Leadership Games

Enable the leaders in your organization to achieve success with leadership games and training. Drive home the importance of core leadership values that are important to your business.

20
jul

Does Gamification Actually Work? Yes, and Here’s Why

Posted by Experiential Learning, HR Training, Human Resource Training, Leadership Games, Team Building Exercises, Teamwork GamesNo Comments

written by Sharon Boller

I’m a big Twitter fan; I use it to curate content and pay attention to people whose opinions I care about and the trends I’m interested in. I believe in hashtags (#GBL, #gamification, #UX, #ATD, #DevLearn) as they help me easily curate content and monitor those trends.

Last week, on the #ATD “back channel” (conversation that gets created when you diligently use hashtags to share info on a particular topic, person, or event), the topic of learning myths was hot and heavy, largely due to Clark Quinn’s newly-released (and excellent) book on the same topic.

Though gamification is not in Clark’s book, gamification came up on the #ATD back channel as part of a discussion on learning myths… and people were suddenly questioning whether it is a myth: “it doesn’t really work.”

Whoa.

As someone who has been immersed in the arena of learning games and the gamification of learning – and whose product and custom solutions have earned Brandon Hall awards because of the results they produce and who wrote a book on how to design effective learning games – I was understandably concerned by this line of conversation.

A Gamification Myth

In the instance of a recent Twitter conversation, truth emerged that some of the “myth” comments about gamification stemmed from a single study that one astute Twitterer, Shannon Tipton, called “full of holes as Swiss cheese.” The study authors did not provide any information about the two lessons being compared except for this: 1) the lessons were supposed to teach students how to divide fractions, and 2) one was called “basketball divide fractions” lesson and the other was simply called “divide fractions.”  The authors used their proprietary platform to conduct a controlled, randomized study to compare two lessons that teach students how to divide fractions.

The study suggests (but does not directly say) that one lesson was gamified in some fashion, but we aren’t told how. The other lesson was not gamified. The results overwhelmingly favored the non-gamified lesson. Kids learned faster and performed better on subsequent fractions tests that required them to divide fractions. The gamified approach resulted in lower test scores, even though kids spent longer in the lesson by choice. The authors indicate this increased amount of time spent on the lesson was 100% voluntary; the assumption they seem to want readers to have is that students had more fun doing one lesson than the other. From that single study that omits tons of relevant information, some folks conclude, “gamification of instruction doesn’t work.”

What’s Missing From this Study?

Let’s think about what we don’t know here:

  • The quality of the game/gamification design: How many game elements did they use? Were they used optimally? Was the gamified solution too complex so students’ expended too much brain power figuring out rules and too little learning fractions? Or was it motivating the wrong behavior? (e.g. Rewarding progress versus mastery. In scenarios that focus on rewarding progress, learners earn points simply by completing a problem. Getting the problem correct is not a criteria for earning a reward. Learners could also have been rewarded for speed, which could push them to guess the right solution rather than truly make an effort to solve for the right answer.)
  • The equivalency of the quality of the instructional design across the two solutions: Were both lessons, in fact, teaching identical principles and using some of the same techniques? Did they each have solid instructional design? (Example: did they both employ worked examples, which reduces cognitive load and increases learning efficiency?)

What the study illustrated was the basketball dividing fractions was less effective in helping students perform well on a fractions test than the lesson that did not include the gamified elements used in the basketball lesson. If I were a game designer on that lesson, I would want to go back to it and figure out what I’d done wrong in gamifying the lesson. I would not be ready to assume that gamification itself was the problem.

How to Effectively Use Games & Gamification

Bad gamification or game design is going to yield bad results just as bad instructional design is going to lead to poor results. That doesn’t mean gamification or games don’t work. So how do you use games and gamification effectively? Here are some principles that will help you maximize efficacy:

1. Keep game complexity simple, particularly when you are using a game to support relatively short lessons.
Do not over-complicate a learning game or gamified lesson with lots of game mechanics (aka rules) or game elements. Elements are things such as rewards, scoring, chance, strategy, resources, cooperation, competition, aesthetics, theme, and story. Doing so increases the cognitive load on your learner and makes it harder, not easier, to learn. (See this explanation of cognitive load theory, which was first identified by John Sweller in 1988.)

