Using games for learning and change

In Danish: https://bit.do/enxuy

In HR and training, it is no longer a question of whether or not to use games for learning and change - the question is:

Is there a game that can facilitate exactly the process we need?

Today the largest companies use games that are specifically designed to facilitate learning and change processes. The combination of play and structure in games clearly has an effect on learning, but this does not mean that games can solve every challenge.

Each game is suited for specific situations or contexts in a change process and not for others. The challenge is to match the game to the need. This is a task for the HR professional and described in greater detail here.

There are activities and games for many different contexts and situations. It is difficult to accurately outline the potential general application areas of games. There are however a few features they all have in common, which should be considered when using games for learning.

Games are relevant when you need:

• Dialogue and discussion
• Openness and personal opinions
• To test and work with some specific content
• Willingness or ability to think in new ways
• Feedback on one's behaviour
• Reduced defensiveness and a positive approach
• New energy and motivation

Games as process tools

Consider looking at games as process tools for learning and change. I.e. tools that create the framework for a process that both activates the participants' knowledge and commitment and simultaneously gives them focus, for example: content, structure, feedback and reflection. The tools themselves rarely impart any knowledge or competence, but they facilitate a learning process where participants learn from one another.

Teaching with this approach is also called active learning, as opposed to presentation- or instructional learning. There are many types of such process tools, and this article is particularly aimed at those who already have had some experience of active learning.

Features of three different kinds of process tools

Exercises:

• Establish a goal
• Use a minimum of rules and regulations
• Have few game mechanisms (points, chips, mixed cards, etc.)
• Simplify trying new things
• Often do one thing well
• Have difficulty with facilitating many things – e.g. create varied phases in a process
• Difficult to repeat
• Requires transfer of learning

Dialogue Games:

• Best for dialogue on real issues
• Outline a framework and rules for dialogue
• Look like games (points, trips, mixed cards, etc.)
• Provide direction and structure to dialogue
• Can change normal conversation patterns and roles
• The desire to ‘win’ may inhibit dialogue
• Best when there is a need to share own experiences with the subject
• Good at facilitating a process of phases and steps

Simulation Games:

• Create fictional situations and roles
• Behavior emerges that can be used for evaluation and feedback
• Keeping score and competing (a little) works well
• Ideal for training after introduction of a model or theory
• Require debriefing
• Transfer of learning may be difficult
• Best tool for instructive learning

Process tools facilitates a development process. That is to say, the process and the results comes from the interaction between the participants, the rules, game components and, possibly an instructor. That is why you need to test a process tool to evaluate the learning process and outcomes.

When you try out a game or an activity, you should compare the process with what your alternatives offer. Your most simple alternative could be giving your participants a list of questions to discuss in groups. It is my experience that no matter which tool is involved, it is the dialogue of the participants during and just after the process, that provides the best indication of a given tool's effectiveness and quality. This requires that you watch and listen in to see whether the participants enter the process, you aim for.

Signs of a good learning or change process

The participants:

• Laugh and have fun together
• Use and share the acquired knowledge, experiences and attitudes
• Listen to, and build on one another's thoughts
• Speak more (if shy) and think more (if dominating)
• Talk about sensitive topics with empathy
• Dare to test or experiment with new ideas
• Can give and receive constructive feedback
• Can disagree and yet make decisions or take action
• Maintain the momentum and do not lose energy along the way
• Convert ideas or thoughts into actions

Of course this approach requires that you know what you need, when you see it. And fortunately that is also often the case since learning design is based more on intuitive judgement and experience, than on logical analysis. One should obviously also ask participants for their opinion of the value of the process and the insight it has provided.

Still, the energy and excitement of games can be deceptive. Therefore, I must warn against a number of potential pitfalls.

