:: Holistic Leaders - Transform To Lead

Games are interactive experiential strategies to aid learning.
Experiential learning is much more than playing games The game provides an opportunity to gain an experience. But how do we learn from experience? It is not automatic. Experience turns into learning when we review it, relate it to some underlying theory, perhaps learnt elsewhere, perhaps developed in the light of our experience and review, then choose either to do it again or to do things differently in future. Hence games have to be debriefed using a set of debriefing questions.
Dr. David Kolb described an adult learning cycle which followed the path:
Concrete Experience >>> Reflective Observation >>> Abstract Concepts >>> Active Experimentation >>> new Concrete Experience >>>.

the great advantage of coaching as a developmental process is that it provides the opportunity for one-on-one training, guiding, instructing, observing, modeling, evaluating performance, and providing corrective action. All of this can be done on the job or even by phone. It occurs through regular sessions as the person is performing and applying the principles and ideas discussed in the coaching sessions, with immediate feedback from the coach. At work, coaching can be provided by a consultant, a training professional specializing in coaching, or the person’s own supervisor if versed in coaching techniques and equipped with its tools.
The advantages of coaching over other developmental processes can be summarized in the following points:

It provides one-on-one interaction
It focuses totally on the person being coached and his or her developmental needs
It provides hands-on, real-life guiding of the person being coached, not preaching or teaching.
It provides modeling by the coach of the desired behavior in its best form.
The coaching process is modeled after sports, the most common experience people have of developing their skills at an early age in an enjoyable activity.
The close interactive nature of coaching provides close observation of behavior, and appropriate intervention in a timely manner.
Coaching focuses on results and therefore includes tools and processes for measuring these results in the real world, where the game of life is actually played.
Because coaching is experiential as opposed to conceptual, it enables an exhilarating experience of being fully engaged in the moment, aware of the presence of the new skills, and cognizant of the immediate results in real life.
Because coaching enables you to actually feel and see yourself getting better at what you do on a daily or weekly basis, it is the process that most quickly helps people feel more powerful and self-confident.
Because of its intensity and one-on-one interaction, coaching builds a powerful human bond between the coach and the coached. The power of this relationship is a value in itself.

All of the methods above are complemented by more traditional training methods such as lectures and presentations using flipcharts and powerpoint presentations.