Gamification (again)

Last week I talked about gamification - and whether it could be used to help improve productivity.

If you weren't thinking about it then, I hope you are now - Ambient research suggests that game-based learning will grow from $1.5 billion in 2012 to $2.3 billion in 2017. 

This is important.  If we are to grow our businesses, we have to grow our people - improve their knowledge and skills, making them flexible and adaptable employees.

Adding gaming elements to their training might work.

Let's remind ourselves about what gamification means - and what it doesn't. 

Asking the learner a series of questions, along with multiple options, is NOT game-based learning. 

Game-based learning is the application of gaming elements to a non-gaming context - such as learning or training ... and by gaming elements, we mean such things as:

1. Challenge

1. Motivation

1. Rewards

1. Feedback

- the elements that 'hook' gamers and keep them coming back for more.  Build these elements into the training of your employees and you might just 'hook' them into relatively painless acquisition of new knowledge and skills.  They enjoy; you win!