Pitfalls with learning games and simulations

• Too much competition. Awarding points in a game with the prospect of winning may ignite great enthusiasm and energy among the participants. However, all too often the participants get tunnel vision and start caring only about winning. This makes reflection difficult and typically causes many to lose interest once they realise they cannot win. For this reason many good learning games lets the players compete in teams against the game and avoids individual winning criteria. Recommendation: Avoid creating losers.
• You learn something completely different to what is intended. Participants can give a game full marks because it's fun and uses the right concepts. However, the benefits may be minimal. An activity or a game can easily create a casual and fun atmosphere where the participants can avoid getting personally involved. This won’t promote true learning or change. Recommendation: Test with the target audience and scratch beneath the surface of their opinions.
• The activity or game is an isolated occurrence. A game can embrace an impressive amount of content and processes, but be careful it doesn’t stand alone. Activities and games are best combined with inspirational presentations, videos, a thorough debriefing and transfer process. Recommendation: Combine with more traditional learning approaches.
• Remember to wrap up well. Activities and games are, due to their playful nature, excellent ways to get things moving. Ie. getting people to experiment with their defences down and to think innovatively. But play often has trouble with closing the process, ensuring consensus, action, follow-up or profit realisation. Recommendation: Be sure to summarise and follow through on the the dialogue and to-do’s.
• Get the support of the management. Although activities and games are very powerful learning tools, there is the danger that your participants don’t see the relevance of spending time on a game. The best solution here is to get the manager of the group to provide a strong intent, for example by saying; "We are doing this because we believe it can strengthen our x (job satisfaction, team, etc.)." Normally people will then give it a chance and from this a good game will catch their attention. Recommendation: Explain exactly the reason for the activity or game.
• Is it worth the investment? One should make a quick comparison between the price of each process being considered (incl. facilitators) and its dividend. Include the calculation of salary and time spent on learning. Compare with a simple exercise that you can apply cheaply. When you have many groups or large gatherings, games usually prove to be a good investment compared with the time spent. Recommendation: Calculate ROI.

A game and its physical components may add a lot to the outcome. Ie. the participants may in particular remember the leadership model simulated by the game and shown on the game board. This is a key feature of a good game that it is very difficult for other process tools to match and should not be underestimated. Our hands’ ability to grab and manipulate objects has driven the evolution of our brain, and we are still learning a lot through our hands. Visual and movable components in a game can therefore be used to understand complicated and dynamic relationships.

It’s not always possible to test an activity or a game with your target audience. Ie. if an activity is intended to facilitate and adapt to a big change that has not yet been presented to the organisation. In emotional situations, such as a crisis, cuts or major changes, there are special requirements for a good activity or game.

The use of play and games in emotional situations:

• The playful element is good to work with weak resistance or weak negative feelings
• Play does however have the opposite effect when there is strong opposition or a lot of negativity
• The dynamic interaction in a game is good when the participants need to mobilise all their intelligence and think for themselves
• If however, the management believes it has (or is expected to have) all the answers, a game may appear irrelevant. Use instruction instead to meet the expectations.

Getting started with activities and games

You should begin with trying a variety of learning activities and games and observe the processes and dialogues they create. This will give a good impression of the situations that they fit with. When a game becomes more complex, testing with the target audience is particularly relevant.

As your experience grows, it may easily be worth the effort to get a supplier to design or adapt a game to your particular audience, process or learning objectives. Like the insurance company Tryg that has adapted a generic game to their particular business and strategy situation in order to increase the strategic alignment in their organization.

Example: Tryg Insurance

The Educational Foundation IME has developed the Business Model Strategy Game. A board game that simulates a company's strategic transformation from one business model to another.

In the game, participants takes the role of the executive team in order to succeed at keeping the business running while they change their business model. The game visualizes the dynamic and complex relationships between the business model, the market you are in, future disruptive trends and the company's strategic goals and resources.

The dialogue that we see during the game, is characterised by a holistic business thinking as the participants toggle with a large number of business, human and strategic factors. At the same time, the participants display a strong desire to change and act in order to succeed with the entire company. This participants end up by expressing a strongly increased understanding, respect and concern for the breadth and complexity of the strategic considerations of top management.

In cooperation with Henley Business School, IME has tailored the game to Tryg's situation and strategy. Jacob Engsig, VP of Strategy at Tryg says: "We use the game to strengthen our managers' understanding of the entire business, and the strategic journey we are on. The game has challenged and engaged leaders to truly understand the deeper and quite complex relationships between such things as our current situation, the market, the technological changes and the necessity of our strategic KPIs. The game reinforces the strategic alignment and cohesion across Tryg."

For the executive MBA students at Henley Business School the game is, at the same time, a live case study that integrates knowledge and models from many different subjects with the students personal management approach - especially in terms of strategy and change management.

Conclusion

As a consequence of the proliferation of video on the Internet ('content is free', 'flipped classroom' etc.) learning has begun to be less about teaching and more about designing and facilitating learning processes, environments and experiences.

A good learning process supports, inspires and motivates participants to think for themselves, work together and lift each other's level of competence. Here active learning exercises and games are relevant building blocks to create the learning that our rapidly changing world requires.

Lars Hoffmann is a psychologist and learning designer. He is an expert in leadership development through active learning. Since 1999 Lars has developed exercises, games, simulations and dialogue tools for learning- and change processes for a wide range of Danish and International companies. Games about business, strategy, knowledge sharing, management, simplification, lean, performance management, customer orientation etc.