
Communication Derailed, HRDQ’s popular interactive communication training game provides a powerful demonstration of communication’s impact in the workplace and teaches the necessary skills for effective communication.
The game’s premise of developing new products for a toy company, punctuated by role-playing and hands-on activity, results in fast-paced, interactive learning. The game addresses three common challenges: communication within teams, communication between teams, and communication under organizational stress. The modules can be run independently or in a series, depending on learning goals. Teams are asked to build new toy prototypes from the parts provided and face obstacles that challenge their communication skills. Through the experience of working together and with the help of the facilitator, participants identify and overcome these problems through effective communication. Based on HRDQ’s Experiential Learning Theory, which supports a learner-focused approach and encourages active participation, this game works because learners directly experience the impact of communication within the business environment, and its effect on their roles within the game. By practicing techniques to help overcome communication obstacles, participants understand how to apply what they’ve learned to their work, immediately and with confidence.