2. Reward players for performance, not completion.
If you are going to award points within the game, those points need to come from demonstrating knowledge or skill, not just progress. (See Karl Kapp’s book on the Gamification of Learning and Instruction. There’s an entire chapter on research studies and another on how to use rewards effectively – and what not to do.)

3. Be cautious with leaderboards.
Leaderboards can be fun, but be sure you focus on more than who is on top. Consider letting people see more about themselves rather than just what other players are doing. We are all very interested in ourselves so we like to see our rank relative to others, improvements we’ve made over time, personal bests, etc. We also like being part of a team. So consider team-based comparisons (e.g. by location, role, etc.) as opposed to just head-to-head individual comparisons.

4. As much as possible, align the game element choices you use to the learner’s actual job context.
In other words, avoid competition in a game if the job requires cooperation/collaboration. If you want to incorporate “chance” into a game (and this is a handy game element for balancing out gameplay), make sure you use it appropriately. This means matching the types of chance a player encounters in the game with the way chance occurs in the real world.

For example, if you are teaching project management, a great use of chance is to have it come up as a factor that requires the player to consider alternate strategies. “One of your teammates just called in sick. Identify two other viable strategies for meeting today’s deadline.” “Your client just called to say she’s going to miss her deadline. She asks, ‘How can we still hit the ultimate milestone. I don’t want the project to slip overall.’ What do you do?” (Play to Learn, the book I co-authored with Karl Kapp, outlines how to combine learning design and game design together to maximize the impact and efficacy of games.)

5. Make the in-game goal align with the learning goal in a reasonable way that “makes sense” for the learners who will play your game or complete your gamified lesson.
Again, mirror job context. If the real-world scenario is to achieve certain quality ratings for a medical facility, for example, mirror that goal within the game. This reduces cognitive load on your learners as they don’t have to distinguish what’s true in the game from what’s true in their job context. This blog post on playtesting features a game where we worked hard (via multiple iterations) to get our game goal and rewards just right to maximize learning.

6. Stop thinking you have to make the game super “fun.”
Fun doesn’t really matter if the focus is on optimizing the learning outcomes. What matters is relevance and a game design that reinforces and enhances the instructional design. A game needs to be “fun enough” to keep your player/learner involved in that game. You also need to re-think what “fun” is. Kevin Werbach of the Wharton School of Business does a great job of breaking down what people actually find fun and it includes things such as strategizing, problem-solving, and collaborating – all skills required in many jobs.

Additional Resources
Want more guidelines on effectively using games or gamification in instruction? Check out these resources:

HRDQ-U and Sharon Boller recorded a FREE webinar you can Watch here! 

29
jan

So what’s the Bottomline on ROI

Posted by Experiential Learning, HR Training, Human Resource Training, Leadership, Leadership Games, Leadership Style Assessment, Supervisory SkillsNo Comments

ROI, return on investment, is a metric fundamental to business and government alike. Executives and chief administrators recognize it and business and operations managers appreciate it. It is calculated consistently and recognized across sectors around the world by those stakeholders with fiduciary responsibility for investments in people, projects, and processes.

Unfortunately, misinformation and misuse cloud the value of this simple, yet powerful, metric. While its existence in performance improvement, learning and development, and human resources is not new, when reading much of the literature and comments made in conference sessions, one would think ROI is a new phenomenon, and one from which people should run.

ROI’s use in learning and HR began in the 1970s when my husband and business partner, Jack Phillips, conducted the first ROI study on a cooperative education program. It has been used for years in quality and productivity training. In more recent years, it has grown to be a standard metric for many leadership development and coaching programs as well as other ‘soft’ solutions. Yet the confusion around ROI remains.

