We’re proud to announce we’ve been awarded "Top Employee Gamification Solution" at Citi’s Smarter Worklife Challenge. What is the challenge? Let’s quote from this blog from David Chubak, head of productivity at Citi: "The challenge intends to draw out creative solutions to reimagine business processes, simplify and standardize the way we manage our company, and take our execution strategy to the next level. By harnessing great ideas and leveraging cutting-edge technology, we can modernize and enrich Citi’s global corporate culture. The open innovation platform will also allow for co-creation and collaboration between our businesses and the tech community, combining execution and innovation with talented leaders across our global network to improve the way we work and live." Citi received 133 submissions from 21 countries. GamEffective was shortlisted with 19 finalists. The award announcement can be found here. Working on this project, which centered on looking at the employee engagement journey, inspired us to create this video. We’re proud to be a recipient of the award and more so to validate our core beliefs about the future of workforce engagement and learning.

Earlier this month, Deloitte published its Global Human Capital Trends report for 2016. It’s a great read - you can download it here. Called "different by design," it discusses 10 trends in organizational design and culture, in learning, leadership, workforce management and more. Taking a look at the report through the prism of performance gamification, I’ve noticed four trends that are worth mentioning. This is actually pretty natural since performance gamification ties into the core drivers behind today’s modern workplace. 1. Culture at the workplace Suddenly, culture has become the belle of the ball. 82% of respondents to the Deloitte survey view workplace culture as a potential competitive advantage. Over 50% of the companies surveyed, a huge number, say that they are currently attempting to change their company culture due to changes in the talent markets. It seems that companies have now realized just how important culture is, and also how little they know about the state of culture in their organizations and fewer than 12% of companies state that they understand what their company culture is. As companies become invested in actively impacting corporate culture, the use of performance gamification, which can bring increased transparency, a tie-in between personal and corporate objectives and better direct employees at work, is a way of directly addressing culture issues, especially with rank and file employees. 2. Employee engagement One of the report’s most interesting points is that organizations are very focused on engagement; and how they are worried they aren’t doing a good enough job of it. Organizations are undergoing a major shift, where surveying engagement is no longer the responsibility of only the HR department, but of managers at all levels, all the way up to the CEO. Companies are vying for the "Best Place to Work" lists and can’t afford to just passively measure engagement and satisfaction. Interestingly, although 48% of executives say that engagement is a very important issue, 64% of companies still only measure engagement annually. Organizations are now looking for solutions that can measure engagement on a more continuous basis and offer constant feedback and insights to managers. Gamification solutions could play an important role in this space, since these continuously monitor different aspects of the workforce, and provide important insights to managers. Gamification platforms also use behavioral economics to keep the workforce engaged and motivated, and make sure that employees are constantly being challenged. 3. Meaningful work It turns out that free beer, ping pong tables, and bean bags are all nice, but they’re not the reason an employee stays or leaves a workplace. Instead, in order to have highly engaged employees, companies need to instill a sense of meaning in their workforce. Employees are becoming more and more aware and sensitive to the higher mission and vision of the companies that they work for. Alternatively, they want to feel a sense of personal growth, mastery of new skills and professional development. I’ve written extensively about how intrinsic motivation will always trump external compensation or motivation, and as this report shows, other companies are seeing this trend as well. Gamification can be a great tool to show employees how they are progressing and developing, as it can give a practical sense of how an employee is performing in comparison to herself, other employees and different average scores. Gamification is also beneficial for the creation of a sense of meaning since it provides transparency and allows employees to connect the general goals the organization is working towards. 4. Millennials at the workplace Millennials are now more than 50% of the workforce, and they think and work in a completely different way than what we’ve been accustomed to. They don’t fear moving workplaces if they think there’s a better option out there for them, and they even expect to work in many more places than previous generations. What’s more, companies feel that they are doing a lousy job of engaging millennials. Since these employees are completely accustomed to using technology and it being an integral part of their lives, they expect to see technology being used in the workplace as well. For many millennials, games and gamification were already a part of their education, and they are extremely accustomed to it. Companies need to find ways to utilize this and build on technology to achieve the best results possible for their organizations.

