The Laboratory of Neurosciences in Management

The system collects data on the activity of the central and peripheral nervous system of a person (through dry electroencephalography and galvanic skin response sensors), and also records audio and video recordings of the subjects during the experiment. Signals from 8 subjects can be recorded separately at the same time.

What it is used for: the system is the basic “recording machine” of the Laboratory for research and development.

What is recorded: the system uses collected data to recognize the emotions expressed and experienced by the subjects (according to EEG, GSR, facial expressions recognized in the video signal, timbre and content of speech recognized in the audio signal), and the cognitive load experienced by them (according to EEG, GSR and facial expressions), while data in various modalities are used for cross-validation, which increases the reliability of recognition. In addition, based on the data obtained, the complex builds digital constructs of a higher level (graphs of emotional infection, topic models, argumentative fields and ontological maps) depending on the context of the task.

What it is used for: to practice decision-making skills in a group setting, under uncertainty, in situations that promote cognitive biases, etc.; the second scenario - use in the preparation of moderators, to practice the skills of managing the content of the group discussion.

What is recorded: graphs of emotional contagion and communication; emotive-ontological map of the group in dynamics; patterns of personal communication protocol of the participants.

Expected result: the participants of the training are consciously related to the affective and cognitive processes in the group (recognize them and manage them), make better decisions in conditions of uncertainty.

How it goes: a group of 4 to 8 people enters an isolated room. They sit down at a round table, assistants put sensors on them. The group receives a stimulus case. The case describes the real decision-making situation in the context of the introduction of innovative technology. The case contains roles, the participants are asked to choose a role to play, after which the participants receive secret instructions in accordance with the roles. If the roles could not be distributed at will, they are distributed by lot (or the order of accepting roles is distributed by lot). The group has 20-40 minutes to make a decision, depending on the size. The group then moves on to the next case.

Based on the results of the discussion, a moderated reflection is conducted on how the group came to a decision, and the participants receive group and individualized feedback:

The graph of emotional contagion shows who was the center (centers) of emotions (emotional leader) of the group; what emotions and from whom were most often adopted; how it affected communication in the group.

The communication graph shows which of the participants dominated in communication, who listened more.

The modeling of the ontological map of the group shows how the topics changed during the discussion, how the emotions and cognitive load of the participants changed during the discussion, what topics caused polarization in the group, and whose communication most influenced the change of topics and decision-making in the end.

Each participant also receives personal feedback on the features of the personal communication protocol: how often he interrupted the interlocutor, whether he adjusted or managed emotions, whether he is more inclined to talk about his content or about the content of the group, etc.

Variation of the training “Pinwheel”: a group of 7 people takes part in the training. The training consists of 7 cycles, in each cycle four participants participate in the resolution of a conflict situation (where a win-win compromise is impossible by design), while one of them has an administrative resource; the rest 3 of 7 participants act as a “jury”, evaluating the negotiators. In each cycle participants change their roles.

Variation of the training “Uncertainty”: participants - a peer group - make a series of decisions about the allocation of resources in situations where they have conflicting requests for resources, and in addition, they all observe (with some error) a public information signal, and each of them in addition - private information signal. The accuracy of the group's decision depends on how well they manage to include a particular information signal in the overall solution.

Variation of the training “Cognitive biases”: the case is designed in such a way as to lead participants to the manifestation of cognitive deviations. Additionally, in feedback, participants receive information about their individual tendency to cognitive deviations.

Variation of the “Scrum” training: instead of a case, the actions of a development team are modeled using an agile methodology when creating a digital product. Feedback includes an assessment of an individual tendency to cognitive deviations when working on Scrum, as well as an assessment of how the group managed to show shared leadership - a leadership model in which the leader's function is distributed among group members, and which is fundamental when working on flexible methods.

What it is used for: to develop the skills of spontaneous argumentation and conduct quick negotiations in conflict situations when win-win is impossible.

What is recorded: patterns of individual negotiating style: frequency of interrupting the opponent, maintaining visual contact, emotional background, content of the dialogue (ontological map in dynamics).

Expected result: training participants consciously relate to affective and cognitive processes in pair dynamics, manage them, which increases the efficiency of pair conflict negotiations (“cold” sales, micromanagement)

How it goes: Two people sit opposite each other; they play the role of "negotiators". From one to three people sit in a row so that they can see the negotiators; they will be the "judges". Negotiators receive a case that describes a conflict situation without a visible win-win opportunity. They must choose their role in the case by self-determination or by lot. During a round of negotiations (5 minutes), they must convince each other. One of the judges determines which of the two he will send for negotiations, the other - whom he will hire, the third - to whom he will go to work himself. After the round, participants from among the judges become negotiators and receive a new case. Based on the results, participants receive feedback on their individual negotiation style: the frequency of interrupting the opponent, maintaining eye contact, the ability to read, evoke, and use emotions, the ability to manage the content of the dialogue.

What it is used for: to assess the level of shared leadership in groups, to assess the type of leadership at the individual level, to demonstrate the concept of shared leadership.

What is recorded: graphs of interaction in a group, heat maps of movement.

Expected result: the participants of the training are consciously related to group self-organization, better accept group decisions under conditions of uncertainty, are able to take responsibility, build translational memory systems in a group.

How it goes: a group of people from 5 to ... people enter a special Minecraft server through laptops. A 3-D model of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant is deployed on the server; the group is required to organize itself and “remove the consequences”. Duration of activity - 1-2 hours. At the end, a moderated reflection of the group's actions is held.

Based on the results, participants receive feedback: graphs of interaction in the group, heat maps of movement, and based on this, an assessment of the presence of shared leadership in the group.

What is it used for: to select employees according to the level of readiness for complex business activities; to demonstrate the dynamics of entrepreneurial activity.

What is recorded: graphs of interaction between participants, heat maps of movement, length of value chains and financial parameters of the division of labor system (value added levels at different stages of the chains; market valuations of companies located at different levels of value chains); at the individual level - the number of companies launched by the participant, the number of technology packages mastered, the number of combined technologies in the final solution, the ratio of copied solutions to those created independently (creative abilities).

Expected result: participants of the training consciously make better entrepreneurial decisions in the context of the dynamics of disruptive innovation.

How it goes: a group of people from 5 to ... people enter a special Minecraft server through laptops. On the server, the group, using the IndustrialCraft mod, builds “value chains”, combining the results of the activities of other participants, and independently integrating into new chains. Periodically, the server gives members access to a new technology pack that devalues existing packs.