The Bench

A leadership simulation about succession planning and talent pipeline strategy. Invest in your people across three rounds — then face the crisis that reveals what you built.

Succession planning Talent pipeline Leadership strategy 4–20 players

Join or create a room

One room for the whole leadership team. The host controls pacing; everyone votes together.

Player guide

Objective: Build a leadership bench before a sudden departure event exposes whether the pipeline is real or only assumed.

Setup: Join the room with the code from your facilitator and participate as one leadership team.

How to play: Rounds 1–3 ask the team to invest limited budget across five candidates. Round 4 opens five key roles at once and forces promotion, external hire, or vacancy choices.

Your role: Debate the investment pattern, vote on candidate development, and decide how to fill roles when the sudden departure hits.

End condition: Debrief the gap between perceived readiness and actual readiness, plus what the investment pattern says about succession discipline.

Mentoring — 1 budget unit
Steady progress. Low risk.
Stretch Assignment — 2 budget units
Accelerates growth. Reduces stability.
Formal Programme — 3 budget units
Maximum development. High cost.
Neglect — 0 budget units
No investment. Readiness decays.
Room code
----

Players connected

Organisation context

The host picks the scenario. This frames the debrief without changing the mechanics.

Round 1 of 3

Investment Round

0:30

Choose investment

Budget: 8

Candidate pipeline

Players

Round 4 — The Departure Event

Five roles just opened simultaneously.

0:30

What does the team do?

Candidate readiness (now revealed)

Decisions so far

Simulation complete

Final results — The Bench you built

0
Final score

Crisis outcomes

Full candidate readiness

Investment history by candidate

Debrief

Five questions. Use these to connect the simulation to your real organisation.