Learning Outcomes Demonstrating the Antecedents of Collaboration
FortFantastic provides an exciting opportunity to practice teamwork whether for individuals, groups, or complete multidisciplinary teams. It creates an environment in which communication is the major way that teams leverage their collective knowledge distributed among different players and roles. Given this, breakdowns in communication are typically encountered and can be addressed in various forms of feedback.
The simulation lets people learn about the value of effective communication and how hard it is to achieve even if your team member is only a heartbeat away. Another important outcome is conflict resolution which attendees automatically practice due to the highly dynamic and completive environment of the game.
Content-related communication increases efficiency | The different roles possess separate information. Merging this information will considerably increase process efficiency. For instance, the operating business has information that is essential for the prioritization of incidents which is essential for both Control Room and Technical Support. However, the amount of available information is high. A pattern “Everybody has to know everything” will not solve the problem either. Thus, the key is process oriented communication and well-defined communication contents. | |
| Efficiency does not emerge by itself, but requires coordinated action | The role of the park manager and his actions versus his non-actions highlight that efficient processes require a strict leadership. A “strong” park manager, who quickly identifies inefficient operations and communication deficits, can make the difference in the teams’ respective performances. | |
| Inefficient processes lead to high costs | The model’s simplified business- management references highlight that operation methods and processes do not exist in a vacuum, but will in fact affect the bottom line. Incidents are not only annoying but also have a negative impact on the profit margin.At all times players can follow the monetary consequences of poor process efficienc. | |
| Efficiency is ‘best practice’ oriented | As an absolute optimization variable, efficiency is quite abstract, and for many players, not easy to understand. In the game, two teams compete under identical competitive environments. Relative efficiency, when compared among teams, reveals that the team with more efficient operations will achieve better results. Exchange among park managers provides the opportunity to learn from each other (adaptation of best practice). |