The crux of the confusion lies in how and when to use ROI and how to report it so stakeholders recognize the complete success of a program or project.  Fear and angst around ROI exist because, like most investments, a negative ROI is inevitable for poorly implemented and misaligned programs. On the flip side, if the ROI is extraordinarily high, fear exists that the results will not be perceived as credible. This fear is unwarranted if you use a credible approach to develop it, follow fundamentally sound standards, and apply it consistently across all types of programs.

Yet, too many people would rather listen to the naysayers than figure it out for themselves. We have published over 40 books with ASTD and even more with publishers such as SHRM, Berrett-Koehler, McGraw Hill, and John Wiley. These books describe its use and importance in showing the contribution of programs and projects. These publications along with many conference presentations and workshops offer learning and development professionals opportunities to understand what ROI is, what it is not, and how to use it.  Yet, many professionals still don’t get the point—they miss the bottomline.

ROI is a metric fundamental to business and government alike. Reported alone, it describes the economic impact of programs, projects, and processes. Reported in the context of other measures, it contributes to the complete story of program success and informs decisions about resource allocation.

This article was reprinted with permission from the author.

Dr. Patti Phillips

headshotDr. Patti Phillips, co-founder, President and CEO of ROI Institute. Patti is an expert in measurement and evaluation and author of HRDQ’s book and workshop materials titled Bottomline on ROI. She has authored, co-authored, or edited over 40 books on the topic of measurement, evaluation, and ROI. She serves on the board of the Center for Talent Reporting, Principal Research Fellow for The Conference Board, and on the faculty of The University of Southern Mississippi’s PhD in Human Capital Development program.
 
13
jan

Leading In The Wild

Posted by Corporate Team Building Games, Leadership, Leadership GamesNo Comments

A maverick band of rabbits, threatened by the spread of industrial construction near their warren (home), start out on a quest for a new warren and a better society.

This is the backstory for Richard Adams’s 1972 best-selling book, Watership Down. The story describes the rabbits’ sudden evacuation and long odyssey complete with extreme danger, delightful fun, and challenging hurdles.

One part of the story has the band of rabbits encountering a group of caged rabbits on a small farm. The wandering pack needs more does (females) for their new society and there are two does and two bucks inside the small cage in the back of the barn. They extend a heartfelt invitation to all (does and bucks) to join them on their wild journey.

“Do you ever come out?” asks the leader, Hazel, puzzled by the caged rabbits’ docile nature. “Yes, sometimes,” one of the nervous rabbits declares. “The little boy takes us out and puts us in a pen on the grass.”

Opening the cage door, Hazel works to convince the four to abandon their confined and boring dwelling and join his band in the wild. As he spins his story of adventure and liberation, the caged rabbits resist with concerns for their security. “Besides,” one laments, “the nice little boy always comes to feed us and keeps us away from the big dog.”

The caged rabbits seem at once both bewildered and fascinated. As they continue their “freedom versus security” discussion, Hazel comes to a powerful realization:

“Although they were glad to talk to him and welcomed his visit because it brought a little excitement and change into their monotonous life, it was not within their capacity to take a decision and act on it. They did not know how to make up their minds. To him and his companions, sensing and acting was second nature, but these rabbits had never had to act to save their lives or even to find a meal.”

What Is Leadership, Really?

The classic tenets of what it means to be a leader originated in an era of “cage” employees. Employees punched in, went to their workstations, did their tasks all day, and punched out. New employees hoped to avoid getting a bad boss and stayed worried about their pay raises and performance reviews. They learned to keep their heads down; mouths closed, and just get the job done. Good bosses were benevolent but controlling; bad bosses were judgmental and controlling. Bosses held control over their means for food; and, if employees were good team players they got to enjoy the equivalent of being in the pen on the grass.

Leaders were instructed to be tough but fair. Many focused on their own welfares and drilled inflexibly for greater productivity. Even the language of business was littered with combative idioms like “cut throat,” “hands tied,” “take the bull by the horns,” “get a foot in the door,” and “twist an arm.” Recruiters were headhunters; organizational charts were chains of command. Leaders avoided getting in “hot water” or “burning bridges” and tried to stay “ahead of the pack.” Some led with directives via email or endless meetings; some walked the floor as “snooper-visors” with an ever-present eye for error.

