Watch the full podcast below.

In this discussion, Munch shares how they started experimenting with gamification at their workplace and what they found out through the results that employee output productivity had gone up by 250%, client satisfaction rating had gone up and software quality had also gone up, everyone was working harder than before.

Also in this podcast, Munch mentions that – everyone who wants to try gamification needs to think beyond providing fun or a good user experience and think about how are we making the life of the user or the employee better, what will make their job better, how do we help them grow, how do we help them improve in any way, if the user experiences this, then they will go back to it again.

Munch also shares what he thinks and likes most about gamification which is, learning through gamification allows us to be more human, it allows us to say that I have autonomy, I can make choices, it allows us to explore, it allows us to collaborate as a team or compete as competitors, which is a motivational trigger for a lot of people.

You can also watch the all the episodes from this Podcast series here:

To be notified of all our podcasts and other uploads do subscribe to our YouTube channel.

The post Gamification of Workplace Learning: Podcast Series Episode 6 first appeared on The Upside Learning Blog.

In this chat, Jeevan quotes the gamification of processes or everyday activities to encourage skill development is of more interest to me because it’s scalable, it can be leveraged and it has an impact on many fronts which helps improve the performance of individuals, teams, and enterprise.

Also in this podcast, Jeevan says that as  I can see in many instances that gamification has been a solution looking for a problem, and its a part of maturing, however, the time now is good along with the technological advancement, you can now design an enterprise gamification strategy approach.

Jeevan assumes that gamification will become mainstream, embedded, invisible, in the times to come. Especially in personal life, since anything that happens in personal life usually translates back to work because that’s what the employees demand.

You can also watch the all the episodes from this Podcast series here:

To be notified of all our podcasts and other uploads do subscribe to our YouTube channel.

The post Gamification of Workplace Learning: Podcast Series Episode 5 first appeared on The Upside Learning Blog.

In this discussion, David shares his thoughts on gamification saying that the learners will learn more and you will have a better return on investment for their learning, for the cost of labour and for the cost of time going through the learning. It just helps if the learners are interacting with the content rather than just looking at it.

Matthew says, for him gamification is like comparing colour television to the radio, basically, it’s giving the same content and information but in a more interesting way. If the learners are presented with content that is more engaging, the learner walks away with more.

David also explains how individuals are overwhelmed by the thought of gamification. To avoid that, just pick out a topic, just whatever you’re looking for — positive results or a change with what’s taking place and look at just taking it one step at a time and slowly —just go into the process and get into the gamification of it. It does certainly help and you will feel less challenged.

Matthew advises that instead of trying to recreate the wheel, it’s always better to start with something that you have a foundation built for. When you’re starting with gamification, have it fill a void, a hole that has been already filled, to see if you can impact it better with gamification. Start with small, existing content and then show that you can improve it. That’s really how you begin.

You can also watch the all the episodes from this Podcast series here:

To be notified of all our podcasts and other uploads do subscribe to our YouTube channel

The post Gamification of Workplace Learning: Podcast Series Episode 4 first appeared on The Upside Learning Blog.

In this conversation, Animesh shared his learning at ZEE while building the digital induction module that one needs to ‘sweat the design process’, which basically means that the focus was largely on the design process in order to make the module powerful and successful. We looked at the entire intervention from multiple perspectives and took 4-5 months to design as well as test the same.

Also in this podcast, Animesh quotes, “Gamification cuts through the general opinion of learning, by empowering an individual to do what they actually enjoy wherein learning becomes a corollary outcome of doing an activity which is winning or playing or building skills.”

Animesh explains how gamification is based on twin insights: holding the interest of the learner by building off the natural dopamine loops to drive more game playing behaviour, and secondly, by giving the learner the flexibility and control of their learning.

Animesh shares as a gamer himself he finds that it’s the unpredictability of the outcome and because winning is not guaranteed, that individuals push themselves to improve their skill level in the game to then enjoy the ‘high’ on winning thereafter!

