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TRACTOR Multimedia game develops “soft skills”
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January 2005
Entrepreneurs face a critical period in the first years: the transition from an entrepreneurial to a professional management style. As time moves on and the team of the new company grows, the entrepreneur has to develop good leadership skills, as well as build up the team and improve communication across the company.
Focussed on answering start-ups’ real needs, the TRACTOR project decided to address this skills gap. Its members have developed an innovative multimedia module that aims to raise awareness of the importance of leadership, team building and communication issues when managing a young, innovative start-up.
The Multimedia Module is an interactive game, composed of about 40 stories reflecting typical problems and situations. Throughout the game, the user experiences real situations while learning important aspects of managing a team. The player is presented with suggestions and recommendations in each situation. The Module is currently in the expert validation phase.
The game’s content is the result of interviews with managers of young, innovative start-ups and with business advisors. In the course of entensive work with focus groups and through individual interviews with managers, the following issues were identified as typical : recruiting the right employees, motivating employees, awareness of a leader’s functions, delegation of functions and powers, communication (of the vision, of instructions, of clear messages), time management, and acceptance/recognition.
The business advisors pinpointed complementary aspects: the balance between rationality and emotions in decision-making, different leadership styles, involvement/engagement of employees (reflection, future involvement, decision-making), formalising internal processes in the companies (formal meetings, planning) and ethical problems (ex. sharing the same values). |
