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Frequently
Asked Questions of our Business Clients
Q.
Why should we consider using Chess-Now for our training
needs/events?
A. Chess-Now has developed a cost
effective use of a very popular activity to
train employees on planning and critical analysis. Games
in general are very popular ways to emulate scenarios
in business. Many financial and risk management models
use game theory to help predict the probability and
possibility of an event occurring. Chess is strictly
a game of skill. The ability to look
at an opportunity, visualize an outcome and assess the
value in making a decision is developed on every move
over the board. Strategy and tactics
are constantly used in business and chess. Played by
550 million people around the world, chess has existed
for over 1,400 years and is part of practically every
culture on the planet. Your employees will be savvier,
have a common shared experience and have a skill they
can share at the office or at home with family and friends
for a lifetime. (Back to top)
Q.
Isn’t chess too complicated?
A. Life is complicated, business
is complicated. "Isn't chess too complicated to
allow novices a chance to learn business strategy in
a workshop or breakout session?" Not if you have
a dynamically qualified trainer who can streamline and
present the material to you at the right level.
To
become a 10-handicap in golf or a 4.5 level competitor
in tennis, or master chess would take years. In our
setting it is better to have limited knowledge about
chess because just as in business or life how you learn
and react to new information and challenges will determine
whether you win.
To understand what's happening on the chessboard, use
the same thinking principles and skills necessary in
your work, or to enjoy a casual game and give anyone
a challenge you can learn all you need to know in about
the time it takes to read a good novel. It’s all
based on the presentation. A skilled trainer can condense
the information and present it in terms you already
understand.
Relating
chess to business becomes easier when it is presented
in the right manner. As a business person, if you think
of your chess pieces as employees that have unique skills
and abilities and you see how, why and where they can
perform at their best, then getting an advantage and
winning the game doesn't seem so impossible. (Back
to top)
Q.
Budgets are limited, what are the benefits of your training?
A. According to the Wall Street Journal, strategic thinking
is the number one skill companies want from executive
MBA programs. (September 30, 2008). Our training is
about using chess as a tool to practice decision making
in an uncertain environment. Participants do not need
to know how to play chess to be involved. They receive
a one page handout beforehand which is all they need
to know in order to participate in the seminar. The
handout discusses the chess pieces and how they move.
In other words participants need to know "how to
start the car" and we teach them "how to drive
it".
From
a business perspective we talk about knowing your associates/pieces,
maintaining your advantage with experience, looking
for competitor threats, using the patterns the champions
use and figuring out the phase your business game is
in. See the homepage link on Coaching Tips from Corporate
Coaching International founder Dr. Lois Frankel.
.In
his book, Three Moves Ahead, What Chess Can Teach
You About Business, Bob Rice, lawyer, CEO and venture
capitalist, says: " To a radically greater degree
than ever before, today's strategic and operational
decisions must be made without a clear understanding
of their outcomes. That is, to compete successfully
in the 'information revolution', you have to know what
to do when you're not sure what to do. Chess teaches
that."
In
her book, The Hard Truth about Soft Skills in the
Workplace, Peggy Klaus says: "Despite collectively
spending more than $50 billion on training programs
for employees, many corporations fail to offer soft
skill training at all. A survey conducted by the Graduate
Management Admission Council found that while MBAs were
strong in analytic aptitude, they were sorely lacking
in other critical areas that employers find equally
attractive, strategic thinking..."
Our
seminars are cost effective when compared
to golf outings, paint ball, scavenger hunts, and other
events. It is held indoors in your conference room or
training center whether it is raining, snowing or over
100 degrees. Our sessions can easily be combined with
other activities. (Back to top)
Q.
What can you learn from chess that we use in business?
A. Our “Winning in Business with
Chess-Now ™ ” seminars use game
theory to model real-life business scenarios and situations.
Our seminar may be customized and is typically scheduled
for a workshop or breakout session. By rapidly learning
to play chess, participants will improve critical thinking
skills using concepts they already know. In this seminar
your employees will learn and improve:
- Strategic Thinking
- Problem Solving Ability
- Visualization
- Logical Thinking
- Calculating Ability
- Tactical Awareness
- Competitiveness
- Competitor Threat Analysis
- Developing a Plan of Action
- Executing a Plan
- Decision Making
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- Prioritizing
- Evaluating available Options
- Taking Action with Initiative
- Defeating Procrastination
- ROI on a Sacrifice
- Risk Management
- Leadership
- Team Building
- Management
- Reduction in Forces (RIF)
- Time Management
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(Back
to top)
Q.
