As the digitization of content continues to gain ground, the idea of training in a conference room with the entire team for hours and hours has become obsolete. When we think of this type of training, we might recall scenes of people yawning, distracted, very focused on their phones, who are left filled with doubts once the session is over. This makes it very clear to us its low level of effectiveness and forces us to seek alternatives that genuinely meet the training objectives, that is, to help workers develop their skills and reach their maximum potential in their roles. Undoubtedly, gamification is a tool that will be of great help in achieving this, so let’s see how it works.

What is gamification?

Gamification is the process of applying certain elements of games in different contexts, such as education or marketing.

It is an excellent way to motivate people to do something that may be difficult or complicated for them, like learning something new.

Gamification uses the same psychological principles that motivate people to act when they are playing: competition, rewards, and feedback.

Introducing these elements into the learning process makes it more fun and, above all, more effective.

The Fun Theory campaign is a clear example of gamification.

Instead of simply asking people to throw their trash in the bin, they were motivated to do so in a fun way. This was achieved by adding a touch of fun to the action of throwing away trash, such as placing a sound effect when the trash is thrown into the container. This gave people a reason to have fun while doing something that might otherwise be boring. This campaign demonstrates how gamification can be an effective tool to motivate people to perform tasks they otherwise would not do.

What are the benefits of gamification?

Gamification has benefits for both workers and companies, for example:

• Users interact with the content, which leads to a greater understanding and retention of it.
• Active participation generates a greater commitment to learning.
• Users get a sense of fun and gratification, which is why they want to spend more time learning.
• As a result, courses are completed faster and with better outcomes, which represents a reduction in training times and costs.

How to gamify learning in 7 steps?

There are two main strategies you should use to gamify learning: create a competitive environment and provide rewards.

Let's see how you can take advantage of the best of both worlds in just 7 steps.

1. Set the rules of the game. Communicate to everyone what activity they need to perform and how they should do it.
2. Create a system in which a score is obtained for each activity performed.
3. Create a leaderboard where everyone can see their ranking and that of others; this will foster a sense of healthy competition.
4. If possible, ensure that users have to form teams to achieve a common goal, which will strengthen collaboration and a sense of unity.
5. Provide rewards to all users, whether they are medals or badges, or even free hours or gift cards for the winners. Use your creativity to find the most powerful motivations.
6. Keep track of the results. Remember that a fundamental part of gamification is discovering the strengths and weaknesses of the users. Analyze the results to check if the training strategy is really working or if it is necessary to take additional measures.
7. Keep innovating. Gamification has enormous potential to improve training processes in companies; however, there is no one-size-fits-all solution. Identify the weak points of your strategy and seek continuous improvement.

We hope this information is useful to you when implementing a gamification strategy for learning in your company. If you need support in developing e-learning content for your training strategy, we are here to help. Contact us, it will be a pleasure to discuss with you to create the e-learning training that your company needs.