Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation

CLIENT
Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation

OBJECTIVE
Our team was tasked with developing a solution for training managers across Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation (ENEC) which seamlessly integrates a hybrid of both in-person and virtual setups. The purpose of the solution is to improve collaboration, communication, and leadership skills amongst managers with a hybrid solution.

APPROACH
We undertook the development of a blended gamified learning solution designed to operate in a hybrid platform setting, integrating both in-person team members and those participating remotely. The hybrid solution required simple and intuitive features for team members in which communication and strategic decision-making were not inhibited by technical boundaries.

The problem

The challenges posed by the project stemmed directly as a result of the COVID pandemic. ENEC was transitioning from project development into an operating company, whereby management needed to hold a kick-off initiative for a new management development program. The challenges posed by the pandemic and the inability to hold fully in-person training and workshops thus required adept hybrid solutions that could accommodate all managers in a streamlined and intuitive way.

Many of the technical solutions to this problem simply could not have been solved with videoconferencing software alone and instead our team was retained to assist in the development of management scenarios and accompanying animations developed with the Unreal Engine. It was also necessary to create an uninterrupted hybrid solution that could accommodate team members participating remotely through two syndicate rooms as well as by integrating MS Teams for these remote participants in combination with in-person team members.

The Solution

SHIIFT developed a Hybrid solution for ENEC which linked up in-person team members as well as virtual participants through the use of two syndicate rooms. MS Teams was used for any team members participating remotely. This solution enabled all participants to collaborate and communicate in a simple and intuitive way, no matter the geographical distance separating them. The management training program itself operated in an organized and efficient manner, whereby managers were split into three groups of 6-8 participants with each team tasked with playing a role in various fictitious scenarios. These scenarios  were designed to test desired behaviors of each participating group of managers.

An example scenario includes a busy international seaport, whereby various cargo and cruise passengers pass by. Then, participants were posed challenges and were tasked with developing solutions, such as broken container cranes, an outbreak of COVID amongst cruise ship passengers, traffic congestion problems, and so on. Our hybrid solution included scene-setting, animated clips, videos, phone calls, radio communications, news, media clips, social media feeds and more. All of these features were designed to test and stimulate interaction and strategic thinking within each team of managers. The supervisor also had the ability to modify the scenario parameters in order to monitor and evaluate the responses of managers.