In order to run an effective and successful business, it is crucial that employees possess an agile mindset that allows them to make rapid decisions, implement change and work collaboratively with other individuals.
Oftentimes, however, large businesses can find themselves stuck in rigid processes and structures, that make agility in the workplace difficult to achieve.
To help break down these rigid practices, it is important to continually re-train and develop employees so that they can develop an agile mindset in a risk-free environment. One way of doing this is through experiential learning.
What is experiential learning?
Experiential learning essentially refers to learning through doing and can take many forms, including formal training, virtual learning, and on-the-job experiences.
There are many known benefits to experiential learning, including developing employee confidence, achieving a higher retention of training, and greater emotional intelligence in the workplace. Each of these helps to contribute to greater employee performance.
But how exactly does experiential learning help develop an agile mindset?
Experiential learning turns threats into opportunities
Experiential learning allows employees to experience business situations that are unfamiliar and daunting, in a safe environment where mistakes can be learned from without the risk of making a mistake that would damage operations.
This means that employees can reflect upon the decisions that they make and learn from them in a measured and relaxed fashion. This will encourage a more agile mindset as employees will develop better decision making processes, and will feel more empowered to take action in unfamiliar situations.
Here at MDA Training, our experiential learning methods encourage workers to understand the need for change in business, and how they can embrace those opportunities to create success in their roles.
Encouraging creativity and innovation
Creativity and innovation are essential components of a business that continually evolves and stays one step ahead of the competition. Without it, it is easy for a business to lose its foothold and lag behind more modern offerings.
An agile mindset is key to encouraging creativity and innovation in business. Experiential learning can act as a platform through which employees can overcome rigid mindsets, and learn core skills that will allow them to think in a more creative way.
Our experiential learning techniques nurture creation and innovation as a part of an agile mindset. We do this by giving employees the tools to think creatively, and to understand how the innovation cycle operates.
Creating an agile working culture through experiential learning
In order to create a more versatile workforce, it is essential to ensure that there is an agile mindset throughout the structure of the business. The only way to do this is to ingrain agility into the culture of the business.
By making experiential learning a part of employee development, businesses can encourage employees to adopt an agile mindset. Here at MDA Training, our simulation activities embed agile thinking and encourage implementation of agile techniques in day-to-day work.
Maintaining your agile environment
Companies should look to integrate experiential learning in employee development to maintain an agile mindset. Doing so is sure to positively affect the collective culture of the business, both now and in the future to come.