How often do you see participants zoning out during in-house training sessions?
How often do they not show up for sessions?
How much is your training structure to blame?
Training doesn’t need to be a party, but it has to be engaging to be effective. And one of the best ways to make training engaging is to make it fun. How?
Try these 5 tips:
1. Gamify It!
The online cycling and running training program Zwift, effectively uses gamification. Riders earn points for each ride that unlock new features like jerseys, faster bikes, and glasses for your avatar. There are also fun things like leaderboards, achievement badges, and challenges to earn experience points.
So, level up your training!
2. Use Pop Culture
During their Management Training Program, NASA shows the movie Armageddon. Trainees are tasked with trying to spot as many mistakes as possible in the film. So far, some 168 have been found.
Houston, we’ve got no problem with that!
3. Get Silly
At NextArrow, we teach serious, research-based ideas, while remaining playful. Our Courageous Presentations workshop, for example, features dragons and zombies. Why? Because a group of zombies eating brains in a workshop is surprising, memorable…and just plain silly. That’s why participants love it!
Don’t fear a zombie apocalypse. Fear boring trainings!
4. Spark Friendly Competition
Kahoot! is a popular platform that allows organizers to create interactive quizzes, surveys, and games to make learning engaging and fun. Participants can compete against each other in real-time, making learning a collaborative and social experience. Since imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, go ahead and “borrow” some of their ideas.
It’s a real...er…Kahoot!
5. Feed Them! Sometimes, the key to getting people to an in-person training is simply to offer high-quality, free food. Plus, people with full bellies are much better learners! Call it a ‘Brunch & Learn,’ ‘Lunch & Learn,’ or give it some other tasty name.
Watch your team just gobble up all that learning!
So, whether you're giving out badges, jokes, or food, make sure to infuse your trainings with play and fun. It’ll help take your trainings from level 1 to level 10. (See what we did there?!)
Comments