As a Client Director at Wondrous, my goal is to help businesses become market leaders through improvements to their people performance. My role spans over two areas of responsibility. One of them is to manage client relationships across a breadth of sectors and service lines. My other responsibility is to provide practitioner expertise to our clients via learning sessions, organizational consultancy and executive coaching.
Adding dynamics into training with a treasure hunt and Kahoot!
The first time we used Kahoot! at Wondrous was when we were running a learning program for a large international banking group. Sessions were supposed to take place once every three to four weeks, for 50 people at a time. We hoped that the quiz format would help us to “lighten up” a very content-heavy learning session and manage to keep such a large audience engaged throughout.
Firstly, we introduced the concept of a treasure hunt into the day, splitting trainees into teams. We teased that there would be the opportunity to win points throughout the day. Announcing that there will be some competition involved in the session immediately injected some energy into the room, as well as helped create a great environment for team bonding.
We asked delegates to watch a small welcome video about the banking group, taking note of key facts and figures and then, a little while later, started a Kahoot! quiz, asking questions to test how much of these facts they remembered. For example: how many employees worldwide, how far the bank’s history goes back, etc.
An engaged audience from the first minute
The minute people started joining the Kahoot! game on their phones, you could see smiles coming up all around this 60-strong crowd. While some delegates might’ve initially seemed nervous or skeptical, the minute they answered the first question and saw how easy it was, they quickly became engaged and excited. It added more dynamics to the room, an energetic sense of competition (and team spirit), and also helped us deliver all information included into the learning sessions.
I found that Kahoot! changed the way participants perceived learning. In the morning they arrived with that resigned look that everyone wears when going to an obligatory company-wide learning session, and later in the day they seemed amused, interested, and curious about what would come next.
Making content easier to understand and remember
Since our experience with Kahoot! has been such a success so far, we have since added it into our new client proposals at Wondrous. Our clients are asking more and more for dynamic, digital and engaging ways of complementing learning programs. Offering Kahoot! as an option always goes down well – especially if the client has had direct experience of it and knows how fun it can be! The example we use in proposals are ways we can collect group data quickly at large events, or conduct engaging quizzes to instill learning, especially when the content is “heavy” or challenging.
Participate, don’t just listen
What I love about Kahoot! is that it adds an active role for participants. What’s more, seeing the leading scoreboard after every question activates competition, breaks the tension in the room and encourages fun and laughter. It also decreases the risk error, as we get feedback from the players in real time and know how each individual is performing.
Fighting unconscious bias with technology
An added bonus of Kahoot! is that it also allows those people who are more tech confident and savvy (in our client’s case – typically the younger generations) to add value and play a key role from the get go. This allows us to confront any unconscious bias across the business linking age and value.
For any other companies thinking of using Kahoot!, I’d recommend using it as often as possible to liven up content-heavy material, embed new skills or act as an icebreaker or energizer!