Welcome To The Wild

Today’s employees work virtually, remotely, or on a shift different than their bosses. They are more interested in the camaraderie of collaborative work than in the aloneness of solo tasks. They are propelled more by the intrinsic worth of doing a good job than by simply completing their assigned work. They are more likely to leave because of a poor relationship with their immediate supervisor. While the great majority of managers today believe employees exit for more money, research shows only 12% leave for compensation concerns.

We live in a brain-based economy, not a brawn-based one. In such a world, employees thrive with more autonomy, more affirmation, and a sense of ownership in the goals of the unit. They want professional growth not necessarily upward mobility. They want to make a real difference. While they constantly court burnout from an unrelenting work pace, they are more apt to blame global competition than the quirkiness of their leader. All these pressures have changed the requirements for great leadership.

The Way Of The Leader In The Wild

Hazel provides a prototype of a leader excelling in the wild. His band of renegades is deeply committed to their mission and the members enjoy working together to overcome obstacles. They operate more as a partnership—a confederation of equals with different skills and talents but a shared calling and a collective zeal to see it through. Below are four tenets from Watership Down for leading in the wild.

1. Pursuit Of Purpose– It was not easy to enlist a few rabbits to trust Fiver’s nightmare vision of the impending destruction of their warren while ignoring the naysaying “Great Rabbit” and risk an unfamiliar journey. It required a compelling sense of purpose. At the end of the book, the band of rabbits learns that Fiver’s vision came true—bulldozers destroyed the warren the band had abandoned. Today’s workers value a cause, not just a course. They learn the capacity to make wise decisions when propelled by a noble mission. They require a sense of the why, not just the what or how.

2. Lead With Stories- Each evening before the rabbits went to sleep a story was shared. Adams’s book devoted a full chapter to each story. Filled with promise and courage the stories instructed as well as inspired. They yielded hope and courage. Great leaders are storytellers. Stories are more than just tall tales or campfire yarns. They include discussions of the enterprise in the future tense. They are visions of what can be, not just what is. They are dreams, not just plans. In a complex, unpredictable and volatile competitive work world, stories of promise instill conviction and bolster confidence.

3. Champion Diversity– Wise leaders know that success in the future will not come from incremental improvement but rather through disruptive innovation. Most surviving organizations have squeezed most of the waste and inefficiencies from their operations. Playing to win requires divergent perspectives, risk-taking confidence, and the bold embrace of change. That means a culture filled with a sense of adventure and a strong reception of different perspectives. Diversity is more than “does and bucks;” it is an attitude of continual learning and passionate curiosity–the engines of breakthroughs.

4. Leadership As A Force– From abandoned warren to a new home, leadership among the rabbits influenced and inspired their collective success. While Hazel was the “appointed” chief, leadership was communal–coming from the rabbit best able to deal with the challenge or situation. Hazel believed in the goodness of everyone and nurtured each to be a fellow leader. He respected the astute instincts of Fiver, the runt of the warren. Leadership in the wild is an adaptable and helpful force, not a role. Since it is shared power, it is trusted power. It nurtures rather than controls; mentors instead of commands.

A wise coach once said:

“My responsibility is getting all my players playing for the name on the front of the jersey not the one on the back.”

Leadership today is about achieving an honorable collective purpose while building a better society. In the end, Hazel and his band of rabbits were successful, not for their victorious house hunting, but for their virtuous community building.

What lessons would you say a manager could learn from leading in the wild?

This article was written originally posted here. It was reprinted with permission from the author.

Chip's New Promo Photo.bmp resize Chip R. Bell is a senior partner with the Chip Bell Group. A renowned keynote speaker, he has served as consultant, trainer, or speaker to such major organizations as Marriott, Lockheed-Martin, Cadillac, KeyBank, Ritz-Carlton Hotels, USAA, Cornell University, Harley-Davidson, and Victoria’s Secret. Prior to starting a consulting firm in the early 1980s, he was Director of Management and Organization Development for NCNB (now Bank of America). The Chip Bell Group was in 2014 ranked number six in North America among mid-sized consulting firms for leadership development. Additionally, Dr. Bell was a highly decorated infantry unit commander in Vietnam with the elite 82nd Airborne.

