Video games and the corporate world have very little in common, except high adrenaline and cut-throat competition. Is there any way to pull these aspects into compliance online training, making it effective and fun too? In this article, I’ll share 6 tips to transform compliance online training courses into interactive serious games.
How To Transform Compliance Online Training Into A Serious Game
Work and play may seem to mix like oil and water, especially in issues of compliance. It feels more like a minefield where any infraction leads to a fine, as employees must be able to see the gravity of the situation and the consequences that rule-breaking brings.
Suffice to say, compliance is a serious issue that can cost your organization millions of dollars in penalties. Not to mention, diminished credibility and reputation. But one way to get corporate learners to take compliance online training seriously is turning it into a carefully crafted serious game that imparts the key takeaways and breathes new life into dull topics. Here are 6 tips to convert your compliance online training course through the power of characters, storylines, and game mechanics.
- Incorporate Instant Feedback Loops
One of the most addictive aspects of video games and mobile games is their immediacy. You point at a target, it responds in some fashion, and your point count increases. It feeds into our need for instant gratification. Incorporate this aspect into your compliance online training. Right answers can be rewarded in real time and wrong ones lead to in-game penalties.It pumps corporate learners’ adrenaline and ups the learning stakes. It turns compliance online training into a high-pressure scenario that builds an emotional component into each session. And as we all know, memories built around emotional stimuli are easier to remember. Just make sure that you don’t put too much stress on your corporate learners. Include personalized feedback and recommendations tactfully so that they identify strengths and weaknesses without feeling as though they’re being judged or singled out.
- Contextualize Storylines
Create a relatable character and build a basic tale around them. Let’s say the character’s name is Tracy, and this is her first day of work. As she progresses through her work week, month, or year, she experiences different things. Maybe her boss sends her on a bank run. Maybe a client flirts with her, triggering a COI obstacle, or she makes some office frenemies. As each character is introduced, offer employees an option to play as one of the new characters. This gets them more personally involved in the storyline. They can pick someone they’re better aligned with, or even create their own avatar, just like a real game. In-game scenarios should be things they’d face in their actual work day.
- Integrate Simulated Compliance Scenarios
For ‘testing’ purposes, continue the storyline, keeping things as realistic as possible, but with a light touch. For example, as a test scenario, a character sleeps through their alarm and is late for work. They have to simulate crafty ways to clock in. Or maybe it’s the character’s birthday and various workmates, clients, and bosses offer gifts. The candidate has to decide what ‘birthday offer’ is acceptable and what isn’t. Each decision they make opens a new game path and consequence. When they break any regulation, they have to start over. Allow them to ‘retake the test’ until they figure out how to stay within compliance requirements. This is way more engaging, practical, and applicable than a boring yes/no or multiple-choice test sheet.
- Use A Rapid eLearning Authoring Tool For Best Results
Many rapid eLearning authoring tools now feature serious game templates, cut-out characters, and other assets to save time and money. You’re able to develop your game levels and storylines without having to start from scratch. You can also develop your own templates to reuse for future serious games to maintain consistency. For example, an entire series of serious games that centers on a single fictional character or theme. Sign up for free demos to see which rapid eLearning authoring tool offers the best value for money and aligns with your needs.
- Survey Employees To Identify Current Compliance Gaps
Serious games are only cost-effective if they bridge specific knowledge or performance gaps that plague your organization to ensure the well being of your workforce and customers. Conduct online surveys and assessments to identify current compliance gaps and then design serious games to fill them. For example, a microlearning game that teaches employees about the proper safety gear or exposes them to various COI issues that they must navigate to reach the desired outcome. As such, serious games also become a training support tool that employees can use to improve their understanding and explore the subject matter on their own, whenever it’s most convenient.
- Provide Supplemental Infographics To Reinforce Knowledge
Storylines and online training simulations allow trainees to apply and engage with compliance information. However, they still need to learn the information in the first place. It is very important for them to know what they’re allowed or not allowed to do. These details can be presented as infographics, which are better absorbed than blocks of text. Develop infographics by chapter or theme. For example, labor regulations, fines and penalties, quality control, asset management etc. This makes it easy to identify and source the exact reference a corporate learner requires. Review all the general material and divide it into categories based on easily searchable keywords.
Gamification is one of the most effective forms of learning, and it’s easily applied to compliance online training. Incorporate real-time feedback for instant gratification. Transfer physical manuals into dazzling virtual multimedia experiences. Create realistic storylines with relatable role-player characters that employees can choose from. Replace question-answer tests with contextual scenarios that corporate learners have to ‘live through’ as in-game experiences. Offer easy referencing through keyword-based infographics. And let the games begin.
Usage of Gamification for corporate training is more than a buzz today. Download the free eBook How Gamification Is Reshaping Corporate Training – Featuring 10 examples to learn about gamification basics, whether gamification can truly impact and enhance learning, how you can use it to engage your employees and boost performance, the impact of Gamification vis-à -vis traditional eLearning strategies and much more.