You can also watch the all the episodes from this Podcast series here:

To be notified of all our podcasts and other uploads do subscribe to our YouTube channel.

The post Gamification of Workplace Learning: Podcast Series Episode 3 first appeared on The Upside Learning Blog.

In this second episode of Gamification of Learning, Amit Garg, Founder & CEO of Upside Learning Solutions talks to Rob Alvarez Bucholska, host of popular podcast Professor Game, and associate director of IE University. Watch the full podcast below.

In this chat, Rob shares how he stumbled into living the adult version of his childhood dream. Rob also discusses how points, badges, and leader boards have their own space in the world of gamification and presents his perspectives on gamification as a design discipline.

Also in this podcast, Rob quotes Andrzej about how gamification might help those activities that are dreaded, to be ok or at least suck less! This might mean that the gamified activity is not explicitly fun, bit at least better than the original version, Rob mentioned that this is something he had heard or read this first from Andrzej.

Rob’s advises gamification designers that it is important to first understand what is it that you really want to achieve, you first think about the objectives, the specifics, the KPIs etc, then you think about the players and once you’ve thought through and understood those two things, only then you start thinking about the application of the game mechanics.
Rob also points out that L&D has traditionally been all about function, it is completion focused, and need to look at the other end of this spectrum, L&D has to start considering that there’s a human who is receiving this training.

You can also watch the all the episodes from this Podcast series here:

To be notified of all our podcasts and other uploads do subscribe to our YouTube channel.

The post Gamification of Workplace Learning: Podcast Series Episode 2 first appeared on The Upside Learning Blog.

Jasmin points out that as human beings being an emotional species have a tendency to connect with content which evokes emotion, and this is the best way to bring about behavioural changes. Yet, in our design processes, we often forget about the importance of emotion and focus instead on designing for efficiency. She says, we ask ourselves the question “What is the quickest way to get from point A to point B? “, instead of “how do we create the best user experience?”.

Gamification puts emotion at the centre. It uses stories and compels the learner to interact. It changes learning from a passive, consumable product to a much more exciting experience.

Jasmin also discusses the need for serious gaming in the workplace as opposed to edu-tainment or the application of a thin gamified layer to existing e-learning content. She shares the power of serious gaming in the workplace in creating rich learning experiences – which draw people together.

Jasmin talks about her own design process, success stories, how she convinces leaders sceptical about gamification’s ability to solve real – world problems to introduce gamified learning to their organisation, her vision for games in the corporate world and so much more!

You can also watch the all the episodes from this Podcast series here:

To be notified of all our podcasts and other uploads do subscribe to our YouTube channel.

The post Gamification of Workplace Learning: Podcast Series Episode 1 first appeared on The Upside Learning Blog.

Generally, induction eLearning is plagued by too much information packed in a dense non-engaging manner. It rarely reflects the brand for the new joiners. While most of that information is useful and some is even required to meet compliance needs, there is a better way to handle it… with gamification of eLearning!  Gamification of induction eLearning helps support the program with engaging narrative and meaningful activities and rewards within the program. It helps to pull the learner along.  However, costs and time of development needed for gamified solutions are often cited as challenges by L&D teams.

Presenting Framework for Gamified Induction, a framework that helps our team to design a unique gamified induction for you with a quick turnaround while being cost-efficient. It features different themes to drive a narrative in the program, templates with contemporary designs and interactivities (built to suit the induction training content), and game mechanics that’s pre-programmed in the templates so we don’t have to reinvent the wheel (which is what needs that extra cost and time usually)

If you are on a look out for a gamified induction program, why not schedule a demo with our team

The post Gamification: Presenting Framework for Gamified Induction first appeared on The Upside Learning Blog.

Organisations have come a long way in what they consider legitimate approaches to workplace learning. Gone are the days of traditional classroom trainings and not just due to the COVID pandemic (though it has indeed effected speedier shift to digital for some).  Organizations accept (and even expect) their people to use mobile devices for learning and social & collaborative learning too are now more commonplace. Even Virtual Reality is beginning to be seen as a practical tool for certain types of trainings.

