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These 500 words on Leadership Development are for all leaders and managers who are interested in supporting their people through challenging times.
What was your favourite game as a child? The Settlers of Catan? Monopoly? UNO? Whatever it was, it will have taught you something. From our earliest years we learn through play, even though we might not be aware any learning is occurring.
However, as we get older, we lose the element of play from so many areas of our lives. But why? Game-playing, in the nicest possible sense, is such a useful mechanism in which to learn. Our mind is engaged, receptive and open to trying new things in a safe environment. Simply put, playing is an amazing process to let go of resistance.
This valuable dynamic is why at CLP we focus on ‘gamification’ in our leadership workshops: be it simulating financial flows, systemic interactions or how stakeholders go through the motions of Change.
Gamification works by incentivising participants to engage in behaviours, by revealing a path to desired outcomes, and by taking advantage of our human psychological predisposition to engage in playing games – and having fun.
We tap into the benefits of that process by combining things that already exist, such as business scenarios and gaming techniques to motivate participation and long-term engagement.
Some of the important outcomes when using gamification are the engagement of employees, whilst building their knowledge. Games are not only binding experiences, they also foster higher knowledge retention rates over regular theory-oriented setups.
However, in order for gamification to be successful, it has to be well designed, executed and maintained. The most ‘successful’ gameplays mimic reality so the transfer of knowledge flows more easily. With any session, realistic and measurable goals should be set from the beginning; anyone taking part should be made aware of the benefits before they start so that they approach it with a receptive mind and progress should be tracked as the session moves forward. At the end of any gamification session, we observe a move to increased productivity, efficiency and a greater understanding of the issues tackled, in the light of the game that has been played, to create links in participants’ minds.
These techniques are particularly important when it comes to dealing with change and transformation. Gamification can be adopted by leaders to help deal with and master change in a business environment.
This year, at CLP, we are focusing on change with a series of half-day workshops in Germany and the UK. During these workshops we will be exploring new tools and approaches to help teams and stakeholders succeed in executing change initiatives.
A major part of the workshop will focus on simulating the dynamics of change with an interactive session that mimics decisions and actions in challenging environments, and on observing behaviour change in stakeholders.
The process we use involves an interactive change game, hence us using the term ‘gamification’.
Our ‘gamification’ approach enables to:
- Visualise your strengths, challenges, lessons learned, blocking points and windows of opportunity, and how they impact those around you
- Discover how to make management and leadership decisions related to change, with an innovative blend of online and face-to-face
- Understand how to apply this knowledge to your own organisation
We invite participants to use ‘gaming’ in a new way, to identify, what, where and when they need to move next on the business board game to progress in their industry.
If you’re intrigued and want to see it in action, click here.
The CLP team feel that adopting and using gamification in the workplace can definitely be a game changer. The power of gamification can transform business scenarios in many ways, driving better outcomes for organisations. Join us at one of our workshops and experience it yourself!
Yours,
Dr. Marcus Gottschalk
CEO at CLP
CLP periodically publishes 500 words that reflect our experiences, research and thought leadership. Download your PDF version here.