What about the different ability levels of the participants?
A. While having actual chess experience is helpful,
it is not necessary to improve your decision making
skills. Participants receive a one (1) page handout
that they need to review before the seminar which covers
the pieces and how they move. Time spent on mastering
that is all that is necessary to build on your knowledge.
We take it from there. Advanced players are challenged
just as well as beginners because business terms are
used to describe the pieces and strategies and tactics
you need to know. (Back to top)
Q.
Do the participants have any fun?
A. Yes we do, our presenters are excellent speakers
and bring a wealth of experience to the session. Every
20 minutes the participants are involved in a different
activity. We introduce new material, we go over an important
game, we solve puzzle challenges and the participants
play several supervised rounds during their program.
For the experienced players we might use a chess clock
to make sure things are really even. We use humorous
materials (bloopers) from major advertising campaigns
and pictures that portray chess but have obvious mistakes
(ouch). Participants also enjoy learning something new
or reviewing information they have previously learned
about the game. (Back to top)
Q.
What do the participants receive?
A. After consulting with our clients about what they
hope to achieve with our training, we can customize
a package especially for your needs within budget. Generally
participants receive all of their training materials,
a chess board, set and carrying case to take back to
the office and continue to practice their decision making
skills. (Back to top)
Q.
What if we have special requests or requirements for
our training?
A. We can customize a training event to specifically
meet your needs.
Our
sessions are appropriate for:
- Onsite or Offsite sessions
- Breakout/Workshops
- Recognition events
- Executive retreats
- User conferences
- Conventions
- Business meetings
- Client orientations
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We
work with:
- Convention Planners
- Training Associations
- Trade Shows
- Meeting and Event Planners
- Speaker Associations
- Corporate Training & Development Departments
- Hospitality Industry Management
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(Back
to top)
Q.
Who could benefit from your training?
A. Most companies have identified a group of talented
performers that are being groomed to advance within
the organization. These individuals need to be the best
strategic thinkers and leaders of the future who need
challenges to help them progress. Professionals in Legal,
Accounting, Engineering, Marketing, Sales, Training,
Finance, Consulting, Software Development, Information
Technology, Supply Chain Management and the Armed Forces
as well as others have great potential to benefit from
Chess-Now programs. (Back to top)
Q.
Could you explain how you use chess as a team building
activity?
A. After the participants have had a reasonable amount
of instruction, one of our most popular activities is
to break up into teams of equal ability and play a consultation
game. The teams compete against each other discussing
their strategies and tactics while analyzing the moves
and threats from their opponents as a group. Decision
making is rotated in the group and teams have to react
to new situations as they happen during the game. Problems
requiring a solution have not been created yet because
opponents have yet to move. We can also introduce a
chess clock on the games which means you learn how to
manage your time effectively.
Another popular option is to have teams of equal strength
play a match against each other where the result of
each team member’s game adds to the final total
to determine who won the match. Yet another possibility
is to play team chess (bughouse). 2 teams of 2 players
play chess against each other and when pieces are captured
they transfer to your teammate’s board where the
pieces are placed on any available open square. (Back
to top)
Q.
How many people participate in the training at the same
time?
A. To maintain the quality of the instruction we keep
the instructor/participant level low. Generally we use
small groups and would have no more than 20 participants
go through the hands-on training that is provided in
the program. We can hold multiple sessions if necessary.
We also do a pre-seminar evaluation of the participants
to make sure we know who is going to be in the program.
We can break participants into groups that will provide
everyone a challenge.
For more of a social event or keynote speaking situation,
we can conduct an informational online presentation
about the history, art, players and personalities of
chess. Our “Chess – A Game for the Ages”
presentation does not require that the participants
know how to play chess at all. However the benefits
of learning about strategic thinking are not part of
this casual event. (Back to top)
Q.
Who do I contact about getting more information on a
seminar for our company?
A. Contact us
and we will respond to your inquiry as soon as possible.
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