Upping the game with experiential learning

Lalit Khanna

If lessons learnt aren’t put into practice effectively, all training goes waste. Learning improves a person’s knowledge and skills, and that helps him earn success. Professionals term it experiential learning, i.e. ‘learning through reflection on doing’. 

Business management consultants are no exception to the ‘learning method’. They not just offer desired solutions to their clients, but also deliver the desired experiences as well.  This is the reason behind the unprecedented growth of the consulting industry in developed markets.      

Spurt in demand  

John Dewey, famous American philosopher and psychologist of the 20th century, once said, “Experiential learning takes place when a person involved in an activity looks back and evaluates it, determines what was useful or important to remember, and uses this information to perform another activity.” Knowledge alone can’t make one wise and ideas alone can’t save a business, unless the rudder of the ship is controlled by the experienced hands. 

A leader should be able to manifest present and anticipate the future using both insight and intuition. The importance of experiential learning is easy to understand in the current business scenario, where in organisations spend significant revenue to clear the hefty bills of business management consultants. From designing branding strategies to warding off a crisis, businesses in today’s highly competitive scenario require guidance and suggestions of management consultants at various levels. 

Start ups fuel the industry

The entrepreneurial culture in the country and rest of the world is opening new vistas for business management consultants. A majority of startups are still struggling to see a sunny day. Why are they failing? Despite ideas, strategies, plans, capital, the entrepreneurial vision often fails to translate into success. In this case, lack of experience is emerging as a reason for failure. 

To overcome these hurdles, business schools all over the world are providing experiential learning to budding consultants and of course future leaders. Experiential learning occupies a key position in their curriculum, and besides theory and case studies, these institutions are making students familiar with the realistic environment of consulting firms through live projects, internship and frequent industry visits.   

The many benefits 

Experiential learning begins on the college campus. It is honed by industry experts, right from the professionals’ entry into the corporate world. Today, almost every reputed company in the consultation industry is committed to educating employees through bespoke training programmes by professional trainers. 

Hones leadership skills: The traditional classroom training is restricted only to information sharing and announcement of company’s policies and schemes. The experiential learning is providing a pseudo-hands-on experience to trainees in the almost real environment. Thanks to digitisation, experiential learning is optimised with the induction of AI, Programmatic and SMAC. The smart-communication technologies are playing a pivotal role in developing task-based games, role plays, simulation tests, and other problem-solving activities. These enhance one’s leadership skills and boosts cognitive abilities. 

As a team-building tool: The interesting and interactive techniques that trainers incorporate in an experiential learning programme keeps participants engaged throughout the session. Team-building exercises help them understand their roles better and make them respond promptly in times of urgency. 

Tosses quick solutions: A business consultant has to present quick and effective solutions to its clients whenever the need arises. In most cases, the client expects feasible and viable solutions without granting enough time to study a case or scenario. At such crucial moments, past experiences and knowledge gathered from industry experts, colleagues and seniors come into play. But more importantly, insight developed during resolving similar cases of other clients or task-based training progammes help the consultant share effective and practical solutions.

Hence, hiring a business management consultant is no more a luxury, but an indispensable need for an organisation.

Consulting, a necessity

Experiential learning can turn around businesses for good. Whatever the knowledge, skills, and insights that a business management consultant earns from the experiential learning help the businesses improve their productivity, profitability, and brand image. That’s why consultants with high experiential learning are always in demand, not only in the consulting industry, but throughout the business biosphere where innovative ideas, strategies, and policies are always welcomed. 

— The writer is MD, SL Consultants