This week we added Kudos to our platform. Kudos are a great way to provide timely & public recognition that can serve as a catalyst for engagement and performance. In a way, it is like a social badge people can give one another. What can you give Kudos for? Many things come to mind: being kind, teamwork, innovation, dedication, responsiveness, and more. It is all about the fact that great work deserves recognition. Kudos are an addition to the social capabilities in the GamEffective platform. Sending Kudos from user to user - can be done within the leaderboard (see the thumbs up icon, note that kudos can be capped per user, to avoid abuse).   When a user receives kudos, they are sent an in-app notification: If you’re sharp-eyed you can see that in the game above, receiving kudos can result in points being awarded. Here’s what kudos set-up looks like on GamEffective’s backend: You can cap kudos (in this case they are capped on a weekly basis) Decide whether Kudos translate into more points As well as decide whether giving kudos is also a mission, prompting employees to interact and recognize their colleagues’ achievements

Do you ever stumble upon an app or a website and think, "nah I don’t need to look at this," or "this is cool, but I’ll check it out later," … and then you never look at it again? This was my relationship with Quizlet until last week. I read about an addition Quizlet made […] The post Using Quizlet’s New "Live" Feature appeared first on Teaching with Technology.

A new manager faces important and sometimes jarring differences in their new role. They must focus on not only achieving their own work, but also managing the work of their team, managing the relationships of former colleagues who are now direct reports, and managing projects that have an impact on the organization. One of the keys to becoming an effective manager is the ability to conduct meaningful conversations. Our new First-time Manager program introduces the four most important conversations a new manager can master: goal setting, praising, redirecting, and wrapping up. Put yourself in the place of a direct report who is beginning work on a new task or project. What questions do you think they would have? Here are four areas of concern that I believe drive people’s behavior at work: "What are my goals on this task or project?" "Am I doing the right things to help the team move forward?" "How did I get off track—and how can I get back on?" "Now that we’ve achieved the goal, what did we learn?" The answers to these questions lie within the four types of conversations every manager needs to have with each team member at various stages of work on a task or goal. For example, when a direct report needs to understand what they are supposed to be doing, they need to have a goal setting conversation with their manager. This dialogue focuses on exactly what the direct report needs to do and by when. It should take place at the beginning of a project or task and should include clear and compelling goals that are written down and reviewed frequently. This conversation sets the direct report up for success, growth, and development. During the course of the task or project, the manager must give feedback to the direct report about their performance. When the individual is making good progress and doing things right, it’s time for a praising conversation. This conversation helps the person understand what specific behaviors are helping achieve the goal, why they matter, and that they were noticed and appreciated. When things aren’t going as well in terms of a direct report’s behaviors or actions, the manager must initiate a redirecting conversation. This discussion will guide the direct report back on track toward the goal by helping them know what specific behaviors are out of alignment with the goal, why they matter, and that the manager wants the person to succeed. Once a project or task is completed, it is important to have a wrapping up conversation. This is the manager’s chance to focus on the outcome, celebrate accomplishments, and acknowledge learnings. Managers see the wrapping up conversation as a great way to keep people energized and to inspire engagement by encouraging their progress and honoring the work they have done. Have you started conducting these conversations with your team? How’s it going? If you find some of the conversations easier to have than others, that’s normal—but I hope you see the importance of continuing to have each of these important discussions with each of your people. You’ll build their trust and confidence while improving morale and performance—and getting excellent results—all for the greater good.

