Developing Business Acumen Skills in 90 Minutes

I will be the first one to own it and say that I didn’t think it could be done. That it was impossible to develop a comprehensive set of business acumen skills in less than 40 hours of work in a 5-day in-person program.

Well, times have changed and while it still may take up to 40 hours to develop good foundational business acumen skills you can accomplish a lot in a well-designed 90-minute workshop.

Ultimately, to master the concepts of business acumen, there are about 100 lessons to learn. However, after a lot of careful thought and many years of experience designing, developing, and delivering impactful business acumen learning journeys, it has been proven that you can prioritize the most critical elements of business acumen in a shorter workshop.

And it doesn’t have to be a talking head or a bunch of boring PowerPoints to get there. No, the most impactful way to get there is through interactive and immersive learning technologies such as digital business simulations.

A well-designed digital business simulation workshop of 90 minutes can cover the five most crucial competencies including:

Strategic Thinking:

• Understanding market dynamics and competitive landscape.
• Identifying opportunities for growth and innovation.
• Setting clear objectives and creating actionable plans to achieve them.
• Developing long-term business strategies.

Financial Literacy:

• Understanding key financial statements (income statement, balance sheet, cash flow statement).
• Grasping fundamental financial metrics (profit margins, ROI, ROE).
• Ability to analyze financial health and make informed decisions based on financial data.
• Benchmarking key competitive metrics

Customer Focus:

• Understanding customer needs and market trends.
• Analyzing competitor strategies and market positioning.
• Anticipating changes in the market and adapting accordingly.
• Conducting market research and using data to inform business decision

Operational Execution:

• Knowledge of business operations and processes.
• Improving efficiency and productivity through process optimization.
• Understanding supply chain management and logistics.
• Ensuring quality control and continuous improvement.

Leading Execution Through People:

• Leading teams effectively and managing resources.
• Inspiring and motivating employees towards achieving business goals.
• Decision-making and problem-solving skills.
• Building strong relationships and fostering a positive organizational culture.

So, now you are probably wondering how you accomplish all of that in 90 minutes? It’s actually very easy through simulation-centric learning. Here is the process of learning we have evolved over the past couple of years since the end of the pandemic:

Sophisticated Case Study That Comes to Life

Present learners with a realistic situation that feels real and similar to their worlds. For example, build a portfolio of business simulations in the worlds of pharmaceuticals, chemicals, high tech, SaaS, professional services, healthcare, financial services, and much more. In these realistic case studies, participants “take over” the simulated company and then “run” the simulated company for 3-5 years by:

• Setting the strategy and value proposition of your simulated business (20 minutes)
• Setting financial goals and objectives (10 minutes)
• Understanding the needs of their customers (5 minutes)
• Making operational and people decisions across the enterprise of the business (30 minutes)
• Reviewing and understanding the business and financial results to be able to take them back to the “real world” (25 minutes)

In summary, everything, including business acumen, has changed. Simulation technologies help business professionals develop the skills and tools they need to make the best business decisions in a much shorter amount of time. Immersion and a learning-by-doing approach focused on the most important skills are the way of the future and for many organizations, the future is now.