The Gamification of Training Records
Every day we are being “gamed” without our significant
awareness. Whether you have a competitive nature or not,
gaming elements are being used to manipulate your behavior to achieve someone
else’s goal. Gamification
is the application of gaming elements, strategies and mechanics to enhance
non-game contexts. Since you are reading
this on-line blog it is likely that you are also clued into some of the most
popular social media websites such as Facebook®, Twitter®
or LinkedIn®. It’s pretty
clear that there are games on Facebook®, but by comparison LinkedIn®
is rather dry and is “strictly business”.
So the fact that you are being gamed by it with every visit may
come as a surprise. I am certain there
are more examples, but here are three very easily identifiable ones:
1) “Your profile is 85% complete”. Much like your local United Way®
thermometer which indicates how many donations have been contributed, LinkedIn®
wants you to know just how close you are to a goal. It is our competitive nature to want to meet
the goal. And gee, I only have 15% of
the way to go. LinkedIn® will
profess what the benefits are to being 100% complete, thus drawing us into the quest to achieve their goal. We are being
gamed and for that matter, the United Way is gaming us too.
2)
“726 Connections link you to 4,569,663 professionals”. Nearly all LinkedIn® users know that the exact number of connections
isn’t public once it hits 500. That in
its self may be motivation to gain connections, despite their warning not to
connect with people you haven’t actually met, but LinkedIn® provides you with an automatic list of people that
you might want to connect with. Click on
any of them, and you have been gamed.
3) “Your
profile has been viewed 8 times in the last 3 days”. WHO viewed my profile? Thus clicking the provided link takes you to
the screen to show you who viewed your profile.
The point is to draw you to another section of LinkedIn®. Simultaneously, LinkedIn®
provides the opportunity to not only study/worry/ponder about who has been
stalking you, but to encourage you to enroll in a premium account. They have moved you along the game with your full consent. You have
been gamed.
Applying Gamification Methods to Training Records
In a GLP environment, training records
are paramount to compliance and the motivation to have complete records and at
the same time promote cross-training is a win-win situation for the
organization. Borrowing a page out of
LinkedIn®’s playbook can assist in achieving
these goals. These methods are certainly
easier to administer if the training records are in electronic format, but this
is not exclusively required.
Much like the %profile complete
described above, there is usually a defined list of procedures that the staff
must be trained in (initiated and authorized to perform). If the technician is
47% complete on their training goal, then they will strive to complete that
next 3% microgoal. It is human nature, but they have to know where they sit on
the continuum in order to make the motivation work. While there may be a financial reward (at
your institution) for completion of all of the goals, microgoals along the way
make the journey more pleasing to take.
Exactly like the number of LinkedIn® connections, the number of activities that the
staff is cross-trained in needs to also be tracked. A salesman with a higher
number of LinkedIn connections is one indicator of span of reach and similarly the
more procedures that the staff is trained in benefits the organization with
flexibility, maturity, and succession planning.
Proving the technical staff with their numerical rank on procedures
mastered, can motivate them to achieve the next milestone.
Additional reinforcement of the
microgoals may include such gamified achievements in the bronze, silver, and
gold levels. [This sort of level naming can reach
absurdities as indicated by the gamified announcements for boarding an airplane:
“Delta® now welcomes all SkyTeam® Platinum Elite
Plus members”.] Bronze level technicians
may work in a single department, silver may work in 3 departments and gold
level may work in all areas. Who wouldn’t
want to be a gold level technician?
Eventually, the technician will be financially gratified, but in the
meantime, they get a distinction that sets them apart.
Utilizing the ubiquitous Microsoft® SharePoint®
can ease the tracking of all of the aforementioned elements so that the
technician’s progress, achievements, and quests are readily available.
The gamification of your training
records can self-motivate your staff to achieve the goals of your organization.