Despite such welcome shifts in our approach to learning in the workplace, the idea of “gamification” still leads to some raised eyebrows. Organisations tend to shy away from bringing gamification to learning due to a lack of clarity about what Gamification is, how to implement it and what benefits the organisation and the learners actually gain from it. Gamification is often viewed as unproductive, child-like, and even detrimental to the seriously performance oriented set ups, when in reality it potentially offers organisations with unique opportunities to engage and motivate learners towards desired actions and behaviour change.

With this series, we aim to bust the myths and misconceptions surrounding gamification and GoBeyond our understanding of gamification as an addition of points, badges & leaderboards to existing content. We also discuss examples and challenges with our experts who have been there and done that.

This podcast moderated by Amit Garg, CEO and Founder of Upside Learning, features:

• Jasmin Karatas
• Rob Alvarez Bucholska
• Animesh Kumar
• Matthew Steele
• David Kreitlow

We hope this series will help you start or refine your own gamification journey!

Keep watching this space for more.

The post Presenting a New Podcast Series – Gamification of Workplace Learning first appeared on The Upside Learning Blog.

Gamification is steadily transitioning from a buzzword to a media format and a practice that should exist in every team that is responsible for workplace learning. It has, in over a decade, transformed learning initiatives and has displayed the potential to increase the impact of learning.

This Exclusive Brandon Hall eBook in partnership with Upside Learning Solutions Pvt. Ltd. explores what gamification in workplace learning is all about, why and how does it work, and goes through the key considerations that businesses, managers, and designers should be aware of while designing with gamification.

Amit Garg, Founder and CEO of Upside Learning said “Very pleased to partner with the Brandon Hall Group for this ebook titled “Not Playing Around – Gamification for Workplace Learning”. It’s a great eBook to get insights into what makes gamification so important and how to get it right. I personally believe gamification has the potential to change behavior.”

This eBook will help you with:

• Understanding the need and desire for gamification in the world of workplace learning
• Understanding what gamification in workplace learning is about and how to think about it
• Key considerations that businesses, managers, and designers should be aware of while designing with/for gamification
• Understanding why gamification must be included in our learning initiatives going forward

It’s time to get started and level up your workplace learning initiatives with gamification.

Download the eBook here.

The post Not Playing Around – Gamification of Workplace Learning first appeared on The Upside Learning Blog.

The big shift to WFH

The year presented many new challenges with the COVID-19 outbreak catching us off-guard, forcing us to adapt quickly and efficiently to manage the new normal by working from home to make sure that the show goes on.

Adapting quickly and efficiently sounds easier than it was. While we were preparing to shift to working from home model, a sudden notification from the local government to immediately shut offices, meant we had no option but to shift immediately. A three-day holiday was declared for the staff which enabled the IT teams to set up systems enabling all of to be able to WFH. The IT and the HR worked tirelessly to enable minimum infrastructure and to achieve business continuity in a very short period. We’ve elaborated on the COVID-19 challenges and our victorious combat here.

Expanding the sales footprint

The year will however be more memorable owing to some major milestones at Upside Learning. We turned 16! …and with that, we got new blood on board – 2 AVPs for US region, Vikram Tayade and  Amit Yakhmi, and Sushant Gore as Manager for Business Solutions Europe. This aided in better foothold in the Europe and US markets.

Getting recognized

2020 was also special because we won two Brandon Hall HCM Excellence Awards. The Brandon Hall Group’s Human Capital Management Excellence awards were a testament to our expertise in developing custom content and engaging learning solutions that deliver real outcomes to help organizations achieve performance improvements aligned with business objectives.

“Brandon Hall Group Excellence Awards Program has recognized leading organizations for the past twenty-plus years for the latest trends in Human Capital Management,” said Rachel Cooke, Brandon Hall Group COO and leader of the HCM Excellence Awards Program. “The initiatives that were honored are not only innovative but fit the unique needs of the business and create truly remarkable success stories.”

