Training Leader’s Guide – When to Use Gamification?
Top 4 Situation When You Should Turn to Gamification
As an L&D professional you might have faced this dilemma- is gamification a solution to every problem?
As Training Leaders it can become difficult to come up with new ways to make your learners interested in the content and stay motivated with their trainings.
We all fall prey to getting attracted to the newest/ shiniest/ most popular things, but they may not be a solution if the need for it is not justified. Just like any other technique, doing gamification for the heck of it will result in another “pomp-n-show” devoid of any real meaning and questionable sincerity.
Here is your guide to knowing if you really need gamification for this project.
Ask these questions to yourself and then decide if you need to implement Gamification.
1. Is the Content Boring for Learners?
With all due respect, every content has its place. Sometimes the learners either don’t have enough context or motivation to learn the content or simply don’t associate any premium value for completing it, and that makes it boring. Especially for mandatory training or policy training. Gamification is such cases provides bells and whistles to create engagement and sustenance strategy.
See Resource: What are some of the advantages of Gamification over E-learning?
2. Do I Want to Bring About a Cultural Change?
If you are dealing with challenges of complacency and have lost interest with your learner base then gamification can spearhead the wake-up call. A powerfully designed reward system will do its magic without the need for uncomfortable and boring discourses on bringing change with talks.
In my consulting experience, I have found that this is the single most prevalent problem of most mid-sized/big-sized companies and while the management is desperate to bring in change, mere talking about it fails to bring it through. You need a powerful intervention and gamification is a strong contender.
3. Do I Want to Rebrand / Relaunch / Change the Image of my Internal Brand of Training?
If your customers don’t value your products and your initiative anymore and feel that its ‘just another necessary evil’ and you want to change that – you need a bang that re-establishes your brand- Gamification is guaranteed to deliver that.
When your customers see the new look and feel and the game-like experience they will see the difference. They will start to take notice of it, talk about it and that is the starting of your brand-building process. A thoroughly thought-out strategy that delivers consistent messages and stories builds trust and value for the customers over the long run.
We have helped our clients do just that with a detailed strategy to establish their new brand consistently that delivers more value to their customers. You can schedule a FREE session if you would like to discuss your unique context.
4. Do I want to improve the learning performance?
Intrinsic motivation through the accumulation of badges, points, etc. as a testament of effort and encouragement to do better.
Extrinsic motivation through competitions among learners and making leaderboard public- learners are bound to put in their best when they know their name will be ranked.
See Resource: How do 7 key elements of gamification drive employee motivation?
Further Reading On Gamification
1. Basics of Gamification- Get introduced to all things that make up gamification- right from gamification definition to the 7 key gamification elements that make the gamification experience enchanting and engaging.
2.Different Types of Gamification and Choosing the Correct Strategy- Both the terms-gamification and serious games are used interchangeably, but they are different. Learn what the difference between them is, what are their characteristics, and when should they be used.
3. Benefits of Gamification over E-learning- Get introduced to the TOP 10 reasons why training leaders are vouching for Gamification over e-learning.
4. Top 7 Key Gamification Elements and Employee Motivation- Do the 7 key gamification elements motivate learners in any way? Read what the research on motivation says.
5. Gamification Elements-Motivation-Psychological Perspective- What do the books of psychology say about motivation? How does this relate to our 7 gamification elements? Read to know the answer.
6. When to Use Gamification? Is gamification the magical elixir? Is it the solution to all the problems? Maybe not! Read the 4 situations that warrant the use of gamification.
7. How to Design a Successful Gamification Experience? What are the TOP 4 often overlooked gamification techniques that can make or break your gamification experience? Get the answer here to design an engaging gamification experience.
8. Implementing Successful Gamification Program- Get introduced to the “5-Step Method” of ensuring a successful gamification training campaign in your organization. Learn how to deliver right from planning, communicating, strategic partnership, to claiming success.