Chip is the author or co-author of twenty-one books, many national and international best sellers. Some of his previous books include The 9½ Principles of Innovative Service, Wired and Dangerous, Take Their Breath Away, Managers as Mentors, Magnetic Service, Managing Knock Your Socks off Service, Service Magic and Customers as Partners. His newest book is Sprinkles: Creating Awesome Experience through Innovative Service. He has appeared live on CNBC, CNN, Fox Business Network, Bloomberg TV, NPR, ABC and his work has been featured in Fortune, Businessweek, Forbes, Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Inc. Magazine, Entrepreneur Magazine, The CEO Magazine, WSJ MarketWatch, Leader to Leader and Fast Company.

Chip and HRDQ-U are hosting a free webinar on January 20th at 2PM ET. Sign up for it now!

13
oct

5 Tips for Influencing Others In the Workplace

Posted by Coaching Skills, Communication Styles, Corporate Team Building Games, Experiential Learning, HR Training, Human Resource Training, Leadership, Leadership Games, Leadership Style Assessment, Supervisory Skills, Team Building Exercises, Teamwork GamesNo Comments

As Kenneth Blanchard has said, the key to successful leadership is influence, not authority.

This is especially true in the absence of clear authority, which is often the case within a matrix structure or a team that crosses organizational boundaries.

So how can you convince others to buy into your ideas and collaborate for the good of the team when you don’t have that authority?

Certain influencing tactics are more effective than others, but it’s not enough to simply know what they are. The best leaders know when and how to use them well.

In a recent webinar, I talked about which four influencing tactics are most powerful and how to make the most of them. 

We also discussed eight tips for influencing others that will help you achieve results.

Here are five of them.

Demonstrate Your Credibility and Track Record

In the absence of authority, people tend to listen to the most credible person in the room. Although expertise is part of credibility, the most important aspect is the extent to which people believe you speak the truth. Do you provide a balanced argument, and are you willing to admit what you don’t know? 

Find Champions For Your Cause

Who are the people you’re counting on most to accomplish objectives within your team? Start by identifying those whose cooperation you need to support implementation, and get to know them. What do they need to succeed? What do they care about most? Once you understand what motivates them, you can begin to work toward getting their buy-in so they can help you convince others.

Don’t Overly Rely on Reasoning

Reasoning is the most commonly used influencing tactic, but it doesn’t work in every situation, particularly if goals are not aligned or you lack credibility in a particular area. Be prepared to use a variety of approaches to ensure you use the best combination of influence behaviors in each situation.

Translate Facts and Figures Into Benefits

Before you pull up another graph of projected revenue from your latest initiative, ask yourself why it matters to the team. Will this new effort translate into bonuses if successful? Will it prove your team is capable of successfully taking on a competitor?

People aren’t motivated to act based on facts alone; they need to understand what’s in it for them.

Open Up a Dialogue

No one wants to feel like they’re being pitched. The best form of influence is subtle and occurs as the result of an ongoing conversation. While talking with your team, be sure to ask questions and hear their concerns. Show empathy by actively listening, nodding and paraphrasing what they’ve shared.

Influence is an art form every successful leader must master. It’s a skill that must be learned and honed over time. As a leading organizational consulting firm, we offer assessments and training to help leaders become more effective influencers and teams work together more effectively.

This article was written originally posted here. It was reprinted with permission from the author.

headshot-rlepsinger_100Rick Lepsinger

A virtual team expert with more than 30 years experience and a proven track record as a human resource consultant and executive, Rick Lepsinger is the president of OnPoint Consulting. He is the co-author of several books on leadership and organizational effectiveness, including Closing the Execution Gap: How Great Leaders and Their Companies Get Results and Virtual Team Success: A Practical Guide for Working and Leading from a Distance. Rick currently sits on the faculty of GE’s Management Development Course (MDC) and leads the program, Making GE’s Global Matrix Work.