The list of achievements and accolades has only begun. We were listed in two Top 20 companies Watch List. One was ‘Inc’s – Top 20™ Custom Content Development Company Watch List’ and the other was ‘Top 20™ Training Outsourcing Company Watch List’. This is the fifth time that Upside Learning has been recognized as a leading Content Development Company.

“This year’s Top 20 Custom Content Development and Training Outsourcing Companies are creating unique solutions by developing customized training that aligns with an organization’s business objectives,” said Ken Taylor, president of Training Industry, Inc.

These recognitions and accolades reassured us that our steady and zealous efforts have indeed been in the right direction.

At Upside Learning, we believe that a big part of honing our craft lies in keeping ourselves updated on the latest in learning design, trends, and technology. In a world connected through social media, it is not enough to passively consume content; it’s important to engage with our community of readers, learning practitioners, and the eLearning industry at large by sharing content, initiating dialog, and forming relationships based on shared experiences and collateral.

This year too we have been actively contributing to our online relationships. As a result, our viewership has grown consistently. Not only that we are proud to announce that we ranked 1^st in eLearning Learning’s MVP Awards in associations with The Learning Guild. The award-winning entry was LXPs are possibly the Dungeons & Dragons of the Learning World authored by Shreyas Korad in the #eLearningTools category. We also came 4^th on another blog The overly abused and rarely understood world of leader boards.

As the year was nearing its end, we got another boost by being certified as Smartchoice® Preferred Provider by Brandon Hall Group. After an extensive review, Brandon Hall Group confirmed that we are living our mission—to help L&D make a business impact: one learning experience at a time.

The analyst team at Brandon Hall Group has spent years understanding us as a solutions provider as well as the market in which we operate. The team had conducted in-depth briefings with our product teams, reviewed case studies, and collected customer feedback to certify that we deliver upon our message. To have victoriously passed that test we were overwhelmed and humbly gratified.

Upside Learning – a great place to work!

We did not know then what more surprises the year had in store for us, as, we received Great Place to Work – Certification™ for the second year running. So, not only were our clients and industry gurus happy with us, our people were happy too. And that matters most!

We had scored a brilliant 78 on the TRUST INDEX© Score which is an increase of 6 points from last years score of 72.  TRUST INDEX© is an average of five dimensions of the Great Place to Work® Trust Index© Model which are:

1. Credibility of management ™
2. Respect for people
3. Fairness at the workplace
4. Pride
5. Camaraderie between people

Learning in with Curiosity!

To ensure that our teams continue to better themselves at providing truly memorable and exquisite learning solutions, LinkedIn Learning was introduced in the organisation. We introduced it with – ‘Curiosity’, since as Sir Ken Robinson says ‘Curiosity is the vitamin of Learning’.

There was a build-up to the virtual launch event and we shipped out Upside Curiosity Box to each of our colleagues’ homes personally. It contained:
– A letter from the CEO – Amit Garg, emphasizing on ‘why curiosity matters’
– A passport to LinkedIn Learning
– Couple of sanitizers
– Couple of masks with text printed “Learning is like Breathing”
– Few chocolates

The goal was to make everyone more curious. Rest would be easier (not easy – mind you). The first step, on a long journey toward building a culture of learning here at Upside Learning Solutions, was thus taken.

And guess what? Our LinkedIn Learning launch activity was featured in LinkedIn Learning case studies by their marketing team.

If you are also bitten by the curiosity bug, then know more about our initiative here.

To continue with our curiosity journey, we signed up to being a part of The Global Curiosity Institute’s Program that would help uncover individual & team curiosity levels through two separate surveys

Stefaan van Hooydonk, the founder of the institute conducted a workshop for our team managers to share the key findings of the team curiosity survey. We were really pleased to have signed up for this as there were some great insights from there for all of us to work on.

With this, we look forward to a great year of learning in 2021.

The post 2020 – What a year!!! first appeared on The Upside Learning Blog.