Before the event · High-Velocity Learning LAB
Teams rarely fail on the technical stuff. They struggle with how they work together when it counts.
An immersive team simulation in which no one can solve the problem alone. Your people work under time pressure with incomplete information, then debrief what really happened, and discover for themselves how they communicate, lead and decide.
Why most teamwork training doesn't stick
The content is rarely the problem. The return to work is.
Most leaders have bought teamwork or leadership training that left no visible trace six months later. The reason is rarely what was taught. People go back to the same hierarchy, the same pressures and the same response to mistakes, and the old patterns return within weeks.
Aviation learned decades ago that breakdowns are seldom in the procedure. They sit in communication, coordination, decisions under pressure and leadership in the moment. The LAB lets teams experience those breakdowns safely, see them clearly, and practise doing it differently, and it starts with an honest look at whether the conditions back at work will support the change.
What makes the LAB different
- Real scenarios under time pressure, not role-play
- Behaviour observed and measured, not guessed at
- Structured debriefs using our DEBrIEF approach
- A transfer-readiness check before we start
- Optional 30 and 90-day follow-up sessions
What we work with
Two simulations, one learning approach.
The Interpersonal Skills LAB builds the foundation. Discovery of Nexus raises the pressure. Together they take a team from everyday communication and coordination through to leadership under real strain.
Core simulation
Interpersonal Skills LAB
A real-time team simulation originally developed for Lufthansa pilots, refined over twenty-five years and now used across aviation, firefighting, healthcare, emergency services and leadership development. Users include Swiss International Air Lines and the State Fire School of Baden-Württemberg.
- Duration
- 1 or 2 days
- Group
- 6–12 people, intact teams preferred
- Focus
- Communication, teamwork, leadership, decision-making and workload
- Best for
- Building non-technical skills in mixed-experience teams
Leadership add-on
Discovery of Nexus
A simulated deep-space habitat run by a mission control team and four teams of three. Three weeks of mission tasks are compressed into intense scenario work, where leadership has to emerge and followership has to be earned. It exposes the messiness of normal work in a setting where a bad call costs learning, not lives.
- Duration
- 1–2 days, high intensity
- Group
- Leaders, command teams and those preparing for senior roles
- Focus
- Leadership under pressure, distributed decisions, crisis response and followership
- Best for
- Teams who know the basics and need a harder test
When a team of German firefighters sat down to run a simulated space mission, some were sceptical. Within an hour they had stopped asking what it had to do with firefighting. Distributed knowledge, time pressure, miscommunication under stress and a leader trying to brief ten people with limited channels were all there, just in a different costume.
From a recent Discovery of Nexus workshopThree ways to work with us
The right model depends on where you are.
Some organisations want the work done well by people who already know the tool. Others want to build it into a programme they already run, or certify their own trainers. Most start with the first option and move on from there.
Looking to build general facilitation and debriefing skills rather than deliver the LAB? See our Train the Trainer programme.
We deliver it
Delivered in-house by our facilitators
We run the LAB or Nexus around your operational rhythm, for a team, a leadership group or a safety population.
- Discovery call and transfer-readiness check
- Scenarios chosen for your context
- Behavioural observation during the simulation
- Structured debrief and a written report
- Optional 30 and 90-day follow-up
We deliver it with you
Co-delivery and capability transfer
Your facilitators work alongside ours on real cohorts, learn the simulation and the debrief from the inside, and gradually take the lead.
- Joint scenario design with your experts
- Co-facilitation across agreed cohorts
- Debrief shadowing and structured handover
- Quality assurance once your people lead
You deliver it
InterLAB trainer certification
For experienced facilitators and training providers who want to deliver the LAB or Nexus independently, under licence. We are selective, because the tool is only as good as the person using it.
- 5-day foundation programme
- Supervised delivery and development time
- Assessment before independent delivery
- Licensed access to the scenario library
The evidence we stand on
What the research says, without overclaiming.
The evidence for team training is strong in some areas and still developing in others. These findings give a fair picture of where it stands.
From participants
Skills you practise, not just hear about.
I often find it challenging to truly grasp/engage with the components of courses that teach 'soft' skills, which are harder to practice in a classroom environment. I found the structure of the course, with a mix of learning modules followed by scenarios that actually required using the skills, to be extremely effective in solving this disconnect.
I'm currently in a position where I'm often leading a team of people much more experienced than I am – doing this course has helped me see how to lead without needing to be the most experienced person in the room, but understanding that I'm there to facilitate the team to be the best it can be, and have the tools to do that.
Delivered by Gareth Lock, a licensed InterLAB trainer and one of a small number of facilitators certified on Discovery of Nexus, with our associate facilitators.
Book a call
Start with a curious conversation.
Tell us what is happening in your organisation, what you have already tried, and what you would like to be different. We will be honest about whether we can help, and point you elsewhere if someone else would serve you better.
Prefer email? Write to [email protected] and we will reply within two working days.