Rick and HRDQ-U are hosting a free webinar on October 21st at 2PM. Sign up for it now!

7
oct

Great Leadership Creates Great Workplaces

Posted by Corporate Team Building Games, Customer Service Training Games, Experiential Learning, HR Training, Human Resource Training, Leadership, Leadership Games, Leadership Style Assessment, Team Building Exercises, Teamwork GamesNo Comments

Jim Kouzes and HRDQ-U recently hosted a free webinar entitled, Great Leadership Creates Great Workplaces. Jim Kouzes and coauthor Barry Posner are the authors of the award-winning and best-selling book, The Leadership Challenge, with over 2 million copies sold and available in 22 languages. He’s also the Dean’s Executive Fellow of Leadership, Leavey School of Business, at Santa Clara University. The Wall Street Journal has cited Kouzes as one of the twelve best executive educators in the U.S.

Close to 650 people registered to listen to the webinar live. Missed it? Click here now!

“That was a tremendous amount of information for such a short time frame! Thanks so much!”

 “Excellent job. Engaging. Clear. The story-telling today really helped amplify my understanding of the 5 practices. And thanks for the discount offer at the end.”

 “Great content that aligns well with our own learning experiences and I found a few nuggets to improve my own learning and growth! Thank you!”

The key to making extraordinary things happen in organizations is great leadership. It contributes more to positive outcomes than any other single factor. Great products, great strategy, great people are absolutely critical, but with poor leadership they produce only a third to a half of their potential. It takes great leadership to create great workplaces that create great results. If you want better results in your marketplace, you have to ensure that you are fostering great leadership within your organization.

“I think good people deserve good leadership. The people I manage deserve the best leadership in the world.” Debi Coleman, Board of Directors, Synopsys and opening case in TLC 1st edition.

There were eight objectives of the webinar. They were:

  • The most important driver of workplace engagement.
  • The one attribute that is the foundation of all leadership.
  • The Five Practices that matter most in producing positive work attitudes.
  • The factor that most distinguishes leaders from individual contributors.
  • The condition that is most likely to produce personal-best leadership.
  • The factor that rules innovation, brand image, acceptance of influence, commitment—just about everything else.
  • How to keep spirits high and hope alive.
  • The secret to success in life—seriously.

The Five Practices of Exemplary Leadership are:

  1. Model the Way
  2. Inspire a Shared Vision
  3. Challenge the Process
  4. Enable Others to Act
  5. Encourage the Heart

How much of direct reports’ engagement is accounted for by individual demographics and how much by leader behavior? The question is not “Do leaders make a difference?” It is “How do leaders make a positive difference?”

“Leadership is personal…Do the people you lead know who you are, what you care about, and why they ought to be following you?” Ron Sugar, chairman emeritus, Northrop Grumman Corp.

“In order to become a leader…it’s important that I first define my values and my principles.” Olivia Lai, manager, customer service support, Kimberly-Clark.

As you can see, leadership matters. Whether you are a chairman or a customer service support person, how you lead sets the tone for your business.

Another key element in leadership is DWYSYWD. This stand for Do What You Say You Will Do. That shows credibility and leads to strong leadership.

The more frequently leaders demonstrate each of The Five Practices of Exemplary Leadership, the more engaged people are in their workplaces.

“You never know where one step will take you. And you never know where the next one will lead. The difference in being a leader is that you take the step.” Melissa Poe Hood, Founder of Kids F.A.C.E.

Much of the session was devoted to questions from the participants. Do you want to learn more about what makes a great leader? Do you want to understand the nuances between in-person and virtual leadership? Do you want to know what questions were asked?  If so, then click here to watch the recorded session.

For a limited time, all participants of the webinar can get a discount on the Leadership Practices Inventory training. It is the best-selling and most trusted leadership tool of its generation. This celebrated instrument packages approaches leadership as a measurable, learnable, and teachable set of behaviors.

Sign up today to make sure you don’t miss the next free webinar!

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