I’ve always been a carrot guy. Not a stick guy. If I can encourage people with a reward rather than a punishment, that’s the route I’ll take. Not only does it leave everyone feeling good, but it also teaches people to continue doing something for their own benefit, rather than out of fear or annoyance. Ultimately, they learn a new skill or habit and you can take the carrot away.

But this is nothing revolutionary. People have been holding up carrots for centuries in order to engender the kinds of behaviors they seek in others. More recently, though, technology has enabled us to offer carrots in ways we never before imagined. I’m speaking of the “gamification” of just about every task out there today. Who knew something so good could come out of Pac Man?! (Did I just show my age?)

Yes, the gaming industry has taught us a lot about human behavior… both the beautiful and the ugly. It has also contributed significantly to the learning industry.

Ah Ha! I finally get to my point!

Gaming can transform the learning process in your law firm in ways that are easy for you to manage, effective, interactive, community-centric and engaging.

Recently, Savvy introduced gaming capabilities to the SavvyAcademy LMS and the results have been astonishing! People who were lackluster about their own learning paths can now earn badges, level up, compete for prizes and even track their status against others in the firm on a leaderboard.

Stop giving people Starbucks cards just for showing up at an in-class training where you can’t track progress. Instead, offer Starbucks cards and other incentives to people who earn the “Hungry for Knowledge” badge! Not only has gaming been proven to engage learners better, but it also increases knowledge retention.

In the new SavvyAcademy LMS gaming capability, which has been added to all of our current subscribers’ portals, there are three types of Badges — Learning Badges, Activity Badges and Level Badges:

• Learning Badges are awarded to Learners when courses or learning paths are completed.
• Activity Badges are awarded to Learners when they perform pre-defined activities in the portal.
• Level Badges are awarded to Learners when they achieve a new gamification level in the portal.

Within each badge category above, there are subcategories. For example, under “Activity Badges,” there’s a “Hungry for Knowledge” badge, which is awarded to Learners for self-enrolling in courses.

You can even customize gaming for your law firm and create your own badges within the above categories. For example, if you want to create a badge to reward people who complete a specific learning track, such as an Excel charting skill, you can create a Learning Badge called, “Excel Chart Master.”

And, as I mentioned above, Learners can also view a Leaderboard to see their progress compared against other Learners in the portal. You can decide whether you want the Leaderboard to provide names or list everyone anonymously.

At Savvy, we are passionate about learning (if you know me, you know I’m a passionate guy!). I am constantly pushing my team to find ways to make learning more entertaining and effective for law firms. When people like learning, they will opt-in more often and they will retain information better. This new gaming capability in the SavvyAcademy LMS should make trainers’ and administrators’ jobs easier, more effective and – let’s face it – more fun!

If you’ve already adopted the gaming capabilities in the SavvyAcademy LMS, I’d love to hear the reactions you’ve received and the impact it’s having on your training program.

(PSSSSSST! Just between us: we are already working on the next phase of gaming for the LMS, turning your learning program into a social movement! Stay tuned!)

Would you like a free demo of the SavvyAcademy LMS, including the gaming capabilities? Contact me at Doug@SavvyTraining.com or 303-800-5408.