Simulations and the spreadsheet
Analyse simulation data where it was made
Ice Cream Shop, Project Simulation and the Risk management simulator produce data: a sales log, project indicators after every round, a history of tasks. With one button participants move it into their own spreadsheet in Verbalu and calculate instead of guessing. No files to download, no switching to Excel.
- No files to download, nothing to install
- Session participants need no account
- The trainer sees every participant's analysis
Ice Cream Shop - sales analysis
| A | B | C | D | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Day | Bought (kg) | Sold (kg) | Profit ($) |
| 2 | 1 | 40 | 32 | 160 |
| 3 | 2 | 35 | 35 | 350 |
| 4 | 3 | 45 | 38 | 240 |
| 5 | 4 | 40 | 40 | 400 |
| 6 | 5 | 42 | 37 | 270 |
| 7 | ||||
| 8 | Average daily profit | 284 | ||
Profit ($)
How people learn
Decide, look at the data, analyse, try again
It is the experiential learning cycle: participants do something, look at the result, draw a conclusion and test it on the next attempt. The spreadsheet turns looking at the result into measuring it, without pulling anyone out of the simulation.
A decision in the simulation
A participant orders ice cream for the day, prices a tender offer or runs a round of the project. The simulation works out what the decision leads to.
Data from every day and round
The simulation writes it all into a table: the sales log, the project indicators, the history of tasks. Games that had a file export still have it.
One button: Analyse in a spreadsheet
The data lands in the participant's own workbook: a data tab and an empty "Analysis" tab. In a browser the spreadsheet opens in a new tab beside the game, in the mobile app in place.
A hypothesis in numbers
Formulas, a chart from a selection, a comment on a cell. The participant checks what really drives the result: the flavour, the place, the price, or whose estimates drift.
Back with a conclusion
The next level, round or project tests the hypothesis. Back in the spreadsheet, the same button brings fresh data and the analysis carries on.
New data, the same analysis
Pressing the button again replaces only the data tab. The "Analysis" tab and any other tab the participant added stay, and their formulas and charts recalculate on the new numbers.
The trainer sees every analysis
In the Spreadsheet the trainer has a "Participants' workbooks" view: they open any workbook, show someone's analysis on the projector or copy it to their own workbooks.
Simulations
Three simulations worth running the numbers on
Each one leaves a trail of data, and each one asks a question you can only answer with numbers. The column names below are the headings participants see in the spreadsheet.
- Everyone plays alone
Ice Cream Shop
A game about experiments and market risk. Every morning the participant orders ice cream against a hidden demand, and over 6 levels the market grows from one flavour to a street of eight shops with their own prices. Every day goes into the sales log, and the real demand is revealed after each level.
What reaches the spreadsheet
Sales
- Day
- Shop
- Flavour
- Price ($/kg)
- Bought (kg)
- Sold (kg)
- Thrown away (kg)
- Sold out at
- Profit ($)
- Lost revenue ($)
- Demand (kg)
Question to analyse
How much to order and at what price, when lost revenue and ice cream in the bin cost different amounts? Where will the demand peak move tomorrow?
Useful functions
SUMIFSAVERAGEIFSCORREL
- Played in teams
Project Simulation
A team of 3-4 runs a waterfall project from a plan on a Gantt chart to handover, with messages, visits from people and phase gates. One round is a week of the project. The earned value indicators of every round and the task table reach the spreadsheet, and with roles turned on each person gets only what their role sees.
What reaches the spreadsheet
Rounds
- Round
- PV
- EV
- AC
- SV
- CV
- SPI
- CPI
- BAC
- EAC
- Spent
Tasks
- Task
- Name
- BAC
- PV
- EV
- AC
- SPI
- CPI
Team
- Round
- Team morale, average
- Sponsor's trust
- Stakeholder trust, average
Question to analyse
Will the project finish on time and on budget? How do SPI and CPI move, and do the numbers back the forecast in the steering committee report?
Useful functions
FORECAST.LINEARSLOPEIF
- Everyone plays alone
Risk management simulator
The participant runs a small software house: prices tenders from the team's estimates and sees how long the tasks really took. The game runs a Monte Carlo: 1000 draws of the cost from each person's spread of errors, from which you read the cost at an 80% probability. The completed tasks reach the spreadsheet, and from the level with analytics those 1000 trials too.
What reaches the spreadsheet
Completed tasks
- Project
- Person
- Plan [h]
- Actual [h]
- Deviation [%]
- Tender
Monte Carlo
- Trial
- Cost [$]
- Cumulative probability
Question to analyse
How far do each person's estimates drift? Does the 80th percentile of the 1000 trials give the cost the game shows, and what buffer should the offer carry to win the tender without losing money?
