Simulated activities that mimic real-world situations

MTa’s experiential training kits are well-placed to build the skills that allow your teams to cope with these challenges by using simulated activities to mimic real-world situations. Using versatile kits to carry out short activities, participants gain skills to work with demanding customers, regulators and other stakeholders while driving efficiency throughout your organization.

Indeed according to a survey conducted by Target Jobs, some of the skills most in demand from the banking/finance sector are communication skills, problem solving, customer service, teamwork and leadership. Like many soft skills, these are best acquired through practice, but learning from real-life mistakes isn’t an option when millions or even billions of dollars are at stake.

Tackle specific business issues

That’s why complex organizations like HSBC have deployed MTa’s Insights kitMTa Team Kit and other kits to help staff get to grips with complex situations in a training environment.

“We use [the entire suite of MTa learning kits] in a variety of situations: assessment events, small workshops for specific groups, on our graduate training programmes, on foundation and middle management skills courses, in tailored functional development events, for train-the-trainer events in local areas, and for country-level top team workshops,” explains Martha B. Birtles, of HSBC Holdings.

She adds the kits have been deployed to help tackle specific large-scale business issues like merging local businesses into regional structures. The universal appeal of the simulations supported by MTa’s training means that a global bank like HSBC can use them anywhere in the world.

“We use MTa in management training,” adds Silvia Linder of HSBC Bank Brazil. “The activities are very fun and [we] can observe various behaviors necessary for the proper performance of our managers.”

Create high-performing teams

To help create high-performing teams, you could use activities like Over the Bridge, where teams compete to complete a complex task where they build a vehicle and a means of conveying it over a chasm. The brief is ambiguous, the customer needs are vague, and rival teams must bid for limited resources after carrying out an initial assessment. It replicates the kind of complex tasks faced by financial services when working in environments of ambiguity and limited transparency. And the art of questioning and trying to understand the brief is a great skill for those in customer service who need to understand complex customer needs.

“I have found MTa materials to be the perfect solution to team development needs, combining a fun approach with well-structured opportunities for discussion, feedback and action planning,” says Mike Linsell from BNY Mellon. He especially appreciates the knowledge and support from the MTa team in helping him choose the best activity for a particular event.

Respond to complex and evolving challenges

To prepare your staff for the constant volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity, the MTa Mini kit includes activities that demonstrate how effective team-working within and between teams influences business success. In one, success is determined by the monetary value of the final product, but that is dependent on understanding the wider market and competitor intelligence — successful teams need to be able to adapt.

“With any change there is always a risk of trying to carry on as we were and just adapting to the new circumstances. Experiential learning can help people adopt new ways of working,” says MTa managing director Jamie Thompson. As well as team-working, change management and customer service, MTa’s carefully designed experiential learning activities can help you improve the efficiency of your processes, drive the right behaviours and attitudes and build trust.

Find out more

Find out how you could invest in your team’s ability to respond to complex and evolving challenges with MTa Team Kit, which has 16 activities expertly designed to develop effective team-working and leadership.

MTa experiential learning kits

See our range of kits

Stay in touch...

Download facilitators hints and tips

Get Jamie's Hints & Tips