Watch one scenario from the Office Decision Simulation

The two-minute video below shows a single scenario exactly as participants experience it in a live virtual session. An employee poses a question from their workday — here, a holiday gift that may exceed policy — and the audience decides what the employee should do, voting via the polling built into Microsoft Teams. No login, no LMS: if your people can join a Teams meeting, they can participate.

One thing to know before you press play: this scenario is deliberately generic. In a live engagement, every scenario is built on your policies, value thresholds, terminology, and approval channels. More on that below the video.

How does this run with a live facilitator?

Facilitator discussion notes:

• A feels compliant because it passes two of the three policy tests — non-cash and holiday timing but misses the third: modest value. Meeting most of a policy’s conditions isn’t meeting the policy.
• C is the trap: the policy governs the business relationship and the appearance of influence, not who paid. The contact still receives a lavish gift from a company representative, and by skipping the expense report, the transparency that protects the employee is removed.
• B wins because it’s not “no”; it’s verify, use the approval path, and downshift to a modest alternative if needed.

What you just watched is one cycle of a rhythm that repeats across an interactive office building. In a live session:

1. The facilitator opens an office window. Behind each one, an employee is facing a decision. The facilitator — or the audience — chooses where to go next.
2. The poll opens. Everyone votes at the same time, privately. No raised hands, no waiting to see what the boss picks. Results stay hidden until voting closes.
3. The results appear — and there is nearly always a split. The split is where the session earns its keep: it shows the room, in real time, that reasonable colleagues read the same policy differently.
4. The facilitator works through each answer — which policy tests it passes, and where it quietly fails. The “almost right” answers get the most attention, because those are the ones people choose in real life.
5. The recommended action lands in one line, and the group moves to the next office.

Each scenario runs about 5 to 8 minutes, so a 60-minute session comfortably covers 6 to 8 scenarios across different policy topics. For larger events, the same session runs as a team competition — countries, sites, or functions vote as teams, with a running scoreboard and a final result. The mechanics don’t change; the energy does.

This is a demo — the product is built on your policies

The gift scenario above is a stand-in. In an engagement, every scenario is customized: your policies and thresholds, your terminology, your approval and reporting channels, and situations drawn from your business — delivered in English, German, or both. Any policy area can take the chair: gifts and hospitality, conflicts of interest, third-party engagement, data privacy and information handling, speak-up and reporting, trade compliance, and more.

Every scenario is a fictional composite created for the session — and your team reviews and approves each one before anything goes in front of an audience. It runs on your words, with your sign-off.

The companion format: one scenario, all the way down

The office simulation is built for breadth — many scenarios, one audience, high energy. When the goal is depth on a single decision, we use the Xcelus Decision Brief™: a short, facilitated walkthrough of a single scenario, from gut reaction to a vote to the reasoning behind each choice. You can walk through a complete Decision Brief™, start to finish, here:

[See a sample Decision Brief™ →] (link: https://www.xcelus.com/decision-briefs/sample-brief/)

Many clients pair the two: a live event for the moment, Decision Brief™ scenarios delivered through Teams in the months after — so the thinking practiced at the event doesn’t fade when the event ends.

A recording shows the mechanics. Twenty minutes live shows the effect.

We’re glad to run a short live walkthrough for your planning team — you vote, we facilitate, and you experience the poll-and-discussion rhythm exactly as your audience would. It’s the fastest way to judge whether the format fits your event.

© 2005–2026 Xcelus LLC. All rights reserved. Xcelus Decision Brief™ is a trademark of Xcelus LLC. All scenarios are fictional composites created for training; no real companies, people, or events are depicted. Sessions are facilitated exercises and do not constitute legal advice.