Turning training into a game can be a great method to enhance learning as well as an opportunity for coworkers to engage with each other on a more personal level. When it comes to maintaining productivity, the most important thing is to make your people feel part of a team. Make the process fun and allow everyone to be themselves.
Games – a solution that renders incredible results
Including games as part of employee training is a great way to boost retention as well as motivation. As a general rule, games instill a sense of competitiveness. Since they’re social events, it sharpens attention and elevates focus. Studies have shown that gaming activities at the office may increase retention rate with 17% more than with reading. Asking employees to read a book to understand a process or principles doesn’t provide any practice. It only reveals the theoretical part. Game-based learning, on the other hand, is thrilling. Choose activities that are malleable and enjoyable, and try to include everyone.
One method to turn training into a game is to deliver the subject matter through a story. Give your team a reason to pay attention and adopt the right approach. For example, you can set up a scavenger hunt at work. Split participants into teams and ask them to hunt for “hidden treasures”. Provide them hits, and allow them to brainstorm their own ideas. Make your storyline fun to follow, and they’ll be more than eager to know more about it. Let’s assume for a second that you’re a digital marketing agency hunting to craft a very cool newsletter for a client. Give your employees a hint on how that newsletter should look like, and ask them to come up with the craziest, most unusual ideas. They might surprise you!
Active engagement
Allowing participants to be in control of the game rather than simply reading to them from a storybook. Let them know that it’s ok to make mistakes. In fact, mistakes are encouraged because they’re often followed by constructive criticism and feedback.
Team building games
Team building is a great opportunity for employees to hone their skills, provide each other constructive criticism, define roles, and come up with a unified vision. Try building a leaderboard. Make it easy to understand, but with an impact.
Reward your employees
Rewards can be a great motivator for participating in training games. It doesn’t have to be something very expensive. For example, you can prepare a customized gift basket for the winners.
If employee training is feeling a bit stale, adding games to enhance the training can be a great way to not only improve retention, but also engagement. And as we know, engagement in the workplace matters a lot. It keeps people together, and drives them to do their jobs as best as they can.