Useful functions
AVERAGEIFSTDEV.SPERCENTILE.INC
With one click the trainer also moves the results of exercises with a CSV export into their own workbook: the risk register from The Boat Game, the results of AI Roleplay and Prompt Training, and the grade matrix of an Episodic case study.
Verbalu's spreadsheet
A spreadsheet that knows the training
Formulas and charts as in Excel, in the same app as the simulation: with a join code, live work and a place for participants' workbooks.
220 functions, statistics included
From SUM and IF to distributions (normal, Student t, chi-square), quartiles and percentiles, correlation, linear regression and statistical tests.
Function names as in your Excel
Type functions in English, or in Polish or Spanish as in a localized Excel, and separate arguments with a comma or a semicolon. The Σ button lists every function with a one-line description.
Charts from a selection
Column, line, area or pie. A chart recalculates with every change, also after the simulation data is refreshed, and downloads as a PNG.
Fill handle and moving cells
A formula dragged down shifts its addresses, two numbers make a series, and a double click fills the column to the end of the data. Grab a selection by its edge to move it.
Comments and presence
A comment thread on a cell, and frames on the grid showing who is in the workbook and on which cell.
One workbook for the whole group
The trainer turns on "Everyone can edit" and the group fills in one workbook live. Each cell saves on its own, so two people never overwrite each other's work.
Code, link and QR, no account
Participants join the trainer's workbook with a code, a link or a QR code shown on the screen, without creating an account.
Excel, CSV, ODS and Google Drive
Open .xlsx, .xls, .ods and CSV files, also straight from Google Drive, and the charts in an .xlsx file load with the data. Save the workbook as .xlsx with formulas, or a tab as CSV.
Honestly
What Verbalu's spreadsheet does not do
The spreadsheet is for analysis during training, not a replacement for Excel in everyday work with data. Check these limits before you choose it.
- One tab holds up to 5000 rows and 100 columns, and a workbook up to 20 tabs. Keep large data sets in Excel or an analytics tool.
- There is no sorting or filtering on the grid, no pivot tables, no conditional formatting and no macros. Summaries are built with functions such as SUMIFS and AVERAGEIFS.
- Charts come in four kinds: column, line, area and pie. There is no scatter chart, histogram or waterfall chart.
- An .xlsx file keeps formulas, number formats and column widths, but not charts, bold text or alignment. Download a chart separately as a PNG.
- The "Analyse in a spreadsheet" button shows in a session run by a trainer or after signing in. Someone playing alone without an account has nowhere to keep the workbook.
Questions
Frequently asked questions
Does a participant need an account?
No. In a session run by a trainer, the participant's workbook is created in the trainer's organization, and the participant joins with a code as for any other activity in Verbalu. Only someone playing alone, outside a session, needs an account.
What happens when a participant presses the button a second time?
The spreadsheet replaces only the tab with the simulation data. The "Analysis" tab and any other tab the participant added stay with their formulas and charts, and the formulas recalculate on the new numbers. If the participant deleted the data tab, it comes back in its place.
Can the trainer see the participants' analyses?
Yes. The Spreadsheet list has a "Participants' workbooks" view with the workbooks opened from simulations, showing the participant's name and the simulation. The trainer opens any of them, can show someone's analysis on the projector or copy it to their own workbooks.
Which simulations send data to the spreadsheet?
Ice Cream Shop (the sales log), Project Simulation (earned value indicators after every round) and the Risk management simulator (completed tasks: plan versus actual, and from the level with analytics the 1000 Monte Carlo trials). The trainer can also move the results of The Boat Game, AI Roleplay, Prompt Training and Episodic case study into their own workbook.
Can I still download the data to Excel?
Yes. The file export stays where it was, and the whole workbook with the analysis saves as .xlsx with formulas. Verbalu's spreadsheet is there so that analysis during training needs no downloaded files and no switching to another program, not to replace Excel.
How much does it cost?
The Spreadsheet and all three simulations are in the free Start plan, which allows up to 30 participants per session. The Pro plan at US$12 a month removes that limit.
Does it work on a phone?
Yes. In the Verbalu mobile app the spreadsheet opens in place of the game, and in a browser in a new tab beside it. The grid scrolls with a finger, but longer formulas are easier to write on a computer or a tablet.
Let the simulation end in an analysis, not a file in Downloads
The account is free and no card is needed. Open an Ice Cream Shop session, show the group the code and let participants run the numbers on their own data.
Without an account you see the sales log and can download it as CSV or Excel. You send it to the spreadsheet after signing in or in a trainer's session.