The first trip to an Irish wedding was over five years ago. My mother, sister and I were picked up by the parents of the bride and driven to visit the relatives before the wedding the next day. On the way from Dublin to their home, my cousin George explained to me that just a few years earlier, there were checkpoints on the highway due to "The Troubles." The fighting between the North and South was violent, murderous and unwavering until finally, the impossible was negotiated and finalized in 1998 on Good Friday. The checkpoints came down. Certainly, there will always be a remnant of bad and revengeful feelings on both sides of the border. Still, life has improved so much and so quickly. Melanne Verveer, US Ambassador-at-large for Women's Global Issues, said in 2012 "The kind of efforts you have made here is a lesson for people everywhere working to address the hard questions that need to be asked in order to end conflict, ensure peace and to create a better tomorrow" she said." By this, she made particular reference to the role of women in mediation, negotiation, and reconciliation. Clearly, many people in Great Britain, North and South Ireland were needed to get the critical mass to agree to peace while knowing that some ongoing tension was likely to occur.   The assumption that one person as leader is the primary player in team success is minimizing. Teams perform when all involved are leaders. Each one of us has the ability to improve the teams we are part of, informal or formal. There are three levels of maturity for teams: Leader drives accountability of the team and team followsLeader and team drive accountability together Team drives accountability, leader provides strategy and responds to the needs of the team A critical part of transitioning to the second or even third level is that not only must the leader hold every one on the team consistently accountable, each member of the team most hold each other accountable. It is very rare to find a team where this is occurring and I am grateful to have this on my CEO group. It's scary to know that people are going to be straight with you- it's also the only way the individuals and team will grow in trust.   Effective team members also need the guts to influence the leader and their leaders. The role of the leader is primarily a strategic one, looking to the future and dragging everyone there. The role of the manager is primarily a tactical one, keeping all the puzzle pieces in the right place so the work gets done. Most managers and leaders play a combination of both roles. For each level to be successful, there must be communication to drive accountability between levels. This does not always have to be initiated by the leader. It does, however, have to be done within the unspoken political constraints of the organization.    To influence requires the following: Be clear about what you want and how you'll know when you get it.Be aware of you own style in communication, good and annoying. Watch and learn how others communicate with the person you need to talk to. What do they do? What approaches work / don't work? Adapt your communication to the person you are influencing. Practice the conversation with someone else, preferably someone that has a similar demeanor or would like to pretend to act like the person you want to talk with. Don't give up - even the greatest disaster will provide you with information to make an end run and continue the conversation.    Many of us perceive that we are in 'The Troubles' now with constant multi-tasking, direction chanes and chaos. All of these things are happening. The question is what are you going to chose to do about it so your team can be great?

Traditional training programs are rapidly falling away. Instead, eLearning is going nowhere. It’s the new deal, and it’s staying around. As technology continues to pick up speed, we’re going to see more and more traditional forms of education and training hit the online arena.  What’s shocking, though, is that a lot of companies are still reluctant to get on board with eLearning, despite the incredible power that it can offer. Of course, all organizations have those who are more traditional in their approach to training, and there’s still a lot to be said for ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.’ Not to mention the fact that Instructor Led Programs can be a crucial part of a company’s organizational culture. On the other side, there are the digital-savvy pioneers always looking to take advantage of the next high-tech innovation. The problem is, these employees are often younger, in more junior positions, and don’t yet have the clout to make big-picture decisions. So what we’re going to do in this post is give a nice little list of why and how traditional HR professionals can change their old school training mindset and adopt a digital one instead. Specifically, we'll be talking about adopting an eLearning mindset. As they commonly say in business, it's the mindset that determines the thinking and the thinking determines the actions taken.

Check out this great article from eLeaning Brothers on making the most out of the first minute you have in a course to capture your audience’s attention. How to Get Your eLearning Audience Hooked From the First Slide

Here we are with another release from our GAFE Tips Poster Series! Read on for 10 simple time-saving tips.You'll definitely want to bookmark this one! 1. Bookmark all tabs2. Email this page: Download the extension at goo.gl/uix3wo3. Calendar attachment4. Gmail filters5. Jump to a video spot6. Force "Make a Copy"7. Search by file type8. Add someone to a doc9. Voice typing: Download the add-on at goo.gl/jA1BYP10. Add-on: Simply Send

The Feedback Friendly Classroom: Twitter chat Part II of Feedback and Inquiry: March 31, 9PM