AoEC shakes up coach training with gamified simulation offering

The AoEC is pleased to announce the launch of a new innovative gamified simulation programme which will allow organisations of any size to deliver coach training skills in-house to anyone – anywhere - anytime. The Introduction to Coaching Skills interactive online programme will offer coaching skills development at scale with the capacity for multiple users in different locations and time zones.

The AoEC has always advocated those coaching conversations make such a difference to individuals, teams and organisations and with this new solution organisations can make coaching skills available and accessible like never before.

Offered initially to organisations who are keen to instil a coaching approach in their workplace culture, the new programme allows a safe environment for practice with the interactive minigames and simulated coaching conversations.

Running within an online portal, this new gamified training solution introduces participants to the core coaching skills of listening, questioning, reflection and summarising through a mobile app and embeds the learning using three simulated coaching scenarios on the desktop platform. Designed to embed behaviour change, but also to be fun, the online programme is interactive and enables the user to learn through repetition by undertaking different tasks as they complete each of the 10 mini games.

It is expected to take an average of three hours in total to finish the full programme, but it is encouraged to space this out and users are able to revisit the programme as often as they wish over the course of a year to refresh their skills – or to better their score on the leaderboard!

It has been created in partnership with Attensi, a leading market provider of gamified training solutions. Attensi combines advanced 3D modelling with deep insight into human behaviour and specialises in training employees in authentic situations that involve human interaction and operation of business-critical software and systems.

Huw Newton-Hill, head of professional and financial services at Attensi said: “Attensi is thrilled to be partnering with the AoEC to deliver the first ever gamified 3D coaching simulation. We know that a coaching skillset is vital for companies to embrace change and enable reskilling/upskilling in their organisations. We also know that this skillset is incredibly difficult to master without practical application. Our simulation significantly speeds up the transfer of knowledge and mastery of application through the realistic, virtual world - without the risk of negative real-life repercussions. By allowing users to practice and repeat in a safe and engaging environment, whilst receiving feedback as they go, learners are able to build mastery and confidence in their ability as coaches, and accelerate their impact for organisations.”

Moira Halliday, director of programmes with the AoEC commented: “We have long been asked to develop a foundation-level course for organisational clients who want to introduce coaching at scale. That has been a challenging ask in the past because of the logistics involved in organising classroom training for businesses which have widely distributed networks of employees. This product is the first of its kind for the coach training market and its level of sophistication goes way beyond the standard online learning options previously available.”

Moira concluded: “The AoEC is determined to bring coaching to as many people as possible and it follows on from our other partnerships with CoachBright and Circl to democratise the use of coaching for all age groups in the workplace. This is a brilliant option for learners and for employers too who want to invest in a learning or coaching culture and develop their employees using coaching conversations. It is a fun, safe, engaging and ‘sticky’ way of improving those all-important soft skills and we look forward to rolling it out to our ever-growing customer base.”

To find out more visit the Introduction to Coaching SKills webpage.