And it really works.
Every professional athlete, every Olympian, and every weekend warrior who does some sort of HIIT training will attest to the difference it makes in overall fitness. However, but more importantly, they talk about the even greater impact it has on real performance.
I believe one of the most interesting outcomes of the pandemic will be the realization that high intensity business, leadership, and sales simulations delivered in high impact interval virtual training sessions are going to be the corporate talent development equivalent of physical HIIT training.
Think of it this way; in the “good old days” before the disruption, learners would get on an airplane, fly to a location, train for several long days, sleep in an uncomfortable bed, miss their kids’ soccer games, and not really learn that much. Now, in the new normal, learners can integrate Two 4-hour intensive training sessions into their daily routines and learn much more and still stay productive.
What used to be two long 8-hour days is now four 4-hour HIIT connections of virtual business simulation-centric learning. What used to be a 5-day program is now ten 4-hour HIIT connections that integrate content, discussion, and learning-by-doing simulation workshops that have greater retention and impact on the business results.
In a recent Coaching simulation that we deployed globally to thousands of learners in 2-hour HIIT connections, more than 85% of the participants reported significant improvement in their confidence and skill levels to coach better and improve performance of their direct reports, colleagues, and peers.
Summary
Many things have changed as a result of the pandemic. Some more than others. Corporate Talent development has been completely disrupted and we have the chance to take great concepts like HIIT physical training and superimpose them on corporate skills training in the form of intense simulation workshops rather than being talked at for a couple of hours in a boring virtual or in-person classroom.
